Studied by 72 PeopleTags & Description
gerrymander
manipulate the boundaries of an electoral district to favor one party or class
redistricting
process of drawing electoral district boundaries
caucus
local gathering where voters publically decide which candidate to support
primary
statewide voting process where voters cast secret ballots for their preferred candidate
delegate
an elected representative sent to represent others
(national) convention
formal gathering to select the party's nominee for President
blue state
states carried by the Democrats in most presidential elections
red state
states carried by the Republicans in most presidential elections
incumbent
person currently holding the public office
party platform
formal set of principal goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate
swing state
state where both Democratic and Republican candidates receive strong support without an overwhelming majority of support for either party
public opinion
views of the general public
opinion poll
survey of questions designed to elicit the opinions of a population
propaganda
techniques used to sway the opinions of an audience
mudslinging
use of insults and accusations with the aim of damaging the reputation of an opponent.
soft money
a contribution to a political party that is not accounted for and unregulated
hard money
a contribution to a political party that is limited and regulated
political action committee
an organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaign for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation
Super PAC
an organization that collects and can spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of candidate, party, ballot initiative, or legislation
constituents
the people of an area who are represented by public politician
rank choice voting
is a method of voting allowing voters to rank multiple candidates in order of preference
Electoral College
a group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president
winner-take-all system
an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first
incumbent
the current officeholder