AP Government Unit 5

Political Participation

Many different ways that people take part in politics + government

Suffrage

Right to vote

Political Efficacy

Belief that one's political participation makes a difference.

Rational-choice voting

Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen's individual interest

Retrospective Voting

Voting based on the past performance of a candidate

Prospective Voting

Voting for a candidate because you favor his or her ideas for handling issues; expectations of how a candidate will perform.

Party-line voting

Voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices at the same level of government.

Voter Turnout

Percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election

Grandfather Clause

Registration laws, especially in Jim Crow south, allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867.

Literacy Test

Requirement that citizens show that they can read before registering to vote

Poll Tax

Requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote

White Primary

Practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements + intimidation

Voter Registration Laws

Require individuals to first place their name on an electoral roll in order to be allowed to vote

Presidential Elections

Held every four years to select the highest ranking official of the Executive branch.

Referendum

A state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or a proposed constitutional amendment.

Recall

Procedure whereby voters can remove an elected official from office

Initiative

Procedure by which voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment.

Precinct

A voting district

Religious Affiliation

A term indicating an individual's acceptance of knowledge, beliefs, and practices related to a particular faith.

Political Parties

groups that help elect people and shape policies

Interest Groups

private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy

Linkage institutions

Channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda. Can include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

Electorate

Citizens eligible to vote

Voter Mobilization

a party's efforts to inform potential voters about issues and candidates and to persuade them to vote

New Hampshire Primary

First Presidential primary and its winner becomes the media's major attention

Swing States

Not clearly pro-Republican or pro-Democrat and therefore are of vital interest to presidential candidates, as they can determine election outcomes

Plurality

Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half.

Majority

The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.

Front Loading

The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.

Party Platforms

A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. The platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidate's strength. It is the best formal statement of a party's beliefs.

Delegate

A person appointed or elected to represent others

Superdelegates

party leaders and elected officials who become delegates to the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses

Candidate Recruitment

parties often ask viable candidates to run and target seats they see as winnable

Critical elections

An electoral "earthquake" where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Such periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era.

Realignment

A process in which a substantial group of voters switches party allegiance, producing a long-term change in the political landscape.

Dealignment

Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.

Third Party Candidate

someone who represents a political party that is neither Democrat nor Republican

Independent candidate

a candidate who is not associated with any political party

Spoiler Rule

Minor party candidates can pull decisive votes away from one of the major parties' candidates. Example: Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party

Faithless Elector

Elector who does not vote for the candidate they promised to vote for. These have never determined outcome of presidential election but is a major problem with electoral college system

Proportional Voting System

A system in which each party receives a percentage of seats in a representation assembly that is roughly comparable to its percentage of the popular vote.

Single-Member District

An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.

Winner-Take-All System

Electoral system in which a single political party or group can win all the votes for a given district.

Single-Issue Groups

Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics.

Public Interest Group

an organization that supports causes that affect the lives of Americans in general

Lobbying

A strategy by which organized interests seek to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of the legislature.

Grassroots Lobbying

Efforts by groups and associations to influence elected officials indirectly, by arousing their constituents.

Amicus Curiae Brief

Literally, a "friend of the court" brief, filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case.

Revolving Door

the tendency of public officials, journalists, and lobbyists to move between public and private sector (media, lobbying) jobs

Caucuses

Meetings of party leaders to determine party policy or to choose the party's candidates for public office. Most famous ones are in Iowa.

Party Conventions

Meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy + to select party candidates for public office. "Pep Rally."

Soft Money

Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Hard Money

Political contributions given directly to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed.

Dark Money

funds given to politically active nonprofits that can receive unlimited donations from corporations, individuals, and unions but are not required to disclose their donors.

Attack ads

Campaign advertising that criticizes a candidate's opponent-typically by making potentially damaging claims about the opponents background or record- rather than focusing on positive reasons to vote for the candidate

Issue Ads

Focus on issues and do not explicitly encourage citizens to vote for a certain candidate

Political Action Committee (PAC)

Set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises and spends campaign money from voluntary donations

Super PACs

Independent political action committee which may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions + individuals but is not permitted to contribute to or coordinate directly with parties or candidates.

501(c)(3) organization

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

Horserace Journalism

Claim that the media is more interested in covering the drama of a campaign, focusing more on who is ahead rather than in-depth coverage of issues.

Watchdog

The role played by the national media in investigating political personalities and exposing scandals.

Media Bias

Journalists + news producers within the mass media leaning or showing partisanship in the selection of events and stories that are reported + how they are covered

Adversarial Press

Tendency of the national media to be suspicious of officials + eager to reveal unflattering stories about them

Social Movement

Group of people work together to create change in society, politics or the economy.

Battleground State

States in which the outcome of an election is too close to call and either candidate could win. Examples in 2024: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and 4 others.

Wire Service

News agency that distributes news content to subscribers by wire or satellite transmission. Example: AP- Associated Press

Mass Media

Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication.

Investigative Journalism

News reports that hunt out and expose corruption, particularly in business and government. Example: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Protest

Public demonstration designed to call attention to the need for change.

Civil Disobedience

Intentionally breaking a law to call attention to an injustice

Iron Triangle

Connections between interest groups, Congress and the bureaucracy.