AP Gov- Unit 5

Fifteenth Amendment

Elimination of race requirement for voting

Seventeenth Amendment

Direct election of senators

Nineteenth Amendment

Women allowed to vote

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Elimination of poll tax

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Lowering voting age to 18

The Constitution

Article I –Legislative Branch

Article II –Executive Branch

Article III — Judicial Branch

Article IV – Interstate relations

Article V – Amendment process

Rational Choice voting

Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s individual interest.

Retrospective voting

Voting to decide whether the party or candidate in power should be re-elected based on the recent past.

Prospective voting

Voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future.

Party-line voting

Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices at the same level of government.

Political efficacy

belief that you can participate in politics, or that government will respond (my vote counts)

Linkage Institutions

organizations that link the people with government

Interest Groups

a collection of people who share a common interest or attitude, and seek to influence government. These groups use fundraising and lobbying to influence the political process. Interest groups can be unions, government groups, businesses, think-tanks, or ideological groups

Critical (realigning) elections

An election during periods of expanded suffrage and change in the economy and society that proves to be a turning point, redefining the agenda of politics and the alignment of voters within parties.

Lobbying

Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact.

Iron Triangles

A policy-making alliance that involves a very strong ties among a congressional committee, an interest group, and a Federal Department or agency.

Issue Networks

Relationships among interest groups, congressional committees and subcommittees, and the government agencies that share a common policy concern.

Free Rider problem

An individual who does not to join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group’s influence.

Coalition

A temporary alliance of several groups who come together to form a working majority and so to control a government

Political action committee (PAC)

The political arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary basis from members, stockholders, or employees to contribute funds to candidates or political parties.

Super PAC

committees that may receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and other PACs for the purpose of financing independent expenditures and other independent political activity.

Bundling

A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a “bundle,” thus increasing the PAC’s influence.

Independent expenditures

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an independent expenditure.

winner take all system

Election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.

closed primary election

Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote.

open primary election

Primary election in which any voter, regardless of party, may vote.

caucus

A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.

General (presidential) elections

Elections in which voters elect officeholders.

Dealignment

Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.

The Electoral College

Electoral system used in electing the president and vice president, in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for particular party’s candidates.

Single member district

An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.

minor (third) party

A small political party that rises and falls with a charismatic candidate or, if composed of ideologies on the right or left, usually persists over time; also called a third party.

Gerrymandering

The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Apportionment of districts must be as fair as possible “one man, one vote”

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

In a 5-4 opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that the shape of the proposed district in North Carolina was bizarre enough that it could not be explained as anything other than an attempt to separate voters along racial lines.

bipartisan

A policy that emphasizes a united front and cooperation between the major political parties, especially on sensitive foreign policy issues.

midterm election

Elections held midway between presidential elections.

primary election

Elections in which voters determine party nominees.

political culture

The widely shared beliefs, values, and norms about how citizens relate to governments and to one another.

divided government

Governance divided between the parties, especially when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.

safe seat

Elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other, so the success of the party’s candidate is almost taken for granted.

coattail effect

The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot, especially the president.

candidate appeal

How voters feel about a candidate’s background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities.

national tide

The inclination to focus on national issues, rather than local issues, in an election campaign. The impact of the national tide can be reduced by the nature of the candidates on the ballot who might have differentiated themselves from their party or its leader if the tide is negative, as well as competition in the election.

name recognition

Incumbents have an advantage over challengers in election campaigns because voters are more familiar with them, and incumbents are more recognizable.

franking

the ability to send mail by one's signature rather than by postage

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

Largely banned party soft money, restored a long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes, and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy.

First Amendment

freedom of speech, assembly, petition, religion, press

FEC

A commission created by the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act to administer election reform laws. It consists of six commissioners appointed by president and confirmed by the Senate. Its duties include overseeing disclosure of campaign finance information and public funding of presidential elections, and enforcing contribution limits.

hard money

Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amounts and fully disclosed. Raising such limited funds is harder than raising unlimited funds, hence the term

issue advocacy

Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like “vote for” or “vote against,” although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates.

527 organizations

A political group organized under section 527 of the IRS code that may accept and spend unlimited amounts of money on election activities so long as they are not spent on broadcast ads run in the last 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election in which clearly identified candidate is referred to and a relevant electorate is targeted.

independent expenditures

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an independent expenditure.

mass media

Means of communication that are reaching the public, including newspapers and magazines, radio, television (broadcast, cable, and satellite), films, recordings, books, and electronic communication.

news media

Media that emphasize the news.

political socialization

The process by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs.

selective exposure

The process by which individuals screen out messages that do not conform to their own biases.

selective perception

The process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media messages.

horse-race journalist

A close contest; by extension, any contest in which the focus is on who is ahead and by how much rather than on substantive differences between the candidates.