Political Science Study Guide: Parties, Elections, and Campaign Finance

Key Vocabulary

Political Spectrum: A way of modeling different political positions, ideologies, and parties along a continuum from left (typically associated with liberal/progressive views) to right (typically associated with conservative views).

Partisanship: Strong and sometimes blind allegiance to a particular political party.

Bipartisan: Cooperation or agreement between two major political parties; involving members of both parties.

Political Action Committees (PACs): Organizations that pool campaign contributions from members and donate them to campaign for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation.

Super PACs: Independent expenditure-only committees that may raise unlimited sums from corporations, unions, and individuals but cannot contribute directly to or coordinate with parties or candidates.

Splinter Parties: Political parties that form when a faction breaks away from a major party due to disagreements over specific issues or leadership.

Ideological Parties: Minor parties formed around a particular set of political, economic, or social beliefs (e.g., Green Party, Libertarian Party).

Single-Issue Parties: Political parties focused on one specific issue or policy area (e.g., historical examples like the Prohibition Party).

Super Tuesday: The Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the largest number of states hold primary elections and caucuses.

Caucus: A meeting of party members to select delegates for the national convention, often involving discussion and physical grouping of supporters.

Direct Primary: An election where voters directly select their party's nominees for office.

Closed Primary: A primary election where only registered party members can vote for their party's candidates.

Open Primary: A primary election where voters can participate regardless of their party affiliation.

Runoff Primary/Election: A second election held when no candidate receives a majority in the first election.

Political Party Platform: A formal statement of a party's positions on issues and their proposed policies.

Swing Voters: Voters who don't consistently support one party and may change their vote between elections.

Swing States: States where no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in presidential elections.

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Single-Member Districts: Electoral districts that elect one representative, typically using a first-past-the-post system.

Electoral College: The system used to elect the U.S. President, where each state gets electoral votes based on their total number of representatives in Congress.

National Party Conventions: Major gatherings held by political parties to nominate their presidential candidate and adopt the party platform.