AP U.S. Government: Elections, Voting Behavior, and Campaign Finance

Comprehensive practice flashcards reviewing redistricting, presidential elections, campaign finance, voting trends, and constitutional amendments.

Gerrymandering

The deliberate manipulation of legislative district boundaries by the majority party in a state legislature to create an electoral advantage for a specific political party or faction.

Reapportionment

The reallocation of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the states every 10 years based on population shifts recorded in the national census.

Redistricting

The redrawing of congressional and state legislative district boundaries within each state to reflect changes in population after the decennial census and reapportionment.

Cracking (Wasted Vote)

A gerrymandering method that spreads opposing voters thinly across multiple districts so they are consistently outnumbered by the majority party and cannot win any of those seats.

Packing (Excess Vote)

A gerrymandering method that concentrates opposing party voters into as few districts as possible, ensuring they win those few seats overwhelmingly while diluting their electoral power across all other districts.

Stacking

A form of packing used to assemble a significant demographic or ethnic minority population into a single geographic area to form a majority-minority district.

Majority-Minority District

An electoral district in which a racial or ethnic minority group constitutes a numeric majority of the voting-age population.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

A Supreme Court decision ruling that congressional redistricting plans drawn with race as the sole or predominant factor violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and must satisfy strict scrutiny.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

A landmark Supreme Court decision ruling that legislative apportionment issues are justiciable under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, establishing the principle of 'one person, one vote.'

Preclearance

A requirement under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 mandating that states with a history of voting discrimination secure prior approval from the federal government before altering voting laws or redistricting maps.

Incumbency Advantage

The electoral benefits held by existing officeholders over challengers, including high name recognition, command of the bully pulpit, proven campaign networks, established fundraising access, and existing staff.

Invisible Primary

The early phase before primary voting begins—also known as the media or money primary—where announced and unannounced candidates compete for financial donations, PAC endorsements, and standing in public opinion polls.

Closed Primary

A primary election in which voting is limited strictly to citizens who have previously registered with that specific political party.

Open Primary

A primary election where registered voters may decide on election day which political party's primary ballot they wish to cast, regardless of their own political party affiliation.

Blanket Primary

A primary election in which voters receive a single ballot containing candidates from all parties and can vote for candidates of different parties for different offices.

Caucus (Electoral)

A local meeting of political party members where participants deliberate, debate, and openly cast their votes to select convention delegates and candidate preferences.

Pledged Delegate

A representative awarded to a presidential candidate based on state primary or caucus vote results who is bound to support that candidate at the national party convention.

Superdelegate

A Democratic Party leader or elected official granted an automatic, unpledged delegate slot at the national party convention who is free to support any presidential candidate.

Front-Loading

The pattern of state governments moving their presidential primary elections or caucuses earlier in the calendar year to maximize national media exposure and sway over the candidate nomination.

Super Tuesday

A day in February or March during the presidential primary season when the largest number of U.S. states hold simultaneous primary elections and caucuses.

National Convention

A quadrennial meeting held by each major political party where state delegates cast their official votes to nominate their party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates and adopt a platform.

Electoral College

The constitutional body of 538 state electors representing the total members of Congress (plus three for Washington, D.C.) who officially cast ballots to choose the President and Vice President.

Winner-Take-All Allocation

The Electoral College rule applied in 48 states and Washington, D.C. where the presidential candidate who receives a plurality of the popular vote in that state receives all of its electoral votes.

Battleground State (Swing State)

A competitive state where polling indicates a tight presidential contest that could reasonably be won by either major party, making it a key focus of candidate time and financial resources.

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)

Legislation passed in the 1970s that created the Federal Election Commission (FEC), introduced mandatory disclosure of campaign contributions and spending, established public financing for presidential races, and set limits on personal contributions.

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

A Supreme Court ruling establishing that spending money to influence elections is protected free speech under the First Amendment, striking down total campaign expenditure caps and self-funding limits while upholding disclosure requirements and contribution caps.

Hard Money

Campaign funds donated directly to candidates, political parties, or PACs that are strictly limited in amount and fully regulated and disclosed under Federal Election Commission guidelines.

Soft Money

Unregulated financial contributions given to political parties for general party-building activities, issue advertising, and voter registration drives, rather than coordinated candidate advocacy.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002

Federal legislation, also known as the McCain-Feingold Act, that prohibited soft money contributions to national political party committees, restricted corporate and union funding of issue advertisements close to elections, and added the 'Stand by Your Ad' provision.

Express Advocacy

Political advertisements that clearly support or oppose a specific federal candidate using explicit 'magic words' such as 'vote for,' 'elect,' 'defeat,' 'support,' or 'reject.'

Issue Advocacy

Communications and advertising that promote viewpoints on specific public policy or social issues without expressly directing audiences to vote for or against a named candidate.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

A landmark Supreme Court decision ruling that the First Amendment protects the independent political spending of corporations and labor unions, striking down BCRA restrictions on corporate independent broadcasts in elections.

Independent Expenditures

Funds spent by individuals, groups, or committees on election communications to advocate for or against a candidate that are made entirely without consultation, cooperation, or coordination with that candidate's campaign.

Political Action Committee (PAC)

A formal organization registered with the FEC that collects contributions from individuals (up to $5,000 annually) to support candidates or parties through direct contributions and independent expenditures.

Connected PAC (Separate Segregated Fund / SSF)

A political action committee established by a corporation, union, or trade group that collects voluntary donations strictly from its members or employees to support political candidates.

Leadership PAC

A nonconnected political action committee established by a current or former elected official to raise funds from the general public to donate to other candidates' campaigns and build political capital.

Super PAC (Independent Expenditure-Only Committee)

A political committee formed after Citizens United that can raise unlimited funds from individuals, corporations, and unions to spend on independent expenditures, provided it does not coordinate with or donate directly to candidates.

Dark Money Group (501(c)(4))

A tax-exempt social welfare nonprofit regulated by the IRS that can raise unlimited donations without disclosing the identities of its donors, as long as candidate-focused electoral activity does not constitute the majority (over 50%) of its operations.

Voter Turnout

The proportion of voters who actually cast their ballots expressed as a percentage of the total voting-age population or voting-eligible population.

Political Efficacy

A citizen's trust in their own ability to understand political affairs and their belief that individual participation can influence government actions.

Voter Apathy

A lack of interest, motivation, or desire on the part of eligible citizens to participate in elections and the political process.

Voter Alienation

A sense of personal powerlessness and underrepresentation that causes an individual to refrain from voting because they feel the political system is unresponsive to people like them.

National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (Motor Voter Law)

A federal law enabling eligible citizens to register to vote simultaneously while applying for or renewing their driver's licenses at state Departments of Motor Vehicles.

Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002

A federal law passed after the 2000 election requiring states to upgrade electronic voting equipment, establish centralized voter registries, and improve ballot accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

A Supreme Court decision that invalidated the coverage formula in Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, effectively ending the federal preclearance process for states with past discriminatory voting practices.

Guinn v. United States (1915)

A Supreme Court decision ruling that grandfather clauses enacted by state legislatures were unconstitutional under the Fifteenth Amendment.

Smith v. Allwright (1944)

A Supreme Court ruling declaring the 'white primary' practice unconstitutional as a direct violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Landmark federal legislation that prohibited discriminatory voting practices, outlawed literacy tests, and authorized federal monitoring of election procedures in historically disenfranchised areas.

Rational-Choice Voting

A voting behavior model in which an individual reviews candidate platforms and issues to vote in a way that provides the greatest personal self-interest or individual benefit.

Party-Line Voting

A voting pattern where an individual holds strong loyalty to their political party and votes for every candidate belonging to that party across the entire ballot.

Retrospective Voting

A voter decision-making model where voters evaluate the recent past performance and track record of an incumbent candidate or party to decide whether to reelect them.

Prospective Voting

A voting model where voters make choices based on predictions and expectations of how a candidate will govern and address major issues in the future.

Valence Issue

A political issue on which voters share a broad consensus regarding the desired outcome (such as economic prosperity or lower crime), leading voters to evaluate which candidate is most competent to deliver it.

Salient Issue

An issue of prime public visibility and individual importance (such as the economy or healthcare) that most heavily influences an individual's candidate choice in an election.

Fifteenth Amendment

A constitutional amendment ratified in 1870 establishing that the right of U.S. citizens to vote cannot be denied or abridged based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Seventeenth Amendment

A constitutional amendment ratified in 1913 establishing the direct popular election of U.S. Senators by the citizens of each state rather than selection by state legislatures.

Nineteenth Amendment

A constitutional amendment ratified in 1920 guaranteeing that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

A constitutional amendment ratified in 1964 abolishing the requirement of paying a poll tax or any other tax to vote in federal elections.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

A constitutional amendment ratified in 1971 lowering the minimum legal voting age across the United States to eighteen years old.