AP Government
Chapter 13:
political participation: any actions citizens take to influence government policy or leaders
political action committee: an orginaztion that raises money for candidates and campaigns
tillman act of 1907: was the first federal law in the U.S. to prohibit corporations and national banks from making direct financial contributions to federal political candidates
amednment
amendments FECA after the Watergate: limits were placed on money given directly to candidates by politcal action committess and individuals
who can form a PAC: individuals, corporations, and unions
PACs can donate directly to a campaign but are subject to limits
Soft money loophole: no limits were placed on donations that were made in support of a candidate but that were seperate from the candidates campaign
Buckley v Valeo: upheld limits on how much money an individual could donate direclty to someone else’s campign
Bipartisan Campaign reform act: tried to close the soft money loophole by proibiting issues ads on tv or radio that mentioned a candidates name, were paid for by corporations or unions and aired 30 days before a primary or 60 days before to a general election
citizens united group: tax exempt non-profit group dedicated to informing the american people about public policy issues which relate to traditional american values
independent expenditure: spending on poltical communication nade independently of a candidate’s campaign
linkage institutions: channels that connect individuals with government indluding elections, poltical parties, interest groups and the media
social movement: individuals may join togther to work coordinating for a shared set of poltical goals
suffrage/frnachise: right to vote
26th amendment: allow those 18+ to vote
24th amendment: prohibits congress and the states from imposing poll taxes as a condition for voting
15th amendment: all men can vote
gave black men the right to vote
19th amendment: women can vote
14th amendment: anyone born in the US is an american citizen
17th amendment: direct election of senators
23rd amendment: apportions the same number of electors as the least populous state
voting rights act of 1965: the Voting Rights Act (VRA) is a landmark piece of federal legislation designed to enforce the 15th Amendment and eliminate state-level Jim Crow-era restrictions
motor voter registration law: allows americans to register to vote when applying or renewing their license
national elcections are on a monday: may discourage voting because it’s a workday
time, place and manner clause: states set rules for elections
rational choice voting: voters make decisions based on what they believe is their own best interest
retrospective voting: votimg to decide whether the party or candidate in past
prospective voting: voting based on predictions about how a candidtae or party will platform in future
party line voting: supporting a party voting for candidates from 1 political office of all levels of govenrment
winner take all system: candidate who wins the plurality of voter within a state recieves all of that states votes in electoral college
battleground states: state where polls show a close contest betwen democratics and republicans
swing states: support for parties are equal and swing back adn forth
FECA: created the FEC
FEC: an independent agency that oversees campaign finance
sets laws requiing diclosure of source of campaign funds
citizens united v FEC: court struck down portions of the BRCA; ruling that corporations and labor unions are persons under the law protected by the 1st amendment
super PACS; an organization that may spend an unlimited amount of money on a poltical campaign, as long as that spedning isn’t coordinated with the campaign
Chapter 16:
news media: broad term that includes newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, internet sources, blogs and social media positings
agenda setting: the media role in helping determine whic issues are worhty of public attention
issue framing: how the media focuses on an issue, what “angle” to take on a story, wich details to highlight
mass media: sources of info that appeal to a wide audience
wire service: an orginzation that gathers and reports on news and then sells the stories to other outlets
broadcast media: brought poltical news to people immediately
the radio act: establised the federal radio commison and recquired braodcasters to obtain a lincense to braiodast on specific frequencies
the communication act: created federal communications commsions to oversea the implememntation of its provisions
NYT v US: the supreme court ruled that the government may not censor story befores its published, unles publication would endnger national secuirity
media consolidation: the concentration of ownership of the media into fewer corporations
partisan bias: slanting of political news coverage in support of a particlular party or ideology
narrowcasting: information selected and tailored for a specific audience
watch dog: media’s role in acting like a barking dog investigating and reporting
horse race journalism: coverage of poltical campaigns that focuses more on the drama of the campign rather than policy issues