unit 4-5 ap gov study guide

gender gap (vocab)

a distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences in views between women and men

connection - Women and men often experience different forms of political socialization (e.g., through education, religion, media), which can lead to divergent views and create the gender gap in voting behavior.

instant response polling (vocab)

a type of polling currently being used by the media and online --> instant results

connection -Instant response polling influences media coverage during debates by shaping narratives about which candidate "won" based on real-time audience reactions.

political culture (vocab)

The shared set of beliefs, customs, traditions, and values that define the relationship between citizens and government

connection - some beliefs that are apart of americas political culture are individualism, equality of opportunity, the free enterprise system, rule of law, and limited government

political elite (vocab)

an identifiable group of persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource such as money or political power

connection - this connects to the "power elite" by mills because they both discuss the power of the elite and their unbalanced influence on our legislation/government.

political ideology (vocab)

An individual's coherent set of beliefs about government and politics

connection -A person's socio-economic status often correlates with their political ideology.

skewed question (vocab)

a question phrased in such a way that a certain answer is more likely to be given.

connection - Question Framing: A skewed question is a poorly framed question that leads respondents toward a particular answer.

American Political Values (5)

Individualism

Equality

Free Enterprise

Rule of Law

Limited Government

Individualism

The belief that individuals should be responsible for themselves and for the decisions they make

"Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" mentality

Rule of Law

A principle where all persons and institutions are accountable to laws that are:

Publicly known

Equally enforced

Independently judged

Party Platform

An outline of the major goals and principles of a political party

Interest groups

A group of people who share specific common goals and organize to influence government and policies from the outside

Types of Interest Groups

Economic interest groups - Advocating on behalf of the financial interests of their members

Public interest groups - Act on behalf of the collective interest of a broad group of individuals

Single-issue groups - Focusing on one specific area of public policy

Government interest groups - Acting on behalf of local, state, or foreign governments

Hard Money (vocab)

Money specifically given to a political candidate, heavily regulated by the FEC

Max contributions to a single candidate is $2,900 per person

Corporations CANNOT directly contribute

connection - this connects to McCain-Feingold Act (2002) because the act regulates the use of hard money in campaigns.

Soft Money (vocab)

Money raised by a political party or election interest group for general purposes, not for a specific candidate

Unlimited contributions can be made by individuals and corporations

connection - Political Parties: Soft money is often funneled to political parties for "party-building" activities rather than specific candidates.

Political Action Committees (PACs) (vocab)

An organization formed to collect money and provide financial support for a candidate

Works with mostly hard money

connection - PACs contribute hard money directly to candidates' campaigns.

SuperPACs (vocab)

A political action committee that spends money in elections to promote certain issues but does not coordinate with a specific candidate

Works mostly with soft money

connection - Citizens United v. FEC: The rise of Super PACs was enabled by the Citizens United ruling, which allowed unlimited independent expenditures.

17th Amendment

Direct election of Senators

Hispanic Republican (author & points)

Geraldo Cadava

Up until the 1960s, Hispanic Americans and Black Americans had been leaving the Republican Party but their paths separated and a larger percentage of Hispanic Americans stayed with the Republican Party.

It's possible for individual politicians to do better than national politicians because they can have close contact with the community they are running in.

Specific factors, such as the belief that the United States is the protector of freedom in the world, are core Republican issues.

White Working Class (author & points)

Joan Williams

In the United States, many people struggle with economic issues and both Democrats and Republicans have failed to address it.

Over time, progressives' focus has changed from issues of equality and improving minority rights to issues of peace, causing many groups of workers to feel forgotten and less likely to support progressives.

While Democrats were pushing for things like minimum wage and additional sick leave, many voters, in the middle class, were not affected by the things Democrats were pushing for and therefore voted for Trump.

Laissez-faire, or free enterprise

An economic system in which government intrudes as little as possible in the transactions among citizens and businesses

Political socialization

The experiences and factors that shape our political values, attitudes, and behaviors

Generational effect

The impact of historical events experienced by a generation upon their political views

Lifecycle effect

The impact of a person's age and stage in life on his or her political views

Party identification

An individual's attachment to a political party

Parties influence voter choices

Split-ticket voting (vocab)

Voting for candidates from different parties in the same election

connection - Swing Voter: Swing voters often split their tickets between parties.

Recruitment

The process through which political parties identify potential candidates

Party coalition

Interest groups and like-minded voters who support a political party over time

Realignment

When the groups of people who support a political party shift their allegiance to a different political party

Critical elections

A major national election that signals a change in the balance of power between the two parties

Party eras

Time period when one party wins most national elections

Era of divided government

A trend since 1969 in which one party controls one or both houses of Congress and the president is from the opposing party

Nomination

The formal process through which parties choose their candidates for political office

Delegates

A person who acts as the voters' representative at a convention to select the party's nominee

Primary elections (vocab)

An election in which a state's voters choose delegates who support a particular presidential candidate for nomination or an election by a plurality vote to select a party's nominee for a seat in Congress

connection - this connects to Runoff Primary because If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff may be held in a primary election.

Open primaries

A primary election in which all eligible voters may vote, regardless of their party affiliation

Closed primaries

A primary election in which only those who have registered as a member of a political party may vote

Caucuses (vocab)

A process through which a state's eligible voters meet to select delegates to represent their preferences in the nomination process

connection - Party activists are more likely to participate in caucuses because they require time, engagement, and public expression of support for candidates—unlike secret ballot primaries.

Superdelegates (vocab)

Usually, a party leader or activist who is not pledged to a candidate based on the outcomes of the state's primary or caucus

connection - Democratic Party: Superdelegates are specific to the Democratic Party and can vote independently at the national convention.

Front-load

A decision by a state to push its primary or caucus to a date as early in the election season as possible to gain more influence in the presidential nomination process

National convention

A meeting where delegates officially select their party's nominee for the presidency

Candidate-centered

A trend in which candidates develop their own strategies and raise money with less influence from the party elite

Proportional representation systems

An election system for a legislature in which citizens vote for parties rather than individuals, and parties are represented in the legislature according to the percentage of the vote they receive

Single-member plurality system

An election system for choosing members of the legislature where the winner is the candidate who receives the most votes, even if the candidate does not receive a majority of the votes

News media

A broad term that includes newspapers, magazines, radio, television, internet sources, blogs, and social media postings

Social media

Forms of electronic communication that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking

Agenda setting

The media's ability to highlight certain issues and bring them to the attention of the public

Mass media

Sources of information that appeal to a wide audience, including newspapers, radio, television, and internet outlets

Wire service

An organization that gathers and reports on news and then sells the stories to other outlets

Investigative journalism

An approach to newsgathering in which reporters dig into stories, often looking for instances of wrongdoing

Broadcast media

Outlets for news and other content that rely on mass communications technology to bring stories directly into people's homes

Media consolidation

The concentration of ownership of the media into fewer corporations

Partisan bias

The slanting of political news coverage in support of a particular political party or ideology

Horse-race journalism

Coverage of political campaigns that focuses more on the drama of the campaign than on policy issues

Scientific poll

A representative poll of randomly selected respondents with a statistically significant sample size using neutral language

Sample

A group of individuals from a larger population used to measure public opinion

Random selection

A method of choosing all poll respondents in a way that does not over- or under present any group of the population

Representative sample

A sample that reflects the demographics of the population

Weighting

A procedure in which the survey is adjusted according to the demographics of the larger population

Mass survey

A survey designed to measure the opinions of the population, usually consisting of 1,500 responses

Entrance survey

A poll conducted of people coming to an event

Benchmark poll

A survey taken at the beginning of a political campaign in order to gauge support for a candidate and determine which issues are important to voters

Random digit dialing

The use of telephone numbers randomly generated by a computer to select potential survey respondents

straight ticket (vocab)

Voting for candidates who are all of the same party

connection - Political Ideology: Strong ideology may lead someone to vote straight-ticket.

swing voter (vocab)

Those voters who have not yet decided which candidate they will support at the start of the campaign and who are open to persuasion by either side

connection - Electoral College: Swing voters are especially influential in swing states, which can determine Electoral College outcomes.

two party system (vocab)

An electoral system with two dominant parties that compete in national elections.

connection - Winner-Take-All Primaries: Winner-take-all systems reinforce the two-party system by disadvantaging smaller parties.

lobbyists (vocab)

people who push for a certain idea and try to influence government officials into supporting that idea.

connection - Iron Triangle: Lobbyists are a key part of the iron triangle, influencing bureaucrats and congressional committees.

another connection is to interest groups because lobbyists are apart of interest groups

public interest lobby (vocab)

a group that promotes some conception of the public interest rather than the narrowly defined economic or other special interests of its members

connection - Public interest lobbies often submit amicus curiae briefs to the courts to advocate for decisions that align with their goals, especially in landmark cases.

general election (vocab)

election in which voters decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices

connection - Incumbent: Incumbents often run in general elections with a built-in advantage.

incumbent (vocab)

An officeholder who is seeking reelection.

connection - Retrospective Voting: Voters often assess an incumbent's past performance when voting.

McCain-Feingold Act 2002 (vocab)

Banned soft money, increased amount of individual contributions and limited issue ads.

81, enacted March 27, 2002, H.R. 2356), commonly known as the McCain-Feingold Act or BCRA (/ˈbɪkrə/ BIK-ruh), is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns.

connection - Soft Money: The law aimed to limit the influence of soft money in elections.

position issue (vocab)

an issue about which the public is divided and rival candidates or political parties adopt different policy positions

connection - Prospective Voting: Voters consider candidates' positions on issues when voting prospectively.

presidential primary (vocab)

an election by which voters choose convention delegates committed to voting for a certain candidate

connection - Frontloading: States often frontload their primaries to have more influence on the presidential nomination process.

Prospective Voting (vocab)

voting for a candidate because you favor his or her ideas for handling issues

connection - Position Issue: Voters look at how candidates stand on issues before casting votes.

Retrospective Voting (vocab)

voting for a candidate because you like his or her past actions in office

connection - this connects to incumbency advantage bc the longer you are in office the more previous actions you have

Runoff primary (vocab)

A second primary election held when no candidate wins a majority of the votes in the first primary

connection - Primary Elections: Runoff primaries are a second round of primary elections if no majority is achieved.

super tuesday (vocab)

A Tuesday in early March in which many presidential primaries, particularly in the South, are held.

connection - Presidential Primary: A major day of multiple state primaries that can determine frontrunners.

Winner-Take-All Primaries (vocab)

an election in which the candidate who gets the most votes gets all the delegates

connection - Two-party system: This system supports the dominance of the two-party system.

Defamation (vocab)

the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.

connection - Libel: Libel is a form of defamation using false written statements.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (vocab)

An independent federal agency that regulates interstate and international communication by radio, television, telephone, telegraph, cable, and satellite.

connection - Sound Bites: The FCC regulates media, which broadcasts sound bites in campaigns.

Freedom Of Information Act (vocab)

Gives all citizens the right to inspect all records of federal agencies except those containing military, intelligence, or trade secrets; increases accountability of bureaucracy

connection - News Leaks: FOIA and leaks both provide journalists access to government information.

Libel (vocab)

A written defamation of a person's character, reputation, business, or property rights.

connection - Libel is a written form of defamation, which refers more broadly to false statements that harm a person's reputation—libel (written) and slander (spoken) are its two forms.

Muckraker (vocab)

a journalist who uncovers abuses and corruption in a society

connection - Investigative Journalism: Muckrakers were early forms of investigative journalists who exposed corruption and social issues.

News Leaks (vocab)

the tactic used widely by White House officials of releasing information to the press on an anonymous basis when it serves the officials interests to have the information publicized. some of these are unauthorized and unwanted by the White House.

connection - Incumbent: Leaks can harm or benefit incumbents, depending on the information.

Prior Restraint (vocab)

government censorship of information before it is published or broadcast

connection - The Pentagon Papers case (New York Times Co. v. United States) tested prior restraint when the government tried to block the press from publishing classified Vietnam War documents—SCOTUS ruled in favor of the press.

Sound Bites (vocab)

Short video clips of approximately 10 seconds. Typically, they are all that is shown from a politician's speech on the nightly television news.

connection - Mass Media: Sound bites are a product of how mass media covers candidates, reducing complex ideas into short, catchy clips.

Linkage institutions

Entities or organizations that connect citizens to politics

i.e. media, unions, political parties, interest groups

Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010)

Citizens United, conservative political advocacy group, wanted to air Hillary: The Movie on cable TV leading up to the 2008 Democratic primary

Hillary: The Movie was a documentary highly critical of then Senator Hillary Clinton

This request was denied, as it violated the Bipartisian Campaign Reform Act of 2002 which heavily regulated what kinds of electioneering could be shown on TV

No issue ads that mention candidates names

Cannot be paid by corporations or unions

Cannot air 30 days before the election

Corporations are recognized to have the same free speech rights as individuals in elections

Limitations on independent campaign entities are unconstitutional

Not the same as donating directly to a candidate