AP Government Unit 5

GAP/GAPTAG UNIT 3 (chapters 8, 9) – VOCABULARY/DEFINITIONS MEMORIZE THESE VOCABULARY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS FOR QUIZZES THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER. CHAPTER 8 1. Anti-Federalists – supported the Bill of Rights and a weak central government. 2. Blanket primaries – elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates from all the parties. Voters can then select from either parties. 3. Blue Dog Democrats – members of a congressional caucus who are from the South and tend to be more conservative than the liberal section. They tend to vote against big government spending. 4. 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. 5. Coalition – a group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends. 6. Critical election – periods sometimes marked by a national crises which brings in new issues and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. 7. Democratic Party et al. v Jones (2000) – Court stated that the blanket primary violated the parties’ right to freedom of association, therefore it was illegal. 8. Democratic-Republicans – formally the Anti-Federalists led by Thomas Jefferson who favored strong state governments, rural interests, and a weak central government. 9. Divided government – how the organization of the U.S. government is viewed today with one party dominating the legislature and another dominating the executive. 10. Federalists – political party that supported the ratification of the Constitution. 11. majority system - there are run-offs to ensure a lead candidate receives the majority of voters’ support. 12. National chairperson – a person who is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party and is usually handpicked by the presidential nominee. 13. National committee – one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. 14. National convention – the meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party’s platform. 15. New deal coalition – forged by Democrats in the 1930s that lasted until the 1960s. Its basic core groups were urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholics, Jews, the poor, Southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals. 16. Nomination – a party’s endorsement 17. Open primaries – elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the party contests. 18. Party competition – battle of the parties for control of public offices. 19. Party dealignment – gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties thus leading to less party identification. 20. Party eras – historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections. 21. Party identification – a citizen’s self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other. 22. Party image – a voter’s perception of what either party stands for, such as conservatism or liberalism. 23. Party machine – type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern. 24. Party realignment – displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period. 25. Patronage – an inducement 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. 26. Political party – a “team of men and women seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in an election” 27. Primaries – elections in which voters in a state vote for a candidate or National party convention delegates pledged to him or her. 28. Proportional representation system -the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular party then roughly 30% of seats will be won by that party. 29. Rational – choice theory – Anthony Downs uses it to explain 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. 30. Republican Party – emerged from the issue of the expansion of slavery into new territories. Had its first president elected in 1860 (Lincoln). 31. Responsible party model – parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates. Once in offices the elected officials carry out their campaign promises. 32. Single – member districts -Each district votes on one person to represent them in a legislative body. 33. Third parties – electoral contenders other than the two major parties. 34. Ticket splitting – voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices. 35. Whigs – new party who represented the interests of the old Federalist party. Had two former war heroes elected as presidents of the U.S. (William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor) 36. Winner take all system – a plurality system in which a winner must earn more votes than his opponent - even if his total is fewer than 50 percent. Sometimes known as first-past-the-post. CHAPTER 9 1. 527s - independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates. 2. 12th amendment – set up two ballots per elector. One for the presidential candidates and the other for the Vicepresidential candidates. 3. 15th Amendment - guaranteed blacks the right to vote 4. 19th amendment – guaranteed women the right to vote 5. 26th amendment – guaranteed eighteen year olds the right vote 6. Activation – campaigns encourage voters to contribute money, volunteer, help 7. “American Plan” primary – start the primaries in the small states and move on to the larger ones. 8. Battleground states – states in which a political contest is deemed to be close by the polls. 9. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) – banned soft money to national parties and placed curbs on the use of campaign ads by outside interest groups. 10. Buckley v Valeo (1974) – struck down a part of the 1974 law that limited the amount individuals could contribute to their own campaigns (free speech). 11. Bush v Gore - the Court ruled that the method used in Florida for recounting ballots was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment in effect ending the election of 2000 and giving the election to Bush. It suggested that states rethink their voting processes. 12. Campaign strategy – the master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign. 13. Caucus – a meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention. 14. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, (2010) - the Court held that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions. 15. Civic duty – the belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote. 16. Coattail effect - The tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. 17. Conversion – campaigns change voters’ minds 18. Direct mail – high-tech method of raising money for a political cause or candidate. 19. Federal Election Campaign Act (1974) – reformed campaign finances by creating the FEC, providing public monies for presidential primaries and elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions. 20. Federal Election Commission (FEC) – six-member bipartisan agency that administers and enforces campaign finance laws. 21. Frontloading – the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention. 22. General election - A regular election of candidates for office, as opposed to a primary election. In the U.S. it is usually held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November ever two years. 23. Help America Vote Act (2002) – improved state voting systems and voter access by helping states to create state-wide voter registration data bases. It also provided funding to help states update their voting equipment. 24. Incumbent - the existing holder of a political office. 25. Initiative petition – a process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote if sufficient signatures are obtained on petitions calling for such a referendum. 26. 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. 27. Legitimacy - a characterization of elections meaning that they are almost universally accepted as a fair and free method of selecting political leaders. 28. Mandate theory of elections – idea that winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. 29. Matching funds – contributions of up to $250 are matched from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to candidates for the presidential nomination who qualify and agree to meet various conditions, such as limiting their overall spending. 30. McGovern-Fraser Commission – a commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups. As a result party leaders could no longer handpick the convention delegates in secret; it had to be an open selection which made the representation more diverse. 31. Mid-term election - Midterm Election is a general election that does not coincide with a presidential election year but occurs two years into a presidential term. 32. Motor Voter Act (1993) – requires states to permit people to register to vote at the same time they apply for their driver’s license. 33. National primary – a proposal to replace the multiple primaries and caucuses with one nationwide primary held early in the election year. 34. Nomination - The act or an instance of submitting a name for candidacy or appointment. 35. Political efficacy – belief that one’s political participation really matters – that one’s vote can actually make a difference. 36. Party platform – a political party’s statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. 37. 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. 38. Political Action Committees (PACs) – funding vehicles of corporations, interest groups, or unions. They must register with the FEC and may donate up to $5,000 per candidate. 39. Presidential Election Campaign Fund – money from the $3 federal income tax check-off which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns. 40. Referendum - state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or a proposed constitutional amendment. 41. Reinforcement – campaigns encourage voters’ to keep their preferences for candidates 42. Regional primaries – a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries to replace these electoral methods with a series of primaries held in each geographic region. 43. Retrospective voting – A theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question: “What have you done for me lately?” 44. Selective perception – the phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predispositions. 45. Soft money – political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grass-roots level or for generic party advertising. Unlike money that goes to the campaign of a particular candidate, such party donations are not subject to contribution limits. Banned by the McCain-Feingold Act. 46. Suffrage – the legal right to vote 47. Superdelegates – national party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic national party convention. 48. Super PACs - a Political Action Committee in the USA, which is allowed to spend unlimited amounts on political campaigning provided that it has no direct contact with any candidate or political party 49. Voter registration – system adopted by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of Election Day. 50. Voting Rights Act of 1965 -prohibits the states from imposing voting qualifications or prerequisites to voting such as literacy tests. It also required federal examiners to investigate voting registration violations.