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| An organization that seeks to achieve power by winning public office in elections. |
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| A party system in which each party offers clear policy alternatives and holds their elected officials responsible for enacting these policies in office. |
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| Self-described identification with a political party, usually in response to the question: “Generally speaking, how would you identify yourself as a Republican, Democrat, independent, or something else?” |
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| An election held to decide a political party’s nominee for public office. |
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| Primary elections in which voters must declare their party affiliation and can cast a ballot only their own party’s primary election. |
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| Voters affiliated with one party casting votes in the other party’s primary election. |
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| An open primary in which candidates from both parties appear on the same ballot. |
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| An additional primary held between the top two vote getters in a primary where no candidate has received a majority of the vote |
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| Governing bodies of state party organizations. |
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| Governing bodies of county party organizations. |
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| In state government, when one party controls the governor’s office while the other party controls on or both houses of the state legislature. |
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| Contacting potential voters and soliciting their support primarily through television, radio, and newspaper advertising |
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| Questioning a representative sample of the population to determine public opinion about candidates and issues |
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| The likelihood that people recognize a candidate’s name when questioned in opinion polls |
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| Directly soliciting voter support through telephone calls or face-to-face meetings |
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| Soliciting voter support by attacking one’s opponent |
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| Largely unregulated monetary contributions to a party for activities such as party building or voter registration, but supposedly not for campaign expenses. |
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| Unimodal distribution of opinion |
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| This occurs when most voters prefer moderate or centrist policies, thereby causing the parties to move closer together in their policy positions |
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| Biomodal distribution of opinion |
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| This occurs when most voters are clearly divided in their policy preferences, thereby causing the parties to tale divergent policy positions |
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| A meeting of party members, or delegates chosen by party members, held to choose the party’s nominee and/or to write the party’s platform and to rally party support. |
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| National, state, county, and precinct party officials and workers, committee members, convention delegates, and others in party office. |
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| People who serve in the city, county, or state party organizations, or who regularly work in campaigns. |
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