AP Gov Unit 5

Political Action Committee

a political committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates.

Linkage Institution

channels that connect individuals with government - Elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

allows those eighteen years old and older to vote

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

prohibits Congress and the states from imposing poll taxes as a condition for voting in federal elections

Party-line Voting

voting for candidates who belong only to one
political party for all of the offices on the ballot

Electoral College

Voters do not cast ballots directly for the president
• Voting for a slate of electors pledged to vote for a nominee
• Candidate needs 270 votes to win out of 538 total
- House of Representatives decides if no majority reached
• Candidates do not need to win the popular vote
• Candidate that receives the most votes at the state level wins all of the electoral votes for that state

Winner-Take-All System

Candidate that receives the most votes at the state level wins all of the electoral votes for that state

Battleground State

a state where the polls show a close contest between
the Republican and Democratic candidate in a presidential election

Swing State

a state where levels of support for the parties are similar and
elections swing back and forth between Democrats and Republicans

Super PAC

An organization that may spend an unlimited
amount of money on a political campaign, as long
as the spending is not coordinated with a campaign

Straight Ticket Voting

Voting for all of the candidates on the
ballot from one political party

Split Ticket Voting

when a voter in an election votes for candidates from different political parties

Party Platform

a set of positions and policy objectives that members of a political party
agree to

Nomination

the formal process
through which parties choose their candidates for office

Delegate

a person who acts as the voters' representative at a
convention to select the party's nominee

Primary Election

an election in which a state's voters choose
delegates who support a presidential candidate for nomination or an election
by a plurality vote to select a party's nominee for a seat in Congress

Open Primary

all eligible voters may vote, regardless of their party affiliation

Closed Primary

only those who have registered as a member of a political party may vote

Caucus

A process through which a state's eligible voters meet to select delegates to represent their preferences in the nomination process

Superdelegate

a party leader or activist who is not pledged to a
candidate based on the outcome of the state's primary or caucus

Two Party System

a system in which two political parties
dominate politics, winning almost all elections

Proportional Representation System

an electoral system for a
legislature in which citizens vote for parties, rather than
individuals, and parties are represented in the legislature
according to the percentage of the vote they receive

Single Member Plurality System

choosing
members of the legislature where the winner is the candidate who
receives the most votes, even if the candidate does not receive a majority
(more than 50%) of the votes

Third Party

A minor political party in competition with the two major parties

Interest Groups

voluntary associations of people who come
together with the goal of getting the policies that they favor
enacted

Economic Interests Groups

advocate on behalf of the financial interests of
their members

Public Interest Groups

act on behalf of the collective interests of a broad
group of individuals

Single Issue Groups

associations focusing on one specific area of
public policy, often a moral issue about which they are
unwilling to compromise

Government Interest Groups

organizations acting on behalf of local, state,
or foreign governments

Lobbying

Interacting with government officials to advance a group's public
policy goals

Iron Triangle

the coordinated and mutually beneficial
activities of the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups to
achieve shared policy goals

Issue Network

the webs of influence between interest
groups, policymakers, and policy advocates

Grassroots Lobbying

mobilizing interest group members to pressure
their representatives by contacting them directly through phone calls,
email, and social media

News Media

a broad term that includes newspapers, magazines,
radio, television, internet sources, blogs, and social media postings
that cover important events

Social Media

forms of electronic communication that enable
users to create and share content or to participate in social
networking

Partisan Bias

the slanting of political news coverage in support of a particular party or ideology

Horse-Race Journalism

focus on the latest polls, emphasizing the drama of who is winning
- coverage of political campaigns that focuses more on the drama of the
campaign than on policy issues.
- May lead to Americans not knowing anything substantial about the
policy agendas of candidates