American Politics Terms

Question 1

Adverse selection

Answer 1

o Problem of incomplete information
o Choosing alternatives without fully knowing the details of available options

Question 2

agents of socialization

Answer 2

o help shape individuals’ basic political beliefs and values
o family, social groups, differences in education, political conditions

Question 3

attitude

Answer 3

a specific preference on a specific issue

Question 4

Australian Ballot

Answer 4

• administered by the state, identical
• includes all candidates
• capable of voting for multiple parties candidates

Question 5

bandwagon effect

Answer 5

supporting the person/team likely to win

Question 6

closed primary

Answer 6

primary election where voters can participate if they have been member of the party for a period of time before primary day

Question 7

conservative

Answer 7

o Generally support social and economic status quo and are suspicious of efforts to introduce new political formulas and economic arrangements.

o Many conservatives also believe that a large and powerful government poses a threat to citizens’ freedoms

o better training of existing workers; better supervision

Question 8

Duverger’s law

Answer 8

asserts that a pluarlity rule election system tends to favor a two-party system

Question 9

electoral college

Answer 9

vote a group of electors selected by the political parties who eventually vote during plurality votes and the presidential election

Question 10

equal time rule

Answer 10

provide candidates for same office with equal time in media

Question 11

fairness doctrine

Answer 11

provide opposing views on controversial topics

Question 12

framing

Answer 12

medias ability to influence how events and issues are interpreted

Question 13

gender gap

Answer 13

• voting patterns of men and women

Question 14

gerrymandering

Answer 14

apportionment of voters in disctricts to give unfair advantages to one political party

Question 15

going public

Answer 15

launching a media campaign to build popular support

Question 16

group affiliations and party id

Answer 16

an individual voter’s psychological ties to one party or another

Question 17

illusion of salience

Answer 17

impression CONVEYED by polls; something appears to be important to the public when it actually is not

Question 18

informational benefits

Answer 18

(interest groups) newsletters, conferences, and providing information

Question 19

initiative

Answer 19

process by which citizens may petition to place a policy proposal on the ballot for public opinion (attempt by citizens)

Question 20

interest group

Answer 20

organized groups of individuals or organizations; make policy related appeals to the government

Question 21

issue voting

Answer 21

vote for a candidate because of one or so specific policies

Question 22

liberal

Answer 22

(big government) generally supports political and social reform

supported by the poor, minorities, and women

Question 23

lobbying

Answer 23

the intention of influencing decisions made by legislators and officials in the government

Question 24

majority party

Answer 24

holds a majority (50%+1) in the legislature

Question 25

majority rule (system)

Answer 25

system in which, to win a seat, a candidate must recieve a majority (50% plus one) of all the votes in the relevant district

Question 26

material benefits

Answer 26

(interest groups) rental car discounts, heathl insurance, a day planner

Question 27

measurement error

Answer 27

errors such as amiguous or poorly worded questions

Question 28

median-voter theorem

Answer 28

competition between two candidates

voters preferences distributed along a single dimension

Question 29

moral hazard

Answer 29

we don’t know all aspects of the actions taken by an agent

nominally on behalf of the principal by potentially at the principal’s expense

Question 30

multiple-member district

Answer 30

an electoral district electing more than one representative to office

Question 31

nomination by convention

Answer 31

(democratic) a formal caucus of delegates elected by countries or states

Question 32

nomination by primary election

Answer 32

(republican) part members select nominee directly, plagued by low voter participation

Question 33

open primary

Answer 33

primary election; voters can choose on the day of the primary which party to enroll in

Question 34

party activist

Answer 34

a partisan who contributes time, energy, and effort to support a party and its candidates

Question 35

party identification

Answer 35

an individual’s attachment to a particular political party, which might be based on issues or ideology, past experience, or upbringing

Question 36

party machine

Answer 36

political parties ran the government (late 19th early 20th centuries)

Question 37

pluralism

Answer 37

lors of competing interests (Madison)

a theory of how interest groups operate in democracy

Question 38

pluarilty system

Answer 38

system in which victory goes to the individual who gets the most votes in an election, BUT NOT NECESSARILY THE MAJORITY

dem. 40, rep 35, other 25

Question 39

political action committee (PAC)

Answer 39

private group organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation

Question 40

political caucus

Answer 40

house to elect speaker (also republican)

a meeting of a party member within a legislative body to decide on questions of policy or leadership ( to select candidated to run for positions)

Question 41

political ideology

Answer 41

a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about th erole of government

Question 42

political orientations

Answer 42

an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group or nation