2B Vocab

Question 1

Rational-choice voting

Answer 1

Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s individual interest

Question 2

Prospective issue voting

Answer 2

Voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future

Question 3

Retrospective issue voting

Answer 3

Voting to decide whether the party or candidate in power should be reelected based on the recent past

Question 4

Party-line voting

Answer 4

Voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices across the ballot

Question 5

Voter registration

Answer 5

System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents, including proof of residency

Question 6

General election

Answer 6

Elections in which voters elect office holders

Question 7

Primary election

Answer 7

Elections in which voters determine party nominees

Question 8

Presidential election

Answer 8

Elections held in years when the president is on the ballot

Question 9

Midterm election

Answer 9

Elections held midway between presidential elections

Question 10

Off-year election

Answer 10

Elections held in odd numbered calendar years

Question 11

Turnout

Answer 11

The proportion of the voting age public that votes, sometimes defined as the number of registered voters that vote

Question 12

Winner-take-all system

Answer 12

Election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins

Question 13

Single-member district

Answer 13

An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official

Question 14

Proportional representation

Answer 14

Election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote

Question 15

Electoral College

Answer 15

Electoral system used in electing the President and Vice President , in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for a particular party’s candidate

Question 16

Safe seat

Answer 16

Elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other, so the success of the party’s candidate is almost taken for granted

Question 17

Coattail effect

Answer 17

The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot, especially the president

Question 18

Candidate appeal

Answer 18

How voters feel about a candidate’s background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities

Question 19

Name recognition

Answer 19

The advantage that incumbents have over challengers in election campaigns because voters are more familiar with them and they’re more recognizable

Question 20

Caucus

Answer 20

A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform

Question 21

National party convention

Answer 21

A national meeting of delegates elected at primaries, caucuses, or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for President and Vice President, ratify the party platform, elect officials, and adopt rules

Question 22

Efficacy

Answer 22

Citizens’ faith and trust in government and their belief that they can understand and influence political affairs