Unit 4 Vocab: Political Parties/Interest Groups/Media

Amicus curiae brief: “friend of the court” brief filed by an interest group to

influence a Supreme Court decision.

Dealignment argument: contention that parties are less meaningful to voters,

who have abandoned the parties in greater numbers to become independents.

Divided government: government in which one party controls the presidency

while another party controls the Congress.

Elite theory: theory that upper class elites exercise great influence over public

policy.

Factions: term used by Madison to denote what we now call interest groups.

Fairness Doctrine: FCC rule (no longer in effect) that required broadcasters to

air a variety of viewpoints on their programs.

Feeding frenzy: Just as sharks engage in a feeding frenzy when they sense

blood in the water, the media “attack” when they sense wrongdoing or scandal in

government, and devote great amounts of coverage to such stories.

Free rider problem: the problem faced by interest groups when citizens can

reap the benefits of interest group action without actually joining, participating in,

or contributing money to such groups.

Horse race coverage: the tendency of the media to report on an election

campaign as if it were a horse race, i.e., who is ahead, who is behind, who is

gaining ground.

Iron triangle: an informal association of federal agency, congressional

committee, and interest group that is said to have heavy influence over policy

making.

Litigation: the act or process of carrying out a lawsuit.

Lobbying: attempting to influence policy makers

Nonpartisan elections: elections in which candidates are not identified by party

membership on the ballot.

Office column ballot: ballot in which candidates are arranged by office rather

than party. Encourages split ticket voting.

Party column ballot: ballot in which candidates are arranged by party rather

than office. Encourages straight ticket voting.

Photo opportunity: a staged campaign event that attracts favorable visual

media coverage, e.g., a candidate reading to a group of school children.

Pluralism: theory that policy making is the result of interest group competition.

Political Action Committee (PAC): an interest group that raises funds and

donates to election campaigns.

Patronage: appointing loyal party members to government positions.

Revolving door: the cycle in which a person alternately works for the public

sector and private sector, thus blurring the individual’s sense of loyalty.

Selective exposure: the practice of selectively choosing media sources which

are in harmony with one’s own beliefs.

Selective perception: the practice of perceiving media messages the way one

wants to.

Sound bite: a short, pithy comment that is likely to attract media attention, e.g.,

Ronald Reagan saying, “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job, a

depression is when you lose your job, and recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses

his job.”

Spin control: placing a certain slant on a story to deflect negative public

attention against a candidate or office holder.

Unit rule: an abandoned rule of the Democratic Party national convention in

which the candidate with the most delegates from a state won all of that state’s

convention votes.