Chapter 11 - AP GOV

political party

An organized group with shared goals and ideals that joins together to run candidates for office and exercise political and electoral power

political machine

A party organization that recruits voter loyalty with tangible incentives and is characterized by a high degree of control over member activity

candidate-centered politics

Politics that focus on the candidates, their particular issues, ad character rather than party affiliation

party realignment

Dramatic shifts in partisan preferences that drastically alter the political landscape

critical election

An election that signals a party realignment through voter polarization around new issues and personalites

secular realignment

The gradual rearrangement of party coalitions, based more on demographic shifts than on shocks to the political systems

national convention

A party meeting held in the presidential election year for the purposes of nominating a presidential and vice presidential ticket and adopting a platform

delegate

Representative to the party convention

superdelegate

Delegate to the Democratic Party’s national convention that is reserved for a party official and whose vote at the convention is unpledged to a candidate

think tank

Institutional collection of policy oriented researchers and academics who are sources of policy ideas

national party platform

A statement of the general and specific philosophy and policy goals of a political party, usually promulgated at the national convention

party idenification

A citizen’s personal affinity for a political party, usually expressed by a tendency to vote for the candidates of that party

proportional representation

A voting system that apportions legislative seats according to the percentage of the vote won by a particular political party

winner-take-all system

An electoral system in which the party that receives at least one more vote than any other party wins the election

polarization

The presence of increasingly conflicting an divided viewpoints between the Democratic and Republican Parties