AP GOV LINKAGE INSTITUTIONS TEST

exit poll

public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision

political ideology

a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy and public purpose which helps give meaning to political events

political participation

all the activities used by citizens to influence the section of political leaders or the policies they pursue

protest

a form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics

critical election

an electoral “earthquake” where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Critical election periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era

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

Party Platform

a political party’s statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. The platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whos members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidates strength. It is the best formal statement of a party’s beliefs

direct mail

a method of raising money for a political cause or candidate in which information and requests for money are sent 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. the act created the federal election commission (FEC), provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions

Political action committee

groups that raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to candidates that the group supports. PAC’s must register with the fec adn report their donations and contributions to it. Individual contributions to a PAC are limited to $5,000/year and a PAC may give up to $5,000/candidate for each election

Citizens United v. FEC

a 2010 landmark supreme court case that ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures

501(c) groups

groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions. section 501C of the tax code specifies that these groups cannot spend more than half their funds on political activities

Super PAC’s

Independent expenditure-only PACs are known as super PACS because they can accept donations of any size and can endorse candidates. Their contributions and expenditures must be periodically reported to the FEC

Motor Voter Act

a 1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license

mandate theory of elections

the idea that the winnning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his/her platforms and politics. politicians like the theory better than political scientists do

chains

groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates and today accounting for over 4/5ths of the nations daily newspaper circulation

talking head

a shot of a persons face talking directly to the camera. because its visually unappealing, the major commercial networks rarely show a politician talking one-on-one for long

elitism

a theory of government and politics contending that an upper class elite will hold most of the power and thus run the government

collective good

something of value that cannot be withheld from a potential group member

public opinion

the distribution of the populations beliefs about politics and policy issues

demography

the scientific study of population changes

census

an “actial enumeration” of the populaiton which the constitution requires that the government conduct every 10 years. the census is a valuable tool for unnderstanding demographic changes

melting pot

a term often used to characterize the united states with its history of immigration and mixing cultures, ideas, and peoples

minority majority

the situation likely beginning in the mid-twentyfirst century, in which the non-hispanic whites will represent a minority of the u.s. population and minority groups together will represent a majority

reapportionment

the process of reallocating seats in the house of representative every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census

political socialization

the process by which individuals in a society acquire poltical attitudes, views, and knowledge based on unputs from family, schools, the media, and others

three factos of political socializaiton

family, media, school

sample

a relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole

random sampling

a key technique employed by survey researchers which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample

sampling error

the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. The more people interviewed, the more confident one can be of the results

random digit dialing

a technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey

gender gap

the regular pattern in which women are more likely to support democratic candidates because they are less conservative than men and more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending

civil disobedience

form of political participation based on a conscious decision to break a law believed to be unjust and to suffer the consequences

political party

according to Anthony Downs, a team of men/women seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election

linkage institutions

the channels through which peoples concerns become political issues on the governments policy agenda. in the us, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media

tasks of the parties

pick candidates, run campaigns, giv cues to voters, articulate policies, coordinate policymaking

rational choice theory

a popular theory in political science that explains the actions of voters as well as politicians. it assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives

party image

the voters perception of what the republicans or democrats stand for such as conservatism or liberalism

party identification

a citizens self-proclaimed preference for one party or another

ticekt splitting

voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices

party machines

a type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements such as patronage to win votes and to govern

patronage

one of the key inducements used by party machines. a patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone

2 party system

political system in which the candidates of only two major parties have any chance of winning

proportional representation

an election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote

winner-take-all system

an electoral system in which the party that recieves at least one more vote than any other party wins the election

closed primaries

elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party’s. candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty

open primaries

elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on elections day whether they want to participate in the democratic or republican contest

polarization

the presence of increasingly conflicting and divided viewpoints between the democratica nd republican parties

national convention

the meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential tickt and writes the partys platform

national committee

one of the insitutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. the national committee is composed of representatives from the states and territories

national chairperson

the person responsible for the day to day activities of the party

coalition government

when two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. This form of government it quite common in the multiparty systems of europe

party eras

historical periods in which a majority of voters cling. tothe party in power which tends to win a majority of the elections

party realignment

the displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period

new deal coalition

coalition forged by the democrats who dominated american politics from the 1930s to the 1960s. its basic elements were the urban working class, ethnic groups, catholics, and jews, poor southerners, african americans, and intellectuals

party dealignment

the gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, seen in part by shrinking party identification

third parties

electoral contenders other than the two major paries. american third parties are not unusual but they rarely win elections

responsible party model

a view about how parties should work, held by some political scientists. according to the model, parties should offer clear choices to the voters and once in office should carry out their campaign promises

blue dog democrats

fiscally conservative democrats who are mostly from the south or rural parts of the us

nomination

the official endorsement of a candidate for the office by a political party. generally, success in the nomination game requires momentum, money, and media attention

campaign strategy

the master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign

national party convention

the supreme power within each party. the convention meets every four years to nominate the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates and to write the party’s platform

superdelegates

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

invisible primary

the period before any votes are cast when candidates compete to win early support from the elite of the party and to create a positive first impression of their leadership skills

caucus

a system for selecting convention delegates used in about a dozen states in which voters must attend an open meeting to express their presidential preference

presidential primaries

elections in which a states voters go to the polls to express their preference for a party’s nominee for the president. most delegates to the national party conventions are chosen this way too

frontloading

the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calder in order to capitalize on media attention

campaign contributions

donations that are made directly to a candidate or a party that must be reported to the fec

independent expenditures

expenses on behalf of a political message that are made by groups that are uncordinated with any candidates campaign

federal election commission

a six-member bipartisan agency created by the federal election campaign act of 1974. the federal election commission administers and enforces campaign finance laws

soft money

political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level for generic party advertising. For a time, such contributions were unlimited until they were banned by the McCain Feingold Act

527 groups

independent political groups that are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates. section 527 of the tax code specifies that contributions to such groups must be reported to the irs

selective perception

the phenomenon that people’s beliefs often guide what they pay the most attention to and how they interpret events

sufferage

the legal right to vote in the untited states, gradually extended to virtually all citizens over the age of 18

political efficacy

the belief that one’s political participation really matters- that ones vote actually makes a difference

civic duty

the belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote

voter registration

a system adopted by the states that require voters to register well beforep election day. a few states permit election-day registration

policy voting

electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters policy preferences and on the basis of where the candidates stand on policy issues

electoral college

a unique american institution created by the constitution providing for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the state parties

battleground states

the key states that the presidential campaigns focus on because they are most likely to decide the outcome of the electoral college vote

high-tech poltics

politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology

mass media

television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet, and other means of popular communication

media event

events that are purposely staged for the media that are significant just because the media is there

press conference

meetins of public officials with reporters

investigative journalism

the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders

print media

newspapers and magazines as compared with electronic media

electronic media

television, radio, and the internet as compared with print media

narrowcasting

media programming on cable tv (mtv, espn, or c-span) or the internet that is focused on a particular interest and aimed at a particular audience in contrast to broadcasting

selective exposure

the process through which people consciously choose to get the news from information sources that have viewpoints compatible with their own

beats

specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as congress or the white house. most top reporters work a particular beat, thereby becoming specialists in what goes on at that location

trial balloons

intentional news leaks for the purpose of assessing the political reaction

sound bites

short video clips approximately 10 seconds. typically they are all that is shown from a politicians speech on the nightly television news

policy agenda

the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time

policy entrepreneurs

people who can invest their political “capital” in an issue. according the john kingdon, a policy entrepreneur “could be in or out of government in elected or appointed position, in interest groups, or research organizations”

interest group

an organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals

pluralism

a theory of government and politics emphasizing that many groups, each pressing for its preferred policies, compete and counterbalance on another in the political marketplace

hyper pluralism

a theory of government and politics contending that the gorups are so strong that the government is weakened

iron triangle

subgovernments are composed of interest group leaders interested in a particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering the policy, and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy; they exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas

potential group

all the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest

actual group

the people in the potential group who actually join