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