AP Gov Elections Exam

political parties

who controls nomination of presidential candidates?

parties' national convention

where candidates are nominated, by delegates in attendance.

a majority of the delegate votes

how many votes must a candidate have to win the party's nomination at the national convention?

between january-july

when are nominating contests held?

primaries

which nominating contest do most states hold?

iowa, nevada

which states hold caucuses?

primaries

intra-party elections where voters in a state cast votes for a candidate. the results of a state primary election are used to determine how many national convention delegates from a state are won by candidates. voters tend to be more ideologically driven.

open primary

any registered voter can participate in this primary election.

closed primary

only registered party members can participate in this primary election.

democratic primaries

award delegates from each state on a proportional basis depending on the outcome of a primary or caucus vote. (equal to the percentage proportion of a vote)

republican primaries

some are proportional, like the DNC, or they can award their delegates winner take all.

caucuses

small meetings of interested party members that spend time on caucus day in their state, discussing and attempting to persuade others to support their favored party candidate.

frontloading

when states are free to decide when they want to hold their primaries or caucuses. (some states move theirs up in the year to gain more influence/momentum)

new hampshire

state that traditionally holds the first primary.

iowa

state that traditionally holds the first caucus.

quid pro quo

prohibits corporations/companies from giving money directly to a political campaign. now working in the interest of the people instead of wealthy corporations. "this for that" - give something in order to get something.

federal election campaign act

(passed in the 1970s): federal law passed to reform the way campaigns were financed. the idea was to put an end to candidates who were "bought and paid for" by special interest groups, corporations, unions, or wealthy individuals. attempted to restore public faith in american democracy.

executive priviledge

the privilege, claimed by the president of the US, of withholding information in the interest of the public.

federal election commission

enforcement of federal election laws (bipartisan commission: 6 members - 3 rep, 3 dem)

public financing

the US government provides campaign money to the campaigns of presidential candidates that qualify. if a candidate accepts said money, they must adhere to "campaign spending limits" set by the government. helps the government because it doesn't owe anything to wealthy corporations or individuals.

campaign spending limits

illegal, ruled unconstitutional. sets a limit on the amount a campaign can spend.

buckley v. valeo

(1976): landmark supreme court case, shut down this part of the law - violates the 1st amendment's right of freedom of speech/expression. when a campaign spends money, its mostly spent on ads, therefore limiting free speech.

transparency

publicly disclose who gives money and how much contributed, "this ad was paid for by..." this is beneficial to voters because they can see potential policies that may be put into affect with regard to who is giving the campaign money.

campaign contribution limits

$1000 for individual donors giving directly to a candidate's campaign...later raised to $2000 to keep up with current economy/inflation.

hard money

money contributed directly to a candidate's campaign committee. highly regulated under campaign finance laws.

PACs

political action/fundraising committees that are "associated" with corporations, labor unions, and interest groups that raise money to contribute to the campaigns of candidates running for elected office. PAC decides where the money goes, not the donor. better "access" to candidates. $5000 contribution limit for PACs.

soft money

unlimited, unregulated money that goes to support candidates outside of the scope of federal campaign finance law that was being given to the national party organizations (DNC, RNC). supposed to use this money for "party building activities."

party building activities

voter registration drives, get out to vote operations, establish programs to educate, build data bases.

issue ads

ads that convey a message without "directly" advocating the election of a candidate - legal as long as "magic words" not used.

magic words

"vote for", "vote against", "elect", "cast your ballot".

bipartisan campaign reform act

(2002): also known as the McCain Feingold reform - designed to end soft money contributions to political parties. put a $25,000 contribution limit on national political parties. raised the individual contribution to $2000 (indexed with inflation, every 2 years increases to keep up with current economy) maintained $5000 limit for PACs.

citizens united v. FEC

(2010): in a 5-4 ruling the supreme court overturned prohibition on outside groups spending money to influence elections. (claimed a violation to 1st amendment right of free speech)

independent expenditure groups

groups that want to influence the political process but do not directly coordinate with the candidates official campaign committee. ex) Super PACs, 501c4s.

swing states

nevada, arizona, michigan, north carolina, pennsylvania, iowa, wisconsin, georgia.

270 or more

how many electoral votes must a candidate win to win the presidency?

voting rights act

(1965): law designed to enforce the 15th amendment. states are not allowed to adopt laws that have the affect of discriminating on the basis of race.

referendum

where voters in a state get to approve/disapprove of some legislative act of their state legislature (referred to the people for approval/rejection)

initiative

where the citizens of a state put an idea for a law directly before the voters of a state to decide, bypassing the state legislature.

recall

where the voters of a state can remove an official they believe is not doing a good job in office by holding a recall election where citizens can vote the elected official out of office.

political efficacy

the idea that an individual believes that their actions can make a real difference. political efficacy extends this idea to the political arena.

obstacles to voting

voter registration, state imposed photo ID laws, weekday voting, absentee ballot requirements.

motor voter act

(1993): to make it easier for people to register to vote by requiring states to offer people the opportunity to register to vote when renewing their driver's license.

demographics

level of education, age, race, gender.

mandate theory of elections

a "generalization" made by the winning candidate that the voters selected them because they supported the candidate's policy decisions. "the people have spoken" attitude.

party line voting

the party a person identifies with, most important indicator of who they will vote for.

rational choice voting

voting for a candidate that an individual thinks will be the best for their own self-interest.

retrospective voting

based on evaluation of past performance.

prospective voting

based on evaluation of previous performance.