AP United States Government (be all end all) Vocabulary

Political party

a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office

Mugwumps (aka Progressives)

Republican party faction of the 1890s to the 1910s, comprising reformers who opposed patronage

Critical or Realignment periods

a period when a major, lasting shifts occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties

Primary elections

an election held to determine the nominee from a particular party

Closed primary

a primary election where only registered party members may vote for the party’s nominee

Open primary

a primary election where all voters (regardless of party membership) may vote for the party’s nominee

Super-delegate

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

Invisible primary

process by which candidates try to attract the support of key party leaders before an election begins

National convention

a meeting of party delegates held every four years, which nominates the party’s candidate for president

National committee

delegates who run party affairs between national conventions

Congressional campaign committee

a party committee in Congress that provides funds to members and would-be members

National chair

day-to-day party manager elected by the national committee

Political machines

a party organization that recruits members by dispensing patronage

Partisan identification

a voter’s long-term, stable attachment to one of the political parties

Two-party system

an electoral system with two dominant parties that compete in national elections

Plurality system

an electoral system in which the winner is the person who gets the most votes, even if they do not receive a majority; used in almost all American elections

Caucus

a meeting of party followers in which party delegates are selected

Momentum

when a candidate wins (especially an upset win), they tend to do better than expected in future contests (also known as the bandwagon effect)

Battleground states

the most competitive states in the presidential election that either candidate could win (aka swing states)

Retrospective voting

voting for a candidate because you like their past actions in office

Prospective voting

voting for a candidate because you favor their ideas for handling issues

Valence issues

an issue on which everyone agrees, but the question is whether the candidate embraces the same view

Positional issue

issues in which rival candidates have opposing views and that also divide voters

Incumbent

the person already holding an elective office

Incumbency advantage

the tendency of incumbents to do better than otherwise similar challengers, especially in congressional elections

Gerrymandering

drawing the boundaries of legislative districts in bizarre or unusual shapes to favor one party

Surge and decline

tendency for the president’s party to do better in presidential years when they are at the top of the ticket (the surge), but to do worse when he is not because many voters are less enthusiastic and stay home (the decline)

Coattails

the alleged tendency of candidates to win more voters in an election because of the presence at the top of the ticket of a better-known candidate, such as the president

Political action committee (PACs)

committees set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raise and spend campaign money from voluntary donations

Independent expenditures

spending by political action committees, corporations, or labor unions to help a party or candidate but are independent from the party or candidate

Soft money

funds obtained by political parties that are spent on party activities, such as get-out-the-vote drives, but not on behalf of a specific candidate

527 organizations

organizations under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code that raise and spend money to advance political causes

Super PAC

a group that raises and spends unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, and individuals but cannot coordinate its activities with campaigns in any way

501( c )4 group

a social welfare organization that can devote no more than 50% of its funds to politics. sometimes referred to as “dark money” groups because they do not have to disclose their donors

Interest group

an organization of people sharing a common interest or goal that seeks to influence public policy

Lobbyist

a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of an interest group`

Free rider problem

the tendency of individuals to avoid contributing to public goods

Public good

something of value that all individuals share, whether or not they contribute to it (such as clean air or water)

Incentive

something of value one cannot get without joining an organization

Solidary incentives

the social rewards (sense of pleasure, status, or companionship) that lead people to join political organizations

Material incentives

money or things valued in monetary terms

Purposive incentive

a benefit that comes from serving a cause or principle

Ideological interest groups

political organizations that attract members by appealing to their political convictions or principles

Public-interest lobby

a political organization whose goals will principally benefit nonmembers

Political cue

a signal telling a legislator what values are at stake in a vote, and how the issue fits into their own political views on party agenda

Ratings

assessments of a representative’s voting record on issues important to an interest group

Earmark

a provision in a law that provides a direct benefit to a client without the benefit having been reviewed on the merits by all of Congress

Grassroots lobbying

using the general public (rather than lobbyists) to contact government officials about a public policy

Sound bite

a radio or video clip of someone speaking

Blog

a series, or log, of discussion items on a page of the World Wide Web

Fake news

manufactured stories typically designed to support a particular point of view or candidate

Trial balloon

information leaked to the media to test public reaction to a possible policy

Selective exposure

consuming only those news stories with which one already agrees

Agenda-setting (gatekeeping)

the ability of the news media, by printing stories about some topics and not others, to shape the public agenda

Priming

the ability of the news media to influence the factors individuals use to evaluate political elites

Framing

the way in which the news media, by focusing on some aspects of an issue, shapes how people view that issue

Watchdog

the press’s role as an overseer of government officials to ensure they act in the public interest

Game frame

the tendency of media to focus on political polls and strategy rather than on the issues

Horse-race (scorekeeper) journalism

news coverage that focuses on who is ahead rather than on the issues

Equal time rule

an FCC rule that if a broadcaster sells time to one candidate, it must sell equal time to other candidates

Political culture

a patterned and sustained way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out

Civic duty

a belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs

Civic competence

a belief that one can affect government politics

Class-consciousness

a belief that one is a member of an economic group whose interests are opposed to people in other such groups

Orthodox

a belief that morality and religion ought to be of decisive importance

Progressive

a belief that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion

Civil society

voluntary action that makes cooperation easier

Public opinion

how people think or feel about particular things

Poll

a survey of public opinion

Random sampling

method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected

Sampling error

the difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time

Exit polls

polls based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly selected voters

Question wording

the way in which survey questions are phrased, which influences how respondents answer them

Political socialization

process by which one’s family influences one’s political views

Impressionable years hypothesis

argument that political experiences during the teens and early 20s powerfully shapes attitudes for the rest of the life cycle

Gender gap

difference in political views between men and women

Partisanship

an individual’s identification with a party; whether they consider themselves a Democrat, Republican, or Independent

Party sorting

the alignment of partisanship and issue positions so that Democrats tend to take more liberal positions and Republicans tend to take more conservative ones

Political ideology

a more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue

Political elites

persons with a disproportionate share of political power

Heuristics

informational shortcuts used by voters to make a decision

Political participation

the many different ways that people take part in politics and government

Voting-age population (VAP)

citizens who are eligible to vote after reaching the minimum age requirement

Voting-eligible population (VEP)

citizens who have reached the minimum age to be eligible to vote, excluding those who are not legally permitted to cast a ballot

Literacy test

a requirement that citizens show that they can read before registering to vote

Poll tax

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

Grandfather clause

a clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867

White primary

the practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states’ primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation

Australian ballot

a government-printed ballot of uniform dimension to be cast in secret that many states adopted around 1890 to reduce voting fraud associated with party-printed ballots cast in public

Voter identification laws

laws requiring citizens to show a government-issued photo ID in order to vote

Activists

people who tend to participate in all forms of politics

Civil rights

the rights of people to be treated without unreasonable or unconstitutional differences

Separate-but-equal doctrine

the doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that African-Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities

De jure segregation

racial segregation that is required by law

De facto segregation

racial segregation that occurs in schools, not as a result of the law, but as a result of patterns of residential settlement

Suspect classification

classifications of people based on their race or ethnicity; laws so classifying people are subject to “strict scrutiny”

Civil disobedience

opposing a law one considers unjust by peacefully disobeying it and accepting the resultant punishment

Police powers

state power to effect laws promoting health, safety, and morals

Equality of results

making certain that people achieve the same result

Equality of opportunity

giving people an equal chance to succeed