APGOV elections quiz

job of political parties

to get someone elected

linkage institution

an organization that links voters together

party in electorate

the people in public who consider themselves to be a part of one party without being employed/volunteering for them

party in government

politicians

big tent approach

parties attempt to make the largest appeal too grab as many voters as possible

party functions

recruit candidates
bonding- gives seal of approval to candidates
informing- informs the public on issues
governing- running in power
watchdog- providing opposition information

innovator role

sometimes third parties can introduce an issue that gets absorbed into one of the two major parties

spoiler role

sometimes third parties can "spoil" an election by taking away voters from one of the two major parties, causing one of them to lose when they should have won with the voters of the third party.

ideological parties

parties centered around one ideology, like the communist party, libertarian party

single issue party

party that centers around one issue like cannabis

splinter parties

party that splinter from one of the two major parties usually centered around one person

direct primary

person votes for a candidate

indirect primary

vote for electorate/delegate

closed primary

only a person in that party can vote in that primary

open primary

everyone can vote in the primary - serves to make candidates less radical by allowing independents to vote

intra-party elections

primaries

caucus

small, public election. a group of people stand on either side of a room. it is necessary that one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, so they can last all day

super-delegate

can change the result of a primary if they believe the people chose wrong

realigning election

election that defines a sharp change in voting blocs that support parties

single member district

only one representative comes from each district

Citizens united

landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that companies have the same rights as people. this allows them to donate huge amounts of money to candidates. originally, they were limited in donation money.

Who funds the most money to candidates?

interest groups and the wealthy

Hard money

cash donations, is regulated by fec and is documented

FECA

limits money to 2900 dollars per person & created fec, limits party/pac donations to 36k, created a system of public financing of candidates (tax money). (most of these have fallen apart)

AARP

old people interest group

BICRA

limits money able to be donated by corporations and unions and attempted to limit soft money donations

Soft money

nearly impossible to track. donations of actions/things to a candidate, like private plane usage.

527's

can receive unlimited money that is able to be spent supporting an ISSUE.

Swiftboating

an unfair or untrue political attack

PAC's

Political action committees, associated with a candidate. a person donates to this, but not the candidate. they are limited in the amount of money they can take in, and are therefore unable to take corporate donations.

Super PAC's

independent from the candidate, and can collect and spend an infinite amount of money (since it is soft money). they can tell you to vote for a candidate by name, but can't talk to a candidate. usually they are run by a candidates friend, brother, etc so it is impossible to keep interactions low.

501(4)c's

charitable organizations which a part (or most) of the money goes to a political campaign. can donate infinite amounts of money, none of which needs to be reported. all anonymous.