caimpaigns elections and voting

Suffrage

The right to vote

Electorate

People qualified to vote

Fifteenth ammendment

Eliminate race disqualifications to vote

17th ammendment

Allows people to directly elect senators

19th ammendment

No voting discrimination based on gender

24th ammendment

No poll taxes

26th ammendment

Lowering the voting age to 18

Direct primary

Allow citizens to nominate candidates

Recall

Special election indicated by the petition to allow citizens to remove an official from office before a term expires

Referendum

Allows citizens to vote directly on issues called propositions(proposed laws or state constitutional ammendment)

Initiative

Allow voters to petition to propose issues to be decided by qualified votes

Rational choice voting

Voting based on what voters perceive to be in their own best interest

Retrospective voting

Voting based on past performance of the candidate

Prospective voting

Voting based on how the voter believes the candidate will perform in office

Party line voting

Voting for candidate based upon the party to which they belong, usually voting straight ticket

Lack of Political efficacy

People do not believe their vote out of millions wi make a difference

Motor voter law

Was designed to make voter registration easier by allowing people to register at driver license Bureaus and some public offices

Primary elections

Are nomination elections in which voters choose the candidate from each party who will run for office in the general election

Closed primary

Only voters who are registered in the party may vote to choose the candidate. Separate primaries are held by each political party, ad voters must select a primary in advance

Open primary

Voters may vote to choose the candidates of either party, whether they belong to that party or not. Voters make the decision o which party to support in the voting booth

Blanket primary

Voters may vote for candidates of either party, choosing a Republican for one office and a democrat for another. A form which is used in California Washington and Louisiana,

General elections

Elections in which the voters choose from among all the candidates nominated by political parties or running as independents

Mid year elections

Occur during the year when no presidential election is held

Coattail affect

Weaker or lesser known candidates from the presidents party profit from the resident’s popularity by winning votes

Caucus

Locally held meeting in a state to select delegates who n turn will nominate candidates to political offices

Presidential preference primaries

Voters select delegates to the presidential nomination convection

Front loading

Choosing earlier dates to hold their primaries

Super Tuesday

Occurs in early march when the greatest number of states hold presidential preference primaries on the same day

Superdelegates

Party officials in the Democratic Party who attend the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucus

Electoral college

Representatives from each state who formally cast ballots for the president and vice president

Maintaining elections

Occur when the traditional majority power maintains power based on the party loyalty of voters

Deviating elections

Occur when the minority party is able to win the support of majority party members, independent, and new voters; however, the long term party preference of voters do not change

Critical elections

Sharp change in existing patterns of party loyalty due to changing social and economic conditions; for example 1860, 1896, 1932

Realigning elections

Occur when the minority party wins by Buddha new coalition of voters that continues over successive elections. This is usually associated with a national crisis such as the Great depression, when Franking D Roosevelt was able to create a new coalition of southerners, African Americans, the poor, Catholics and Jews, labor unions, member and urban dwellers

Dealigning elections

Occur when party loyalty becomes less important to voters as may be seen with the increase in independents and split ticket voting

Split ticket voting

Voting for candidates from more than one party in the same election

Freedom of expression

Freedom to express onself

Soft money

Donations to political parties that could be used for general purposes

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

Banning the use f soft money in federal campaigns and increasing the 1974 limits on individual and group contributions to candidates

Citizens united vs fec

SCOTUS ruled that limiting the ability of business, unions and other groups to fund their efforts to elect or defeat candidates for office is unconstitutional.

Election cycles

Time frame in which an election occurs