Unit 5 EU: Civil Liberties & Civil Rights 

Part I: Critical Vocabulary 

Define each term as it is commonly used in governmental policy, actions, or general understanding. (Please add your own spacing and don’t cram your responses!) 

  1. Two-party system 

A two-party system is a system in which two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government. 

  1. Single-member districts 

A single-member district is an electoral district that is represented by only one elected political officer. 

  1. New Deal coalition 

The New Deal Coalition was a voting organization who supported the New Deal and voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 1932 until the late 1960s. The Coalition especially advocated for the voices of women, black people, and laborers. 

  1. Reagan Revolution 

A plan made by former US President Ronald Regan to reduce inflation that included steps of reducing taxes and government spending & regulations to tighten up the commerce and money supply of the United States. 

  1. Divided government 

A political situation where one party controls the executive branch of government (holds the White House), while another party controls the legislative branch of government (has a House and/or Senate majority) 

  1. Gridlock 

A position of political stagnancy where laws are extremely difficult to pass because of a divided government with a lot of opposition contradicting each other’s views and blocking each other’s policies from being pursued. 

  1. Dealignment 

The process of individuals becoming less partisan, less people identifying themselves as members of particular parties and more as independents or even nonvoters. Almost always caused by negatively perceived processes caused by party divide. 

  1. Realignment 

The process of groups changing their political behavior, by identifying with a different political party than they used to. 

  1. National chairperson 

A national chairperson is the head of the political party's national committee, who frequently serves as the organization's permanent leader and directs the party's overall strategy, particularly during election campaigns. 

  1.  Soft money 

The type of currency denoted by paper. Additionally in politics, indirect contributions to political parties and political action committees are known as soft money. 

  1.  Hard money 

The type of currency denoted by coins. Additionally in politics, money contributed directly to a specific candidate is known as hard money. 

  1.  Straight ticket 

Voting for every candidate a political party has on the general election ballot is referred to as straight-ticket voting or straight-party voting in American politics.  

  1. Candidate centered campaigns 

Election campaigns and other political procedures that are primarily driven by candidates rather than political parties are known as candidate-centered campaigns. 

  1. Political action committees 

Interest groups raise and distribute money for elections through organizations called political action committees, or PACs. By law, contributions from the public must be used to raise the funds. 

  1.  Lobbying 

By contacting public authorities, interest group members or lobbyists try to influence public policy through the practice of lobbying. 

  1.  Grassroots 

Grassroots refers to something that is of or involves the general public as a core political and economic group; "a grassroots movement for nuclear disarmament" 

  1.  Issue network 

In reaction to a proposed policy in a field of interest to each of them, public officials and lobbyists develop an informal, generally open network known as an issue network. An issue network, unlike an iron triangle, breaks up once the problem is solved. 

  1.  Mass media 

Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, films, recordings, books, and electronic communications who write, investigate, and report on public issues. 

  1.  Gatekeepers 

Someone who restricts or hides certain information from others. For example, the media can influence what subjects become national political issues and for how long. 

  1.  Trial balloons 

Trial balloons are intentional news leaks to cause/gauge political reaction. 

 

 

Part II Reflection Questions:  

  1.  Describe the challenges of a modern political campaign in America. 

Numerous concerns have come up throughout recent presidential elections, including taxation, the national debt, education, civil rights, healthcare, and terrorism. 

  1. Compare the various nomination methods that different states use to nominate a candidate for office. 

Candidates are nominated for public office through the methods of self-announcement, caucus, convention, direct primary, and petition. 

  1. Discuss the role of political action committees in the political process. 

Political Action Committees, or "PACs," are organizations that raise and disperse funds to support or oppose political candidates. The majority of PACs have formal affiliations to certain businesses, labor unions, or political parties. 

  1. Identify several reforms that have been enacted to reform campaign financing. 

Since the beginning, the United States' campaign funding regulations have been a divisive political topic. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), often known as "McCain-Feingold," was the most recent significant federal law that had an impact on campaign funding. Important provisions of the law prohibited unregulated contributions to national political parties (commonly referred to as "soft money") and restricted the use of corporate and union funds to fund advertisements discussing political issues within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary election. However, provisions of the BCRA limiting corporate and union expenditures for issue advertising were overturned by the Supreme Court in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to L. 

  1. Discuss the precedent established in the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizen’s united v. FEC 

2009 saw the argument and 2010 the decision. The First Amendment's freedom of expression provision forbids the government from limiting independent expenditures for political campaigns by companies, including nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and other associations, the Supreme Court ruled on a 5-4 vote. 

  1. Discuss the precedent established in the Supreme Court’s decision in Buckley v. Valeo. 

According to the ruling in Buckley v. Valeo, the government may impose limits on the number of contributions made by individuals to political campaigns but cannot impose restrictions on the amount spent on the campaign, the amount spent by the candidate from personal funds, or the amount spent independently by organizations that support the campaign. This is so that the First Amendment is applicable since the Court in this instance equated money with speech. 

  1. Compare traditional PACs to the newly formed Super PACs. 

Super PACs, also known as "independent expenditure-only political action committees," differ from traditional PACs in that they may raise money from individuals, businesses, unions, and other organizations without any restrictions on the size of contributions. They may also engage in unlimited political spending (on things like advertisements) independent of the campaigns. However, they are not permitted to work with or make direct contributions to candidate or party campaigns. The same organizational, reporting, and public disclosure rules that apply to ordinary PACs also apply to super PACs. 

  1. Discuss the rationale for the creation of the electoral college. 

The electoral college was created to prevent states with greater populations from dominating or obscuring states with smaller populations, as well as to protect against unwarranted influence from tiny groups. 

  1.  Explain the effect that the electoral college voting system has on the campaign strategies of presidential candidates. 

When planning their campaigns, presidential contenders must take the Electoral College into account. According to conventional political wisdom, politicians cannot ignore the tiny states once the general election campaign gets underway after the primaries since the electoral system ensures that they will have a significant influence on the outcome. As a result, candidates have had to travel across the country to win over votes in both densely populated urban areas and less inhabited rural areas. 

  1.  Discuss how the winner-take-all system contributes to the persistence of a 2-party dominated system. 

There is no question that the Electoral College has promoted and assisted in maintaining the two-party system in the US. This is true merely because it is very challenging for a new or tiny party to win the winner-takes-all system by garnering enough popular support in sufficient States to stand a chance of becoming president. 

  1. Discuss typical voter turnout trends in American primary and general elections. 

In U.S. elections since 2000, the average turnout rate for primary elections is 27% of registered voters. In contrast, the average turnout rate for general elections is 60.5% of registered voters. This means that, on average, more than half of general election voters do not vote in primary elections. 

  1. Identify the advantages that incumbents have when running for political office. 

Because they have already held office, incumbents benefit from name recognition, campaign finance, and other advantages. As a result, they have an advantage over their competitor and a better chance of winning reelection. 

  1. Discuss the major strategies the interest groups use to influence policymakers. 

The major strategies interest groups use to influence policymakers are lobbying (communicating with a policymaker to influence them), grass-roots campaigns (involving the general public as the defenders of the issue they want the policymaker to support), electioneering via things like political action committees (using funding as leverage and assistance to policymakers who support similar causes to them), and litigation (bringing a lawsuit, to pursue their causes). 

  1. Explain the concept of horse race journalism. 

Horse race journalism is election coverage by the media that places more emphasis on who is leading and their differences, constantly comparing superfluous details and not focusing on the greater concerns and global perspective. 

  1. Explain the concept of ticket splitting. 

When voters cast multiple ballots in a single election for members of different political parties, such as a Republican for president and a Democrat for a seat in Congress rather than a candidate from just one party, this practice is known as ticket-splitting.