AP Gov National Exam Study Guide

Prospective Voting

A type of voting that involves people voting for their future.

Straight-Ticket Voting

Only voting based on one party for all members of government

Rational-choice Voting

Voting based on the voter's best interests in mind.

Retrospective Voting

Voting based on the Candidates past actions.

Absentee Voting

Mail-In ballots

Amicus curiae briefs

This is outside information given by a group that can help a supreme court case

BICRA (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act)

This is the act that helped to regulate campaign financing.

Candidate Centered Campaigns

Campaigns are designed around their constituents.

Campaign Finance Law

These laws regulate how money is raised and spent in federal elections

Campaign Communication

This is the messaging that a group uses to reach voters.

Conservative Ideology

This is the ideologies and factors that drive the conservative agenda

Core Values of Democrats

This is the ideologies and factors that drive the democratic agenda

Core Values of Republicans

This is the ideologies and factors that drive the republican agenda

Congressional Elections

This is the system in which congressional members (House and Senate) get elected

Critical Elections

These elections happen when there is a shift in voter turnout and political ideology

Political Realignment

When a significant amount of voters switches parties for a sustained period of time

Democrat Party (DEM)

This is one of the two main parties.

Republican Party (GOP)

This is the second one of the two main parties.

Electoral College

This is the system in which we vote for our president.

Electoral Vote

This is one of the votes out of the 538 that can be taken by the electoral voters

Faithless elector

This is when one of the electors decides to vote on the opposite of what the constituents wanted.

"Free rider" problem

This is when people use resources that they don't have to pay for, leading to a depletion in these resources

Fixed Terms

A predetermined amount of time that an elected official can have in office.

Front-loading

When states decide to move their primary or caucus to earlier dates to maximize the influence on elected candidates

Hard-Money

These are the political donations that are regulated by the FEC

Soft-Money

These are the political donations that are unregulated by the FEC and can have an unlimited amount

Horserace Journalism

Media coverage on a candidate based on polling and public perception, along with if they are losing or winning.

Incumbency advantage

People who are currently in office have an advantage over people who are running.

Liberal Ideology

This is the ideologies and factors that drive the liberal agenda

Libertarian Ideology

This is the ideologies and factors that drive the libertarian agenda

Linkage Institutions

These help connect the people to the campaign

Functions of Political Parties

One of the linkage institutions, they help by combining people who have similar ideologies into one group.

Media's use of polling

This is a way that news sources/studies can get data and information about a candidate.

Lobbying

When an interest group tries to influence public policy by talking to legislators.

Litigation

The process of using the court system to influence policymaking

Electioneering

Efforts by interest groups to convince people to vote on deciding factors such as upcoming candidates or political issues.

Open primaries

Election in which anyone gets to vote regardless of party.

Closed Primaries

Election in which only people registered with the party can vote.

Caucus

Another type of a primary, significantly different from the others. Often called the old-fashioned way of voting in the primaries.

Party Conventions

A group of delegates all meeting up to talk about the campaign and the political parties' platforms.

Party Platforms

These are the overall ideas that a party has on certain political issues.

Popular Vote

This is the vote that is counted by the votes themselves. And is a 1:1 ratio

Political Action Committees (PACs)

These are these are groups that publicly donate to certain candidates, and are often created by non-profits or interests groups.

Super PACS

A group that can indirectly contribute to a campaign/party often created by non-profits or interest groups

Political efficacy

The ideology in which constituents realize that their votes count

Midterm election vs Presidential election

The two different types of elections and how that affects voter turnout

Proportional voting systems

A type of voting in which every vote counts based on the population.

Winner-take-all voting systems

A type of voting system in which the winner takes everything, regardless of how close the margin was.

Professional Consultants for Campaigns

These are privately hired professionals that advise on the media part of the campaign strategy.

Revolving Door

The switching between being a person in the government, and then switching to roles like lobbying.

Single-member districts

A type of voting system in which a representative is selected to cover a certain geographical area.

Interest groups

These are certain groups that try to pass legislation on certain issues. They can be non-profits or associations.

Single-issue interest groups

These are centered around one problem, but they aim to do the same things other groups do.

Social Movements

These are often grassroot efforts to try and promote the shift in societal norms.

Protest movements

These are efforts aimed at getting the attention of government officials using the first amendment.

Structural barriers to Voting

These are the barriers that prevent people from casting a vote.

Suffrage/Franchise

Another term for voting

Delegates and Superdelegates (Party Convention)

Delegates are typically voted on, while superdelegates are unpledged party leaders.

Swing States

These states constantly change their political party, getting the most attention from candidates.

Third Party

These are parties that fall out of the two-party system, often having a completely different platform.

Structural barriers to third-party success

These are the systems that are put into place that prevent third parties from winning the vote.

Voter ID Laws

These are mandates requiring people to show identification before entering a polling station

Rule of Law

This is the fundamental principle that states how laws are applied to everyone.

Equality of opportunity

The fallacy that everyone has the right to be equal, in the sense of opportunities.

Individualism

This ideology involves emphasis over individual rights and liberties, personal freedoms, and hands off government.

Free Enterprise

An economic system idea that consists of privacy from the government in ownership of property, regulation on production, and consumer-driven culture.

The idea that the people should be able to compete freely in an economy based around supply and demand.

Family,Schools,Peers,Media and Social Environments

These environments influence us by giving kids political information at a younger age, peer pressure, kitchen-table politics shaping the ways that parties affect common issues like inflation or gas prices, and campaign ads showing propaganda to families across the nation

Democratic ideals, Principles and Core Values in the U.S. Political Culture

The ideas of the democratic party are often considered "woke" due to their beliefs about raising minimum wage and making healthcare programs and food stamps more accessible. They often tend to pay attention to topics such as gay rights and the climate crisis. Additionally, they support universal suffrage, in hopes of making education better, and stricter gun laws being implemented.

Generational Effects

Ideas shaped and shared holistically by a generation based on historical, economical, and social events.

Life Cycle Effects

As people progress through different stages of their lives, (adolescent, adult,elderly, etc…) their political ideas shift

Silent Generation

The generation born after/into the devastating effects of WW2 and the great depression. Years:1928-1945

Millennials

Growing up with technology, and the aftermath of the Cold War. Years:1981-1996

Generation X

Growing up in houses and times when they were completely alone, and into events like the slow rise of switching from analog to digital, and the 70's energy crisis Years:1965-1980

Baby Boomers

In the time of risk from the Cuban missile crisis, and lessons learned from the great depression, one of the largest generations. Years:1946-1964

Generation Z

Often labelled as the "woke" generation, some events that impacted us include 9/11 and the covid pandemic. Also, we are more likely to be swayed by information on social media.

Political Events

These are events that vastly shifted political ideologies, these could be quick or over time.

Political Events Influence Political Attitudes

The reason that this shapes people is because of multiple things, most notably the reaction from people in the government

Political Socialization Influences Political Ideology

Talking with peers, or interacting with classmates and family, can shape not only our political beliefs, but can also shape how they shift over time

Opinion Polls

Poll used to gain the public opinion on a certain issue

Exit Polls

Polls taken after you leave the voting location, typically reported to the news to report statistics before the election is finalized

Tracking Polls

These are polls continuously measured over time with the same subject and most of the time with the same people

Benchmark Polls

Polls to determine the baseline opinion of a candidate

Polling Methodology - 3 Factors

The three are sampling, unbiased wording, and making sure the margin of error is ~3%

Public Opinion Data and Reliability of Scientific Polling can Influence Elections

Although scientific polls are heavily used in the world of politics, it isn't necessarily accurate, with data being chosen or randomly selected, you can't necessarily decipher the information correctly, leading to things like the failure of the 2016 presidential election polling

Political Ideology

Political ideologies are the ideas that shape our political spectrum

Democrat Ideology

This party strives for a strong government, to fight for things like social equality, climate change action, gun control, along with many other issues. They tend to have a liberal perspective especially when coming to the economy, focusing on taxing the wealth and a balanced middle class

Liberal Ideology

The political ideology of a liberal is very similar to democrats, they are a little more extreme and are pretty far left, but not leftists, they tend to have even more support on social issues like LGBTQ+ rights or protests like the BLM movement.

Republican Ideology

The republican party's political spectrum is highly focused on regressing to how the constitution was meant to be received, along with wanting strong national defense, and maintaining traditional social values

Conservative Ideology

Conservative ideology is an umbrella term for those who believe in republican ideology, typically putting more emphasis on a reformed society, making sure that things stay the same as they were, they also want personal freedoms, such as the 2nd amendment. They largely lean towards the right

Libertarian Ideology

Libertarians have an interstate take on the government, as they want little-to-no government intervention. Additionaly, they tend to agree with a mix of conservative ideologies (such as free markets) and also democratic ideologies (like gay marriage) They belive that the government should leave rights fair and just to everyone, while also keeping government laissez faire in most subject matters

Public Policy

Is a system of laws and regulatory measures to make sure that the economic, social, and environmental issues are addressed and taken care of

Individual Liberty vs. Social Order in Public Policy Debates

This is a very specific case scenario in which the safety of citizens is reliant on how individual freedoms are created

Economic Policy

Government actions to help the economy

Economic Policy of Libertarians

Libertarians want a laissez faire economic policy, making sure that the government is limited

Economic Policy of Conservatives

Conservatives also believe in laissez faire economics, but to a less extreme extent, they want free markets too.

Economic Policy of Liberals

They tend to have a liberal perspective especially when coming to the economy, focusing on taxing the wealth and a balanced middle class

Fiscal Policy

the government editing their budget balance through spending and revenue changes to influence economic conditions

Keynesian Economics

A philosophy of a type of economy that relies on government spending

Supply-Side Economics

An idea that states the way to control the economy that fosters more freedom and lowering taxes