AP Government Chapter Nine Key Terms

Question 1

Nomination

Answer 1

the official endorsement of a candidate for office by political party. Generally, success in the nomination game requires momentum, money, and media attention

Question 2

Campaign Strategy

Answer 2

the master game plan candidates layout to guide their electoral campaign

Question 3

National Party Convention

Answer 3

the supreme power within each of the parties. the convention meets every four years to nominate the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates and to write the party’s platform

Question 4

Caucus

Answer 4

a meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention. usually organized as a pyramid

Question 5

Presidential primaries

Answer 5

elections in which voters in a state vote for a candidate (or delegates pledged to him or her). Most delegates to the national party convention are chosen this way

Question 6

McGovern-Fraser Commission

Answer 6

a commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation

Question 7

Superdelegates

Answer 7

national party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the democratic national party convention

Question 8

Frontloading

Answer 8

the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention

Question 9

National Primary

Answer 9

a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries, which would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year

Question 10

Regional Primaries

Answer 10

a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries to replace these electoral methods with series of primaries held in each geographic region

Question 11

Party Platform

Answer 11

a political party’s statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. the platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidate’s strength. It is the best formal statement of a party’s beliefs

Question 12

Direct Mail

Answer 12

a high-tech method of raising money for a political cause or candidate. It involves sending information and requests for money to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past

Question 13

Federal Election Campaign Act

Answer 13

a law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. the act created the federal election commission, provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions

Question 14

Federal election commission

Answer 14

a six-member bipartisan agency created by the federal election campaign act of 1974. the federal election commission administers and enforces campaign finance laws

Question 15

Presidential election campaign fund

Answer 15

money from the $3 federal income tax check-off goes into this fund, which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns

Question 16

Matching funds

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Soft money

Answer 17

political contibutions earmarked for party-building expenses at frass-roots kevek 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. For a time, such contributions were unlimited, until they were banned by the McCain-Feingold act

Question 18

527 Groups

Answer 18

independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates. their name comes from section 527 of the federal tax code, under which they are governed

Question 19

Political action committee

Answer 19

funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms. a corporation, union, or some other interest group can create a political action committee and register it with the federal election commission, which will meticulously monitor the PAC’s expedentures