Chapter 9: Campaigns and Voting Behavior
Nomination - The official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party
When the party officially endorses a candidate for the office that candidate is running for
Campaign strategy - The master game plan by which candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaigns
The plan that candidates and their team carry out in order to gather support and win their election
National party convention - Conventions meet every four years to nominate the party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates and to write the party’s platform
These conventions historically were the day a candidate was nominated for the party. Today, they serve as another rally or an attempt to bring the candidate into the spotlight while publicly awarding the delegates.
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
After the realization that voting for a Democratic presidential candidate was nearly impossible, the Democratic party established new rules that were aimed at allowing the public to have more power in the party
Superdelegates - National party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic Party’s national convention
The party elites who automatically get a slot at the DNC, skip the process of becoming a delegate due to their status
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
This is when candidates have to please the party's elites. This includes: major elected officials, top fundraisers, along with skilled political aides. They must do this in order to show they are capable along with showing they have character
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 candidate
Causes tend to be a test as they test a candidate's “strategic acuity, organizational strength, and intensity of support”
Presidential primaries - Elections in which a state’s voters go to the polls to express their preference for a party’s nominee for president
These elections are between candidates of the same party and when this election occurs, it tends to drag the die-hards of that party
Frontloading - The tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention
States tend to do this in order to capitalize just as Illinois and Maryland have been able to for an extremely long time
Party platform - A political party’s statement of its goals and policies for the next four years
A party platform is a set of beliefs and policies which the party tries to carry out and pass throughout the country
Direct mail - A method of raising money for a political cause or candidate, in which info 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
This method sends mail through a collection of names of people who have supported causes or other candidates that follow the views of the one currently running
Campaign contributions - Donations which are made directly to a candidate or party and must be reported to the FEC
Donations which are made to a candidate and are 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 campaign
Money that is given to candidates based on their alignment to a political message, policy, agenda, or idea. Although the group is not allowed to have any contact with the candidate receiving the money
Federal Election Campaign Act - A law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. This act created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and provided limits on and disclosure of campaign contributions
Made the secret world of campaign finances public
Political Action Committees - Groups that raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to candidates that the group supports
Groups that collect large amounts of money and then distribute it between candidates that the group endorses
Federal Election Commission - A six-member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act that administers and enforces campaign finance laws
A commission that regulates campaign financing, although much doesn’t happen due to the split between Democrats and Republicans
McCain-Feingold Act - Put limits on soft money which is currently set to $36,000
Soft money - Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grass-roots level or for generic party advertising
Money that doesn’t have the same regulations as hard money and can be used at the grass-roots level and/or for party ads
Hard money - political donations that are regulated by law, specifically by the FEC, and can only be used for specific purposes related to campaign financing
527 groups - Independent political groups that are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates
527 groups are groups that don’t have the same restrictions as others as they don’t seek the election of a candidate or party at all
Citizens United - Landmark Supreme Court case which ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures
Supreme Court case which allowed corporations and unions to donate however much money they’d like donate as long as they are not in coordination with any candidate or party
501(c) groups - Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions. Although they cannot spend more than half of their funds on political activities
Groups that have the ability to receive unlimited amounts of contribution and have few regulations. Although, they are only able to spend half of their funds
Super PACs - Otherwise known as Independent-expenditure-only PACs, may receive donations of any size and can promote and endorse specific candidates. Their contributions and expenditures must be periodically reported to the FEC
Super PACs have the ability to donate however their heart desires, can endorse a candidate although they must report to the FEC on occasion, and cannot communicate with any candidate
Selective perception - The phenomenon that people’s beliefs often guide what they pay the most attention to and how they interpret events
This is the phenomenon that people tend to pay most of their attention on topics they agree with
Suffrage - The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans. Women, and 18 - 20-year-olds
African Americans extended with the Fifteenth Amendment; women with the Nineteenth Amendment; 18 - 20-year-olds with the Twenty-sixth Amendment
Political efficacy - The belief that one’s political participation really matters. That one’s vote can truly make a difference
The idea that your vote and other forms of political participation matters
Civic duty - The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should vote
The idea that an American citizen must vote as it is their duty as a citizen
Voter registration - A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register prior to voting
This varies per state as some states make you register around 30 days prior while others allow Election Day registration
Motor Voter Act - A 1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license
States will offer the ability to register to vote when applying for their driver’s license. An attempt to increase voter registration
Mandate theory of elections - The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics
A politician's duty to fulfill their campaign promises upon their election
Policy voting - Electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters’ policy preferences and where the candidates stand on policy issues
This is a type of voting in which people tend to vote for a candidate based on their stance on political issues which that one voter highly commits themselves to
Electoral College - A uniquely American institution created by the Constitution, providing for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the state parties.
This institution uses elected electors to run their state's presidential electoral college voting. The system can vary per state on how they distribute their votes
“Faithless elector” - Voters who ultimately vote for the candidate which they did not pledge to vote for
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
The states that will, in most cases, determine the outcome of the presidential election
Spin - Twisting the facts or details to benefit a particular person or party to benefit themselves
Spinning the story, which in most cases involves lying, to change the story in order to make it end with you being the most favorable
Initiative - A political process that allows citizens to propose legislation or constitutional amendments through gathering signatures on a petition
This process allows voters to take it upon themselves to change government and use democracy to its fullest using the support of the people to change policies
Keynote address - The speech given at a party convention to set the tone for the convention and the campaign to come
This can set as an introduction for a candidate, a form of hype for the candidate, along with spreading the word about the candidate, and party’s, policies which they’d like to pass
Party delegate - A person who speaks on behalf of a party at a meeting, conference, or convention
Convention elector - The persons who give their votes before a national convention occurs, they also attend the convention in order to announce it as well