Budris AP Gov Unit 5: POLITICAL PARTIES

Linkage Institutions

channels (connections) that allow individuals to communicate their preferences to policymakers. They include political parties, interest groups, elections, and the media.

Mobilization

efforts to organize voters to participate, especially in elections.

Party Platforms

document produced by the party to explain their positions on individual issues.

Critical Elections

elections that have produced shifts in which demographic groups generally support a particular party.

Realignment

when the base of political parties shifts, incorporating new demographic groups. (Parts of the public "line up" into different parties, as compared to the past).

Dealignment

when overall allegiance to either political party declines, making elections less predictable.

Party Coalition

a collection of different groups that form an alliance under one party in order to have a more influential role in politics.

Third Parties

US political parties outside of the two dominant parties--Democrats and Republicans.

Winner-take-all System

an electoral system where the winner of a plurality of votes is the sole winner in an electoral district.

Proportional System

an electoral system where national elections are held and parties are awarded seats in the legislature proportional to their success in the election (party wins 12% of the vote, gets 12% of the seats in the legislature)