5.8-5.13

invisible primary(media primary or money primary)

The period between candidates declaring an intention to run for the presidency and the 1st primaries and caucuses

Incumbent

An officeholder who is seeking reelection.

primary election/caucus

grants presidential nomination

Closed Primary

Voters must register for a party and vote for a nomination for that party

Open Primary

Voters must register for a party on election day

Blanket primary

rarest primary. Allows voters to vote for candidates in multiple parties(split ticket)

Front Loading

States book primaries and caucus earlier and earlier to boost their political clout and enhance tourism

Super tuesday

Large number of primarys take place on this tuesday

Proportional system

candidates are given delegates equal to the percentage of voters they got in the primary

electors

same number as states \# of congressmen, make up electoral college

23rd amendment

Gives Washington DC electoral college votes as if it were a state (DC still has no representation in Congress)

Plurality

The highest vote(even if not majority)

Winner takes all voting

Person who gets most votes/plurality wins election

Mid term election

federal elections held midway through the President's four year term

Political Action Committee (PAC)

Formal groups formed around similar interest, donate heavily to incumbents.

Coattail effect

when future presidential candidates ride the popularity of their party's current presidential candidate(president being republican for 4 terms straight)

Dark ads

Anonymous updates, videos, pics, and links that appear to only a target audience on social media but not the general population

war chest

funds collected by a candidate to spend on a political campaign

Federal Election Campaign Act(FECA)

tightened reporting requirements and limited candidate expenditures

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Enforced regulations of FECA

Hard money

donations that can be traced

soft money

donations that cant be traced

Bipartisan campaign reform act(BCRA)

Banned soft money and put limits on hard money based on the source

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

said that independent expenditures(donations) are free speech protected by the 1st Amendment and so cannot be limited by federal law.

Dark Money

unlimited donations from individual citizens and organizations

Connected PACs

political action committees funded separately from the organization's treasury through donations from members

Free press

uninhibited institution that places an additional check on government to maintain honesty, ethics, and transparency

investigative reporting

reporters dug deep into stories to expose corruption in government and other institutions

broadcast network

the broadcasting from one central location to several smaller stations

affilates

smaller stations

Big three networks

NBC, CBS, ABC

Cable news network(CNN)

gave Americans access to national news 24/7

horse race journalism

reports discussing who is leading and falling behind in an election

scorekeeper

tracks whos winning and losing in an election(NEWS)

gatekeeper

The media can influence what subjects become newsworthy and what wont.

Watchdog

keeps eye on government(the news)

politcal reporting

Standard "just the facts" stories

sound bites

short excerpts edited from the longer remarks that are vivid in presenting issues

Cable Satelite public affairs newtwork(C-SPAN)

non profit public service created by cable industry

Politcal Analysis

journalistic expression that provides opinions on topics in depth

Editorials

Opinionated articles that reveal the publications views

Op-Eds

Opinion pieces written by people outside of the media, but are published in media to express a variety of opinions.

Commentary

opinion and interpretation rather than "just-the-facts" reporting

Narrow casting

media outlets with a specific agenda and target audience

Fairness doctorine

former fed policy that required radios and tvs to show opposing view points too

talk radio

syndicated political shows that air at stations coast-to-coast

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Regulates electronic media, and has authority over the content of radio, television, wire, and satellite broadcasts.

fox news channel(FNC)

started in 1996 and created by Rupert Murdoch, very influential and important news channel

Mainstream media

collection of traditional news orgs

Confirmation bias

tendency to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms what they already believe

Consumer driven media

media whos content is influenced by actions and needs of consumers