APGOV UNIT 5

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Political Participation

The wide range of activities citizens use to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue (e.g., voting, donating, protesting).

Political Efficacy

A citizen's belief that their vote matters and that they can influence government policies.

Suffrage

The legal right to vote.

Voter Turnout

The percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election.

15th Amendment

Granted African American men the right to vote (1870).

17th Amendment

Allowed for the direct election of U.S. Senators by the people instead of by state legislatures (1913).

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote (1920).

24th Amendment

Abolished the poll tax, which was used to discourage voting, particularly by African Americans (1964).

26th Amendment

Lowered the national voting age from 21 to 18 (1971).

Rational-Choice Voting

Voting based on what a citizen perceives to be in their own best interest.

Retrospective Voting

Voting based on the candidate's or party's past performance in office (looking backward).

Prospective Voting

Voting based on predicting how a candidate or party will perform in the future (looking forward).

Party-Line / Straight-Ticket Voting

Voting for all of the candidates of only one political party on a ballot.

Political Mobilization

The process by which political parties, interest groups, or social movements attempt to persuade people to participate in politics.

Party Identification (Party ID)

A citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other.

Primary Election

An election held to select a party’s candidates for the general election.

Open Primary

A primary election in which voters are not required to declare party affiliation and may vote in the primary of any party.

Closed Primary

A primary election in which only voters registered with a particular party can cast a ballot.

Caucus

A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and decide the platform.

General Election

An election held to choose which candidate will hold office.

Midterm Election

A general election that takes place halfway through a president's four-year term.

Presidential Election

An election held every four years to elect the President and Vice President of the United States.

Winner-Take-All System

An election system in which the candidate who wins the most votes in a state secures all of that state's delegates or electoral votes.

Proportional System

An election system in which delegates or seats are allocated based on the percentage of votes a party or candidate receives.

Electoral College

A body of people representing the states, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.

Battleground / Swing State

A state where the two major parties have similar levels of support, making the election outcome uncertain.

Incumbency Advantage

The measurable advantage that sitting officeholders have over their challengers in election campaigns (due to name recognition, funding, and resources).

Candidate-Centered Campaigns

Campaigns where the focus is primarily on the candidate's personality, image, and policy stances rather than on the party platform.

Party Platform

A formal set of goals, policies, and principles officially adopted by a political party.

Party Realignment

A dramatic, long-lasting shift in the electoral coalition supporting the dominant political party, often triggered by a Critical Election.

Critical Election

An election that signals a party realignment through a lasting change in the political coalition.

Coalition Building

The process by which different groups or parties voluntarily come together to cooperate on a common goal or to elect a candidate.

Third Parties

Any political party in a two-party system besides the two major ones (e.g., Green Party, Libertarian Party).

Spoiler Effect

The argument that a third party's run for office can "spoil" the election for one of the major party candidates by drawing votes away from them.

Party Adaptation

The process by which political parties adjust their strategies, platforms, or messaging to remain competitive and appeal to changing demographics and issues.

Linkage Institutions

Structures within a society that connect the people to the government or the centralized authority (e.g., parties, elections, media, interest groups).

Interest Group

An organization of people sharing common objectives who actively attempt to influence government policy.

Lobbying

The act of trying to influence a government official (legislator or regulator) on behalf of an interest group.

Free Rider Problem

The difficulty interest groups face in recruiting members when the benefits they achieve (e.g., clean air) are available to non-members at no cost.

Selective Benefits

Goods (such as information publications, travel discounts, or group insurance) that a group can restrict to those who pay membership dues to overcome the Free Rider Problem.

Iron Triangles

A unique, mutually beneficial relationship between a congressional committee, an interest group, and a corresponding executive branch agency.

Issue Networks

A complex, loose web of people and groups (interest groups, think tanks, academics, and members of Congress/the bureaucracy) who debate and influence policy in a specific area, replacing the rigid Iron Triangle model in many policy areas.

Amicus Curiae Briefs

Legal documents filed in court cases by non-litigants (like interest groups) with a strong interest in the subject matter, seeking to influence the court's decision.

Hard Money

Campaign contributions donated directly to candidates and political parties. These are regulated and limited by federal law.

Soft Money

Historically, unregulated funds donated to political parties for "party-building" activities like voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts (mostly banned by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, but replaced by other forms of spending).

FEC (Federal Election Commission)

A six-member bipartisan agency created to administer and enforce campaign finance laws.

Political Action Committee (PAC)

A regulated organization created by corporations, unions, or interest groups to raise and spend Hard Money contributions for election purposes. They can donate directly to candidates.

Super PAC

Officially known as independent expenditure-only committees, they can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on Independent Expenditures but cannot coordinate their spending with a candidate's campaign.

Independent Expenditures

Spending by political committees (like Super PACs) or individuals that advocates for or against a candidate but is done independently of the candidate's campaign.

Dark Money

Funds spent by nonprofit organizations (often 501(c)(4) groups) on politics that are not required to disclose their donors.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

A Supreme Court case that ruled that political spending by corporations and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, leading to the rise of Super PACs and increased independent expenditures.

Mass Media

All means of communication that can reach the general public (e.g., television, radio, newspapers, the Internet).

Gatekeeping

The media's role in influencing what subjects become national policy issues and for how long, by choosing which stories to cover.

Scorekeeper / Horse-Race Journalism

The media's focus on which political candidate is winning or losing the campaign, rather than on the issues or policy positions.

Watchdog Journalism

The media's role in scrutinizing and investigating political figures, organizations, and public policies to expose corruption or wrongdoing.

Fake News / Misinformation

False or inaccurate information that is intentionally or unintentionally spread through news channels or social media.

Narrowcasting:

Targeting media programming at a specific population or audience segment (e.g., Fox News, MSNBC, ESPN)

Social Media Algorithms

Computer processes that filter and prioritize content on social platforms, often contributing to the creation of filter bubbles by showing users information that aligns with their past viewing habits or expressed preferences.

Data Analytics in Campaigns

The use of large datasets, statistical modeling, and demographic information to precisely target voters with specific messages and maximize political mobilization.