PS 101 Exam 2

Interest Group

An organization of people who share common political interests and aim to influence public policy by electioneering and lobbying.

Lobbying

Efforts to influence public policy through contact with public officials on behalf of an interest group.

Interest Group State

A government in which most policy decisions are determined by the influence of interest groups.

Trade Association

An interest group composed of companies in the same business or industry (the same "trade") that lobbies for policies that benefit members of the group.

Centralized Groups

Interest groups that have a headquarters, usually in Washington D.C., as well as members and field offices throughout the country. In general, these groups' lobbying decisions are made at headquarters by the group leaders.

Confederations

Interest groups made up several independent, local organizations that provide much of their funding and hold most of the power.

Revolving Door

The movement of individuals from government positions to jobs with interest groups, lobbying firms, and vice versa.

Mass Associations

Interest groups that have a large number of due-paying individuals as members.

Peak Associations

Interest groups whose members are businesses or other organizations rather than individuals.

Collective Action Problem

A situation in which the members of a group would benefit by working together to produce some outcome, but each individual is better off refusing to cooperation and reaping benefits from those who do the work.

Free Riding

The result of relying on others to contribute to a collective effort while failing to participate on one's own behalf, yet still benefiting from the group's successes.

Solidary Benefits

Satisfaction derived from the experience of working with like-minded people, even if the group's efforts do not achieve the desired impact.

Purposive Benefits

Satisfaction derived from the experience of working toward a desired policy goal, even if the goal is not achieved.

Coercion

A method of eliminating non participation or free riding by potential group members by requiring participation

• used by many labor unions.

Selective Incentives

Benefits that can motivate participation in a group effort because they are available only to those who participate, such as member services offered by interest groups.

Inside Strategies

The tactics employed within Washington, D.C., by interest groups seeking to achieve their policy goals.

Outside Strategies

The tactics employed outside Washington D.C., by interest groups seeking to achieve their policy goals.

Direct Lobbying

Attempts by interest group staff to influence policy by speaking with elected officials or bureaucrats.

Grassroots Lobbying

A lobbying strategy that relies on participation by group members, such as a protest or a letter-writing campaign.

Astroturf Lobbying

Any lobbying method initiated by an interest group that is designed to look like the spontaneous, independent participation of many individuals.

501(c)(4) Organization

A tax code classifications that applies to most interest groups; this designation makes donation to the group tax deductible but limits the group's political activities.

Political Action Committee (PAC)

An interest group or a division of an interest group that can raise money to contribute to campaigns or to spend on ads in support of candidates.

• The amount a PAC can receive from each of its donors and the amount it can spend on federal campaigning are strictly limited.

527 Organization

A tax-exempt group formed primarily to influence elections through voter mobilizations efforts and issue ads that do not directly endorse or oppose a candidate.

• Unlike political action committees, 527s are not subject to contribution limits and spending caps.

Referendum

A direct vote by citizens on a policy change proposed by a legislature or another government body. Referenda are common in state and local elections, but there is no mechanism for a national-level referendum.

Initiative

A direct vote by citizens on a policy change proposed by fellow citizens or organized groups outside. Getting a question on the ballot typically requires collecting a set number of signatures from registered voters in support of the proposal.

• There is no mechanism for national-level initiative.

(issue) Salience

The level of familiarity with an interest group's goals among the general population.

Mass media

Sources that provide information to the average citizen, such as newspapers, television networks, radio stations, podcasts, and websites

Yellow journalism

A style of newspaper reporting popular in the late 1800s that featuring sensationalized stories, both headlines, and illustration to increase readership

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

A government agency created in 1934 to regulate American radio stations and later expanded to regulate television, wireless communication technologies, and other broadcast media

Broadcast media

Communications technologies, such as television and radio, that transmit information over airwaves

Equal time provision

An FCC regulation requiring broadcast media to provide equal airtime on any non-news programming to all candidates running for an office

Media conglomerates

Companies that control large number of media sources across several types of media outlets

By-product theory

The idea that many Americans acquire political information unintentionally rather than by seeking it out

On background/off the record

Commenst a politician makes to the press on the condition that they can be reported only if they are not attributed to that politician

Leaking

The practice of someone in government providing non-public information to a reporter, with the aim of generating press coverage favorable to the leaker's aim

Media effects

The influence of media coverage on average citizens' opinions and actions

Hostile media effect

The tendency of people to see neutral media coverage of an event as biased against their point of view

Filtering

The influence on public opinion that results from journalists' and editors' decisions about which of many potential news stories to report

Framing

The influence of public opinion caused by the way a story is presented or covered, including the details, explanation, and context offered in the report

Attack journalism

A type of increasingly popular media coverage focus on political scandals and controversies, which causes a negative public opinion of political figures

Horse race coverage

A description of the type of election coverage that focuses more on poll results and speculation about a likely winner than on substantive differences between the candidates.

Soft news

Media coverage that aims to entertain or shock, often through sensationalized reporting or by focusing on a candidate or politicians' personality

Hard news

Media coverage focus on facts

• ex: important issue surrounding a campaign

Incumbent

A politician running for reelection to the office he or she currently holds.

Open Primary (type of primary)

A primary election in which any registered voter can participate in the contest, regardless of party affiliation.

Semi-Closed Primary (type of primary)

A primary where anyone who is a registered member of the party or registered as an Independent can vote.

Closed Primary (type of primary)

A primary election in which only registered members of a particular political party can vote.

General Election

The election in which voters cast ballots for House members, senators, and (every four years) a president and vice president.

Plurality Voting

A voting system in which the candidate who receives the most votes within a geographic area wins the election, regardless of whether that candidate wins a majority (more than half) of the votes.

Majority Voting

A voting system in which a candidate must win more than 50 percent of votes to win the election. If no candidate wins enough votes to take office, a runoff election is held between the top two vote-getters.

Runoff Election

Under a majority voting system, a second election held only if no candidate wins a majority of the votes in the first general election. Only the top two vote-getters in the first election compete in the runoff.

primary election

An election/a ballot vote in which voters choose the major-party nominees for political office, who subsequently compete in a general election.

Proportional Allocation

During the presidential primaries, the practice of determining the number of convention delegates allotted to each candidate based on the percentage of the popular vote cast for each candidate.

• All Democratic primaries and caucuses use this system

• Some states' Republican primaries and caucuses.

winner take all system

During the presidential primaries, the practice of assigning all of a given state's delegates to the candidate who receives the most popular votes.

• Some states' Republican primaries and caucuses use this system.

Electoral College

The body that votes to select America's president and vice president based on the popular vote in each state. Each candidate nominates a slate of electors who are selected to attend the meeting of the college if their candidate wins the most votes in a state or district.

Popular Vote

The votes cast by citizens in an election. (opposed to electoral college votes)

Electoral Votes

Votes cast by members of the electoral college; after a presidential candidate wins the popular vote in a given state, that candidate's slate of electors casts electoral votes for the candidate on behalf of that state.

Election Cycle

The two-year period between general elections

Open Seat

An elected position for which there is no incumbent

get out the vote (GOTV)/ground game

A campaign's efforts to "get out the vote" or make sure their supporters vote on Election Day.

• focus on increasing voter turnout

• Obama popularized (focused through calls to encourage voters)

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

The government agency that enforces and regulates election laws; made up of six presidential appointees, of whom no more than three can be members of the same party.

Hard Money

Donations that are used to help elect or defeat a specific candidate.

• often made directly to a specific candidate or their campaign

• strictly regulated by FEC

Soft Money

Contributions that can be used for voter mobilization or to promote a policy proposal or point of view as long as these efforts are not tied to supporting or opposing a particular candidate.

• made to political parties or organizations (that don’t directly support candidate)

• can include funding for party-building, voter registration drives, and issue advocacy

• less regulated

Down’s Paradox (Paradox of Voting)

The question of why citizens vote even though their individual votes stand little chance of changing the election outcome.

Issue Voters

People who are well informed about their own policy preferences and knowledgeable about the candidates, and who use all of this information when they decide how to vote.

Voting Cues

Pieces of information about a candidate that are readily available, easy to interpret, and lead a citizen to decide to vote for a particular candidate.

Coattails

The idea that a popular president can generate additional support for candidates affiliated with his party. Coattails are weak or nonexistent in most American elections.

Split Ticket

A ballot on which a voter selects candidates from more than one political party.

Straight Ticket

A ballot on which a voter selects candidates from only one political party.

party organization

a specific political party’s leaders and workers at the national, state, and local levels

party in government

the group of officeholders who belong to a specific party and were elected as candidates of that party

party in the electorate

the group of citizens who identify with a specific party

party system

periods in which the political realm have remained relatively stable
(political realm = names of major political parties, their supporters, and issues dividing them)

party principle

idea that a political party = an organization distinct from elected officials or party leaders

spoils system

the practice of rewarding party supporters with benefits like federal government positions

realignment

a change in the size or composition of the party coalitions or in the nature of the dividing issues

• typically occurs within an election cycle or two, but can be longer

national committee

an American political party’s principle organization, comprising party representatives from each state

political action committee (PAC)

an interest group or division of an interest group that raise money to contribute to campaigns or spend on ads in support of candidates

• amount PACs can receive and the amount they can spend on federal electioneering are limited

527 organization

tax-exempt group formed to influence elections through voter mobilization efforts

• issues ads the do not directly endorse or oppose a candidate

• not subject to contribution limits and spending caps

caucus (congressional)

organization of Democrats within the House/Senate that meets to discuss and debate the party’s positions on various issue and assign leadership positions

conference

organization of Republicans within the House/Senate that meets to discuss and debate the party’s position and assign leadership positions

unified government

situation where one party holds a majority in the House and Senate and the President is of that party

divided government

situation where the House, Senate, and presidency are not controlled by the same party

party identification (party ID)

a citizen’s loyalty to a specific party

negative partnership

Identification with a political party that is based on dislike of the other party rather than positive feelings about the party identified with.

party coalitions

groups that identify with a political party

• usually described in demographic terms (African American Democrats, evangelical Republicans)

caucus (electoral)

local meeting where party member’s select a party’s nominee for the general election

nominating convention

meeting held by each party every 4 years where state delegates select the party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees and approves the party platform

party platform

a set of objectives outlining the party’s issue positions and priorities

• candidates are not required to supported their party’s platform

• party’s promise for what it’s candidate will (generally) do if elected

Duverger’s law

principle that in democracy with single-member districts and plurality voting, only two parties’ candidates have a realistic chance of winning

• the US is an example

single-member districts

electoral system where every elected official represents a geographically defined area, and each area selects one representative

• (ex: state, congressional district)

plurality voting

voting system where the candidate who receives the most votes within a geographic area wins the election

• not necessarily >50% of the vote

government elections

formal process through which a population chooses individuals to hold public office

• held at various levels: federal, state, and local

super PAC

independent expenditure-only committees that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from individuals, corporations, and unions to influence elections.

• unlike PACS, prohibited from directly contributing to candidates

linking institution

components of the political system that connect citizens to the government; allows individuals to communicate their preferences to the government

• media

• elections

• parties

• interest groups

pseudo-environment

People base their judgement and actions on a mental model of the world that they possess. (“picture in their heads”)

• People do not know the word directly

• each person may have their own pseudo-environment

• a constructed representation of the real world

• shaped by media and personal perception

iron triangles

An informal alliance of bureaucrats (bureaucratic agencies), legislators (congressional committees), and interest groups.

• stable

• mutually beneficial

• allows the 3 to collaborate on policy-making

• → creation of favorable agencies for specific interest groups

material benefits

tangible rewards or advantages that motivate individuals to join or participate in interest groups

• distinct from collective benefits

issue ownership

The theory that voters associate certain issues or issue positions with certain parties

nonpartisan primary (type of primary)

primary election system where candidates from both parties are listed on the same primary ballot.
→ the two candidates (regardless of party affiliation) who received the most votes move onto the general election