CH. 6-9 AP GOV

Nomination

The official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party.

Campaign Strategy

The master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign.

National Party Convention

The supreme power within each of the parties that meets every four years to nominate the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates and to write the party's platform.

McGovern-Fraser Commission

A commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation.

Superdelegates

Nation party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the national party convention.

Caucus

A meeting of all the state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention usually organized as a pyramid.

Presidential Primaries

An election in which voters in a state vote for a candidate.

Frontloading

The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.

National Primary

A proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries, which would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year.

Regional Primaries

A proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries to replace these electoral methods with a series of primaries held in each geographic region.

Party Platform

A political party's statement of its goals and politics for the next four years, the best formal statement of a party's beliefs.

Direct Mail

A high-tech method of raising money for a political cause or candidate involving sending information and requests for money to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past.

Federal Election Campaign Act

A law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances, creating the Federal Election Commission, providing public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, and limiting contributions.

Federal Election Commission

A six-member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 to administer and enforce campaign finance laws.

Presidential Election Campaign Fund

Money from the $3 federal income tax check-off goes into this fund, which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns.

Matching Funds

Contributions of up to $250 matched from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to candidates for the presidential nomination who qualify and agree to meet various conditions.

Soft Money

Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising, banned by the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002.

527 Groups

Independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates.

501 Groups

Groups exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions, specified by Section 501c of the tax code.

Political Action Committees

Funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms that can be created by a corporation, union, or other interest group and registered with the Federal Election Commission.

Selective Perception

The phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predispositions.

Agenda-setting function of the government

The ability of government officials and institutions to determine which issues will be addressed through laws, hearings, or policy proposals.

Agenda-setting function of the media

The media's power to influence which political issues the public considers important by choosing what to cover and how prominently.

Divided government

When one political party controls the presidency and the other controls one or both chambers of Congress.

Political socialization

The process by which individuals acquire political beliefs, values, and opinions (influenced by family, school, media, peers, religion).

American traditional political values

Individualism, liberty, equality of opportunity, democracy, and free-market capitalism.

Voting patterns of members of Congress

Legislators typically vote along party lines, influenced by party leadership, ideology, constituency interests, and interest groups.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Supreme Court case ruling that corporations and unions may spend unlimited money on independent political expenditures (free speech), leading to Super PACs.

Party identification

A citizen's long-term psychological attachment to a political party.

Political party

An organized group that seeks to influence government policy by nominating candidates and winning elections.

Media coverage during a presidential election

Focuses on candidate images, debates, polls, campaign strategy, and scandals rather than detailed policy discussion.

Demographic groups more likely to vote Republican

White voters, evangelical Christians, rural voters, higher-income individuals, older voters.

Demographic groups more likely to vote Democrat

Racial minorities, urban voters, younger voters, women, lower-income individuals, union members.

Political ideology

A coherent set of beliefs about the role of government in society (e.g., liberal, conservative, libertarian).

Political Action Committee (PAC)

An organization that raises money to support or oppose candidates and legislation.

Who most frequently benefits from PAC donations?

Incumbents, because they are more likely to win and have established influence.

Pendleton Act of 1883

Established the merit-based civil service system and reduced patronage.

527s

Tax-exempt organizations that raise unlimited money for political activities but cannot directly coordinate with campaigns.

Causes for low voter turnout

Voter apathy, registration requirements, lack of competitive elections, distrust in government, weekday elections.

Electoral College

The system in which states' electors formally elect the president based on popular vote results in each state.

When no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, who chooses the winner?

The House of Representatives (each state delegation gets one vote).

Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA)

Regulated campaign finance, required disclosure of contributions, and created the FEC.

Most common form of American political participation

Voting in elections.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold)

Banned soft money contributions to national parties and limited issue ads close to elections.

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

Ruled that spending money is a form of free speech; limits on individual contributions are constitutional, but limits on campaign spending are not.

Federal matching funds

Public funds given to presidential candidates who agree to spending limits during primaries.

Realigning election

An election that produces a long-lasting shift in party loyalty and voter coalitions.

Split-ticket voting

Voting for candidates from different political parties in the same election.

Sound bites

Short, memorable clips of speech used by media to summarize candidates' messages.

Political efficacy

A citizen's belief that their participation can influence government (internal and external efficacy).

Closed primary vs. open primary

Closed primary: Only registered party members may vote. Open primary: Any voter may choose which party's primary to vote in.

Front-loading

States scheduling primaries early to gain influence in the nomination process.

Result in a winner-take-all, single-member district plurality system

Duverger's Law, which encourages a two-party system.

Party machine

A party organization that uses patronage and rewards to gain voter support.

Primaries vs. caucuses

Primaries: State-run elections where voters cast ballots. Caucuses: Party meetings where members discuss and vote publicly.

Examples of linkage institutions influencing the policy process

Political parties, elections, interest groups, and the media.

Public opinion polls

Surveys measuring public attitudes; used by politicians to gauge voter preferences.

Functions of political parties

Recruit candidates, run campaigns, formulate policy positions, mobilize voters, and organize government.