Studied by 1 personparty polarization
growing gap between stands of parties on policy issues
political party
group trying to control governing apparatus by gaining office
linkage institutions
channels through which people’s concerns become political issues of government’s political agenda
rational-choice theory
explain actions of voters & politicians; assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible
party image
voter’s image of what Republican/Democrats stand for
party identification
citizen’s self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other
ticket 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 to win votes and to govern (patronage)
patronage
key inducement used by party machines; given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence
closed primaries
elections to select party nominees to which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party’s candidates; encouraging party loyalty
open primaries
elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in Democratic or Republican contests
national convention
meeting of party delegates every 4 years to choose presidential ticket and write party’s platform
national committee
institution that keeps party operating between conventions; composed of representatives from states & territories
national chairperson
responsible for running ongoing activities of national party organization
coalition
group of individuals with common interest on which every political party depends
party eras
historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to party in power, which tends to win majority of elections
critical election
electoral “earthquake” where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and majority party is often displace by minority party
party realignment
displacement of the majority party by minority party
New Deal coalition
coalition formed by Democrats (dominated 1930-60s) targetting urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholics & Jewish people, poor, Southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals
party dealignment
gradual disengagement of people from the parties
third parties
electoral contenders other than 2 major parties
winner-take all system
electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies
proportional representation
electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election
coalition government
when 2 or more parties join together to form a majority in the national legislative; common in multiparty systems of Europe
responsible party model
view that parties should offer clear choices to the voters and once in office, should carry out their campaign promises
nomination
official endorsement of a candidate for office by political party
campaign strategy
master game plan candidates lay out to guide electoral campaigns
national party convention
supreme power within each of the parties; meets every 4 years to nominate party’s presidential & vice presidential candidates and to write party’s platform
McGovern-Fraser Commission
formed in 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation
superdelegates
national party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic Party’s national convention
invisible primary
period before any votes are cast when candidates compete to win early support from the elites of the party & to create positive first impression of their leadership skills
caucus
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 state’s voters go to the polls to express their preference for a party’s nominee for president; most delegates to national party convention are chosen this way
frontloading
recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention
party platform
political party’s statement of its goals & policies for the next 4 years; drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidate’s strength
direct mail
method of raising money for political cause/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
campaign contributions
donations that are made directly to a candidate or a party and that most be reported to the FEC
independent expenditures
expenses on behalf of a political message that are made by groups that are uncoordinated with any candidate’s campaigns
Federal Election Campaign Act
law passed in 1974 to reform campaign finances, create Federal Election Commission, provide limits on and disclosure of campaign contributions
political action committees
groups that raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to the candidates that the groups support; need to register with FEC and report their donations & contributions to it
Federal Election Commission
6 member bipartisan agency created by Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974; administers & enforced campaign finance laws
soft money
political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising
527 groups
independent political groups that are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek election of particular candidates; tax code specifies that contributions to such groups must be reported to IRS
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
2010 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; tax code specifies that such groups cannot spend more than half their funds on political activities
super PACs
independent expenditure-only PACs that may accept donations of any size and can endorse candidates; periodically reported to FEC
selective perception
phenomenon that people’s beliefs often guide what they pay the most attention to and how they interpret events
suffrage
legal right to vote in the United States
political efficacy
belief that one’s political participation really matters
civic duty
belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should vote
voter registration
system adopted by states that requires voters to register prior to voting
Motor Voter Act
1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license
mandate theory of elections
idea that winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out their platforms and politics
policy voting
electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voter's policy preferences and where the candidates stand on policy issues
Electoral College
unique American institution created by Constitution providing for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the state parties; usually reflect popular majority, but less populated states are overrepresented and winner-take-all rule concentrates campaigns on close states
battleground states
key states that the presidential campaigns focus on because they are most likely to decide the outcome of the Electoral College vote
interest group
organization of people w/ shared policy goal(s) who enter policy process at one or more points, in one or more policy arenas, to try and achieve their goals
pluralism
theory of American democracy emphasizing that the policymaking process is very open to the participation of all groups with shared interests, with no single group usually dominating; public interest prevails
elitism
theory of American democracy contending that a few groups (primarily wealthy) have most of the power to make gov. policy, regardless of formal governmental organization
hyperpluralism
theory of American democracy arguing that a wide variety of interest groups have become empowered with the ability to veto policy changes, thereby leading to regular gridlock in Washington
iron triangles (subgovernments)
consist of interest groups, government agencies, and congressional communities/subcommunities that have a mutually dependent, mutually advantageous dependent, mutually advantageous relationship; dominate some areas of policymaking
potential group
people who might be interest group members because they share common interest
actual group
people in potential group who actually join
collective good
something of value that cannot be withheld from a potential group member
free-rider problem
for an interest group, the fact that some or many potential group members will not join because they can benefit from the group’s activities without joining
selective benefits
goods that a group can restrict to those who actually join
single-issue groups
groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics
lobbying
“communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on their own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing their decisions”
electioneering
direct group involvement in the electoral process (ex. helping to fund campaigns, getting members to work for candidates, forming pacs)
union shop
provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring that all employees of an unionized business join the union within a short period of time being hired and remain members as a condition of employment
right-to-work laws
state laws that forbid the creation of union shops
public interest lobbies
organizations that seek a collective good, which benefits the society as a whole
public opinion
distribution of population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues
demography
science of population changes
census
numeration of the population, which Constitution requires that the government conduct every 10 years; valuable tool for understanding demographics changes
melting pot
term often used to characterize US with its history of immigration and mixing of cultures, ideas, and people
minority majority
where non-Hispanic whites will represent a minority of the US population and minority groups together will represent a majority
political culture
overall set of values widely shared within a society
reapportionment
process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years based on the results of the census
political socialization
process through which individuals in a society acquire political attitudes, views, and knowledge based on input from family, schools, media, and others
sample
relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole
random sampling
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
level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll; more people interviewed = more confident one can be of the results
random-digit dialing
technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey
exit poll
public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners
political ideology
coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose, which helps give meaning to political events
gender gap
regular pattern in which women are more likely to support Democratic candidates in part because they tend to be less conservative than men and more likely to support spending on social services and opposed to higher levels of military spending
political participation
all activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue
protest
form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics
civil disobedience
form of political participation based on a conscious decision to break a law believed to be unjust and suffer the consequence
high-tech politics
politics in which the behavior of citizens, policymakers, and the political agenda are increasingly shaped by technology
mass media
television, radio, newspapers, magazines, internet, and other means of popular communication
media events
events are purposely staged for media and that are significant just because the media are there
press conference
meetings of public officials with reporters
investigative journalism
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
electronic media
tv, radio, internet
narrowcasting
media programming on cable tv or internet that is focused on a particular interest aimed at a particular audience (ESPN)
selective exposure
process through which people consciously choose to get the news from information that has viewpoints compatible with their own
chains
groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates; acounts for over 4/5ths of nation’s daily newspaper circulation
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