gov unit 5

influencial factors of president election

incumbency (someone already in office), open and closed policy, caucuses (political party meetup), general elections, electoral college

open and closed policy

election where only voters who are registered as members of a specific political party can vote in that party's primary

election where any registered voter can participate and choose either party's ballot in the voting booth, regardless of their own party registration.

congressional election factors

incumbency, open/closed primary elections, “coat tails”(following family opinions)

Fifteenth Amendment

extended suffrage to African American men

Seventeenth Amendment

established the popular election of US senators

Nineteenth Amendment

extended suffrage to women

23 amendment

provides 3 electoral votes to D.C

Twenty-fourth Amendment

declared poll taxes void in federal elections

Twenty-sixth Amendment

extended suffrage to people ages 18 to 20 by lowering the voting age from 21 to 18

Voting Rights Act of 1965

end literacy test to vote helping african americans vote

retrospective voting

voting based on whether the party or candidate in power should be reelected because of the recent past

looking at past to decide

prospective voting

voting based on predictions about how a party or candidate will perform in the future looking forward, how will things be dif in future

poll tax

fixed-sum tax once used by some states as a precondition for registering to vote in order to discourage certain groups from participation

federal election committee

independent regulatory agency of the U.S. government created in 1975 to enforce federal campaign finance laws, what enforces hard money

hard money

• Contributions given directly to a federal candidate’s official campaign committee or a political party in connection with a specific federal election

• regulated by the Federal Election Commission

Political Action Committee (PAC)

is a private group that pools money from members or donors to elect or defeat political candidates

collects all the money and evenly distributes it to canidates

soft money

Contributions given to political parties or committees rather than directly to an individual candidate, unregulated and unlimited amounts of money raised by political parties

buckley v valeo 1976

he did not want a limit on the amount he could contribute to a candidate's campaign, the court said that there needs to be a limit on the amount someone can donate to a canidate

citizens united v. FEC

ruled that the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause prohibits the government from restricting independent political expenditures

can put limits on hard money (no direct money to candidate) but cannot limit soft money

The Supreme Court agreed with Citizens United on the core constitutional issue., However, the Court agreed with the FEC on a secondary issue: it upheld the laws requiring organizations to publicly disclose who funded their political advertisements

dark money and super pacs

do not have to say who donated to the soft money- right to association in 1st amendment

rational choice voting

voting based on what is perceived to be in a citizen’s individual interest

party-line voting

supporting one political party by voting for its candidates for all public offices at the same level of government

like following family’s line opinon

structural barriers

procedures that prevent people from voting like age, registering

political efficany

not voting because you believe you do not know enough

linkage institution

what link voters to a party - political parties, interest groups, elections, media

National Voter Registration Act of 1993

also called the "Motor Voter Act"; makes it easier for voters to register by requiring states to allow citizens to register when applying for or renewing a driver's license

compulsory voting

laws that require citizens to register and vote in local and national elections

political efficacy

citizen’s belief that their vote matters and can influence government policies

linkage institutions

groups in society that connect people to government and help turn public concerns into issues on the government’s policy agenda, including political parties, interest groups, elections, and the media

party platform

list of goals outlining a party’s positions on issues and political priorities

political party

organization of people with similar political ideologies that seeks to influence public policy by getting its candidates elected