Exam 2 Poli 2051 Hogan

Census

a count of the American population conducted every 10 years.

Civil Disobedience

a form of unconventional participation designed ti consciously break a law thought to be unjust

Demography

the science of human population

Exit Polls

a poll taken at randomly selected polling places after the citizen has placed their vote

Gender Gap

a consistent attitudinal pattern where women are more likely than men to express liberal attitudes and support to democratic candidates

Melting Pot

the mixtures of cultures, ideas, and people in the US

Minority Majority

a reference to the impending status of White, Anglo-Saxon Americans, currently holding majority status

Political culture

an overall set of values widely shared in a society

Political ideology

a coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy

Political participation

the activities used by citizens to influence political outcomes

Political socialization

the process by which citizens acquire their knowledge, feelings, and evaluations of the political world

Protest

a form of political participation design to change policy through unconventional tactics

Public Opinion

the distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and issues

Random digit dialing

phone numbers are dialed at random around the country

Random sampling

a polling technique which is based on the principle that everyone has an equal probability of being selected to be apart of the sample

Reapportionment

the reallocation of 435 seats in the house of representatives based on changes of residency and population found in the census

Sample

a small portion of the population chosen as representative of the whole population

Sampling Error

the level of confidence involved in a sample result- the level is dependent on the size of the sample

Beats

specific locations where news is frequently found

Broadcast media

one of the kinds of media, including tv and radio

Chains

media conglomerates that control a large percentage of daily newspaper circulation and some tv and radio stations as well

High-tech politics

Politics where technology has shaped political behavior and the political agenda

Investigative journalism

the use of detective-like report methods to unearth scandals

Mass media

media which reaches and influences both elites and the masses.

Media event

an event staged primarily for the purpose of being covered.

Narrowcasting

strategy of some broadcast channels that appeal to a narrow, rather than a broad, audience.

Policy agenda

the list of subjects or problems to which government officials and people outside of government closely associated with those officials are paying some serious attention at any given time.

Policy entrepreneurs

political activists who invest their political capital in an issue.

Press conferences

presidential meetings with the press.

Print media

one of two kinds of media, includes newspapers and magazines.

Sound bites

a portion of a speech aired on TV of fifteen seconds or less.

Talking head

a shot of a person's face talking directly into the camera.

Trial balloons

information leaked to the media to see what the political reaction will be.

Blanket primaries

nomination contests where voters are presented with a list of the candidates from all the parties and allows them to pick candidates from all parties.

Coalition

a set of individuals and groups supporting a political party.

Coalition governments

governments where smaller parties combine with larger parties to control half of the seats in the legislature.

Closed primaries

nomination contests where only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote.

Critical election

an election where each party's coalition of support begins to break up and a new coalition of forces is formed for each party.

Linkage institutions

institutions such as parties, elections, interest groups, and the media translate inputs from the public into outputs from policymakers.

National chairperson

the person responsible for taking care of the day-to-day activities and daily duties of the party.

National committee

a coalition of representatives from the states and territories charged with maintaining the party between elections.

National convention

the supreme power within each party, which meets every four years, writes the party platform, and nominates candidates for president and vice president.

New Deal coalition

the new coalition of forces (urban, unions, Catholics, Jews, the poor, southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals) in the Democratic party that was forged as a result of national economic crisis associated with the Great Depression.

Open primaries

nomination contests where voters can decide on election day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contest.

Party competition

the battle between the two dominant parties in the American system.

Party dealignment

when voters move away from both parties.

Party eras

occasions where there has been a dominant majority party for long periods of time.

Party identification

the self-proclaimed preference for one or the other party.

Party image

is what voters know or think they know about what each party stands for.

Party machine

a particular kind of party organization that depends on both specific and material inducements for rewarding loyal party members.

Party neutrality

when voters have an indifferent attitude toward both parties.

Party realignment

process whereby the major political parties form new support coalitions that endure for a long period.

Patronage

one of the key inducements used by machines whereby jobs are given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.

Political party

a team of men and women seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.

Proportional representation

an electoral system where legislative seats are allocated on the basis of each party's percentage of the national vote.

Rational-choice theory

a theory that seeks to explain political processes and outcomes as consequences of purposive behavior, where political actors are assumed to have goals and who pursue those goals rationally.

Responsible party model

an ideal model of party organization recommending that parties provide distinct programs, encourage candidates to be committed to the party platform, intend to implement their programs, and accept responsibility for the performance of government.

Third parties

minor parties which either promote narrow ideological issues or are splinter groups from the major parties.

Ticket-splitting

voting with one party for one office and another for other offices. Winner-take-all system: an electoral system where whoever gets the most votes wins the election

Campaign strategy

the way candidates use scarce resources to achieve the nomination or win office.

Caucus

a meeting to determine which candidate delegates from a state party will support.

Direct mail

the use of targeted mailings to prospective supporters, usually compiled from lists of those who have contributed to candidates and parties in the past.

Federal Election Campaign Act

1974 legislation designed to regulate campaign contributions and limit campaign expenditures.

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

A bipartisan body charged with administering campaign finance laws.

Frontloading

states' decisions to move their presidential primaries and caucuses to earlier in the nomination season in order to capitalize on media attention.

Matching funds

money provided to qualifying presidential candidates from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, the amount of which is determined by the amount of contributions raised by the candidate.

McGovern-Fraser Commission

a committee in the Democratic party charged with recommending changes in party rules to promote more representation of women and minorities in the delegate selection process.

National party convention

a meeting of the delegates from each state to determine the party's nominee for president.

National primary

a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries systems who would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year.

Nomination

a party's official endorsement of a candidate for office.

Party platform

the party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years.

Political Action Committee (PAC)

a legal entity formed expressly for the purpose of contributing money to candidates and influencing electoral outcomes.

Presidential Election Campaign Fund

Money from the $3 federal income tax check-off goes into this fund, which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns.

Presidential primaries

a state-level election to determine which candidate the state's delegates will support.

Regional primaries

a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries to replace these electoral methods with a series of primaries held in each geographic region.

Selective perception

the act of paying the most attention to things that one already agrees with or has a predisposition towards.

Soft money

money raised by political parties for voter registration drives and the distribution of campaign material at the grass roots level, now banned at the national level.

Superdelegates

delegates to the Democratic Party's national convention who obtain their seats on the basis of their positions within the party structure.

527 groups

independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly advocate the election of a particular candidate.

Actual group

a group composed of those in the potential group who are members of the interest group.

Amicus curiae briefs

friend of the court briefs filed by interest groups to inform the court of their position and to state how their welfare would be affected by a ruling.

Class action lawsuits

a technique used by interest groups which allows groups of people with similar complaints to combine their grievances into a single suit.

Collective good

something of value which cannot be withheld from individuals in the potential group.

Electioneering

helping sympathetic candidates get into office.

Elite theory

argues that because only a few groups have enough power to influence policy, power is concentrated into a few interlocking power centers.

Free-rider problem

a situation where individuals let others work to secure a collective good and then enjoy the benefit without contributing anything to the group effort.

Hyperpluralist theory

argues that too many groups are getting what they want at the expense of the unrepresented and that this behavior leads to incoherent public policy.

Interest groups

organizations where people with similar policy goals enter the political process to achieve those goals.

Lobbying

a communication by someone other than a citizen acting on his or her own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her decision.

Olson's law of large groups

suggests that the larger the group, the more difficult it will be to secure enough of the collective good to encourage participation.

Pluralist theory

argues that interest group activities provide additional representation and compete against each other to influence political outcomes.

Political action committees

a legal means for groups to participate in elections by contributing money.

Potential group

a group composed of all people who share some common interest.

Public interest lobbies

organizations that seek a collective good which does not only benefit their membership.

Right-to-work law

a state law that forbids the requirement of union membership as a condition of employment.

Selective benefits

these benefits are goods that a group can restrict to those who are members.

Single-issue groups

groups which have very narrow interests, shun compromise, and single-mindedly pursue goals.

Subgovernments

exclusive relationships composed of interest groups leaders, government agency personnel, and members of congressional committees who perform mutually beneficial services for each other at the public's expense.

Union shop

a rule established to prevent free-riders by requiring new employees to join the union where one has been granted bargaining rights.

Bicameral legislature

a legislature that is divided into two chambers.