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Unit 3
Chapters 8-9
84
Political Studies
Undergraduate 1
10/12/2015

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Anti Federalists
Definition
Supported the Bill of Rights and a weak central govt.
Term
Blanket Primaries
Definition
Elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of canidates from all the parties. Voters can then select from either parties.
Term
Blue Dog Democrats
Definition
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 govt spending.
Term
Closed Primaries
Definition
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.
Term
Coalition
Definition
a group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends
Term
Critical Election
Definition
periods sometimes marked by a national crises which brings in new issues and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party.
Term
Democratic Part et al V. Jones
Definition
Court states that the blanket primary violated the party's right to freedom of association, therefore was illegal.
Term
Democratic-Republicans
Definition
formally the anti-feds led by Thomas Jefferson who favored strong state governments and real interests, and a weak central govt.
Term
Divided Govt
Definition
how the organization of the US govt is viewed today with one party dominating the legislature and another dominating the executive.
Term
Federalists
Definition
political party that supported ratification of the Constitution.
Term
Majority System
Definition
there are run-offs to ensure a lead candidate receives the majority of the voters' support.
Term
National Chairperson
Definition
A person who is responsible for the day to day activities of the party and is usually handpicked by the presidential nominee.
Term
National Committee
Definition
one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions.
Term
National Convention
Definition
the meeting of the party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform.
Term
New Deal Coalition
Definition
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, Afro Ameris, and intellectuals.
Term
Nomination
Definition
a party's endorsement.
Term
Open Primaries
Definition
elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the party contests.
Term
Party Competition
Definition
battle of the parties for control of public offices.
Term
Party Dealignment
Definition
gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties thus leading to less party identification.
Term
Party eras
Definition
historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections.
Term
Party Identification
Definition
a citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other.
Term
Party Image
Definition
a voter's perception of what either party stands for, such as conservatism.
Term
Party Machine
Definition
type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern.
Term
Party Realignment
Definition
displacement of the majority party by the minority party usually during a critical election period.
Term
Patronage
Definition
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.
Term
Political Party
Definition
a "team of men and women seeking to control the government apparatus by gaining office in an election"
Term
Primaries
Definition
elections in which voters in a state vote for a canidate or National Party Convention delegates pledged to him or her.
Term
Proportional Representation System
Definition
the number of seats won by a party or group of candidate is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system is 30% of voters support a particular party then roughly 30 % of seats will be won by that party.
Term
Rational Choice theory
Definition
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
Term
Republican Party
Definition
emerged from the issue of the expansion of slavery into new territories. Had it's first president elected in 1860, Lincoln.
Term
Responsible Party Model
Definition
parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates. Once n offices the elected officials carry out their campaign promises.
Term
Single
Definition
member districts each district votes on one person to represent them in a legislative body.
Term
Third Parties
Definition
electoral contenders other then the two major parties.
Term
Ticket Splitting
Definition
voting with one party for one office and with another party of other offices.
Term
Whigs
Definition
new party who represented the interests of the old federalist party. Had two former war heroes elected as presidents of the U.S. W H Harrison and Z Taylor
Term
Winner take all system
Definition
a plurality system in which a winner must earn more votes than his opponent- even if his total is fewer than 50%. Sometimes known as first-past-the-post.
Term
527s
Definition
independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to the contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates.
Term
12th amendment
Definition
set up two ballots per elector. one for the presidential candidates and the other for the vice press candidates.
Term
15th amendment
Definition
guaranteed Afro Ameris the right to vote
Term
26th amendment
Definition
guaranteed eighteen year olds the right to vote
Term
Activation
Definition
campaigns encourgae voters to contribute money, volunteer, to help
Term
"American Plan" Primary
Definition
start the primaries in the small states and move to the larger ones.
Term
Battleground States
Definition
states in which a political contest is deemed close by the polls.
Term
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
Definition
banned soft money to national partisan placed curbs on the use of campaign ads by outside interest groups
Term
Buckley v Valeo 1974
Definition
struck down a part of the 1974 law that limited the amount individuals could contribute to their own campaigns (free speech)
Term
Bush v Gore
Definition
the court rules that the method used in Florida for recounting ballots was a violation of the 14th amendment in effect ending the election of 2000 and giving the election to Bush. It suggested that states rethink their voting process.
Term
Campaign Strategy
Definition
the master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign
Term
Caucus
Definition
a meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention.
Term
Citizens United v Federal Election Commission 2010
Definition
the Court held that the first amend prohibited the govt from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions.
Term
Civic Duty
Definition
the belief that in order to support democratic government a citizen should always vote.
Term
Coattail Effect
Definition
the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election.
Term
Conversion
Definition
campaigns change voters' minds.
Term
Direct Mail
Definition
high tech method of raising money for a political cause or candidate.
Term
Federal Election Campaign Act 1974
Definition
reformed campaign finances by creating the FEC, providing public monies for presidential primaries and elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required discloser and attempted to mini contributions.
Term
Federal Election Commission FEC
Definition
six member bipartisan agency that administers and enforces campaign finance laws.
Term
Frontloading
Definition
the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.
Term
General Election
Definition
a regular election of candidates for office, as opposed to a primary election. In the US it is usually held the firsts tuesday after the first monday in november every two years.
Term
Help America Vote Act 2002
Definition
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.
Term
Incumbent
Definition
an existing holder of a political office.
Term
Initiative Petition
Definition
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 referendum.
Term
Invisible Primary
Definition
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.
Term
Legitimacy
Definition
a characterization of elections meaning that they are almost universally accepted as a fair and free method of selecting political leaders.
Term
Mandate theory of elections
Definition
idea that winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics.
Term
Matching Funds
Definition
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.
Term
McGovern-Fraser Commission
Definition
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.
Term
Motor Voter Act 1993
Definition
requires states to permit people to register to vote at the same time they apply for their driver's license.
Term
National Primary
Definition
a proposal to replace the multiple primaries and caucuses with one nationwide primary held early in the election year.
Term
Nomination
Definition
the act or an instance of submitting a name for candidacy or appointment.
Term
Political Efficacy
Definition
belief that one's political participation really matters- that one's vote can actually make a difference.
Term
Party Platform
Definition
a political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years.
Term
Policy Voting
Definition
electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voter's policy preferences and on the basis of where the candidates stand on policy issues.
Term
PACs
Definition
you know em, they can donate up to 5,000 a candidate.
Term
Presidential Election Campaign Fund
Definition
money from the 3$ federal income tax check-off which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns.
Term
Referendum
Definition
state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or a proposed constitutional amendment.
Term
Reinforcement
Definition
campaigns encourage voters to keep their preferences for candidates.
Term
Regional Primaries
Definition
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.
Term
Retrospective Voting
Definition
a theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question: "What have you done for me lately?"
Term
Selective Participation
Definition
the phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predispositions.
Term
Soft Money
Definition
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.
Term
Suffrage
Definition
legal right to vote
Term
Superdelegates
Definition
national party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic National Party Convention.
Term
Super PACs
Definition
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
Term
Voter Registration
Definition
system adopted by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of election day.
Term
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Definition
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.
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