APGovCh.12.Juan.Jaimes Flashcards
Thomas Jefferson
Principle drafter of the Declaration of Independence, second vice president of the United States, third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Co-founder of the Democratic-Republican Party.
Donald J Trump
The forty-fifth president, a Republican, elected in 2016, first president elected without prior political or military experience, and experienced business man.
Hillary Clinton
First female major candidate for president of The United States, a Democrat, who ran against Donald J Trump in 2016.
Electorate
The citizens eligible to vote.
Mandate
A command, indicated by an electorates votes, for the elected officials to carry out a party platform or policy agenda.
Primary Election
Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election.
Closed Primary
A primary election in which only a party’s registered voters are eligible to cast a ballot.
Open Primary
A primary election in which party members, independents, and sometimes members of the other party allowed to participate.
Crossover voting
Participation in the primary election of a party with which the voter is not affiliated.
Runoff primary
A second primary election between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of in the first primary.
General Election
A second primary election between the two candidates will actually fill elective public offices.
Initiative
An election that allows citizens to propose legislation or state constitutional amendments by submitting them to the electorate for popular vote.
Referendum
An election whereby the state legislature submits proposed legislation or state constitutional amendments to the voters for approval.
Recall
An election in which voters can remove an incumbent from office prior to the next scheduled election.
Electorate College
Representatives of each state who cast the final ballots that actually elect a president.
Elector
Member of the Electoral College.
Reappointment
The reallocation of the number of seats in the House of Representative after each decennial census.
Incumbency
Already holding an office.
Presidential Coattails
When successful presidential candidates carry into office congressional candidates of the same party in the year of their election.
Barrack Obama
The first African american president of The United States, a Democrat, who served as the forty-fourth president from 2009 to 2017.
Mid-Term elections
An election that takes place in the middle of a presidential term.
Campaign manager
The individual who travels with the candidate and coordinates the campaign.
Finance chair
The individual who coordinates the financial business of the campaign.
Communications director
The person who develops the overall media strategy for the candidate.
Press secretary
The individual charged with interacting and communicating with journalists on a daily basis.
Campaign Consultant
A private-sector professional who sells to a candidate the technologies, services, and strategies required to get that candidate elected.
Pollster
A campaign consultant who conducts public opinion surveys.
Voter Canvass
The process by which a campaign reaches individual voters, either by door-to-door solicitation or by telephone.
Get-out-the-vote
A push at the end of a political campaign to encourage supporters to go to the polls.
Bernie Sanders
Longest serving independent in the United States Congress. Ran against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Negative Ad
Advertising on behalf of a candidate that attacks the opponent’s character or platform.
Positive Ad
Advertising on behalf of a candidate that stresses the candidate’s qualifications, family, and issue positions, with no direct reference to the opponent.
Contrast Ad
Ad that compares the records and proposals of the candidates, with a bias toward the candidate sponsoring the Ad.
Inoculation ad
Advertising that attempts to counteract an anticipation attack from the opposition before the attack is launched.
Federal Election Campaign Act
Passed in 1971, this is the primary law that regulates political campaign spending and fundraising. The law originally focused on increased disclosure of contributions for federal campaigns.
Federal Election Commission
An independent regulatory agency founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform
Passed in 2002, this act amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 with several provisions designed to end the use of non-federal, or soft money fro activity affecting the federal election.
Citizens United v. FEC
The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that enabled corporations and unions have the same political speech rights as individuals under the First Amendment. As part of this ruling, the Supreme Court found that the government may not prohibit corporations or unions from unions from using their general treasury funds to support or denounce political candidates in elections.
McCutcheon v. FEC
The 2014 Supreme Court ruling that declaring Section 441 of the Federal Election Campaign Act unconstitutional. Section 441 imposed limits on any individuals total political contributions in a two year period.
Political Action Committee
Officially recognized fund-raising organizations that represent interest groups and are allowed by federal law to make contributions directly to candidates campaigns.
527 political committee
Organizations created with the primary purpose of influencing electoral outcomes, the term is typically applied only to freestanding interest groups that do not explicitly advocate fr the election of a candidate.
501(c) Group
Interest group whose primary purpose is not electoral politics.
Super PAC
Political action committees established to make independent expenditures.
Independent expenditures
Spending for campaign activity that is not coordinated with a candidate campaign.
Public Funds
Donations from general tax revenues to the campaigns of qualifying presidential candidates.
Matching Funds
Donations to presidential campaigns whereby every dollar raised from individuals in amounts less than $251 is matched by the federal treasury.
Conventional Political Participation
Activism that attempts to influence the political process trough commonly accepted forms of persuasion such as voting or letter writing.
Unconventional political participation
Activism that attempts to influence the political process trough unusual or extreme measures, such as protests, and picketing.
Turnout
The proportion of the voting-age public that casts a ballot.
Retrospective Judgement
A voter’s evaluation of a candidate based on past performance on a particular issue.
Prospective Judgement
A voter’s evaluation of a candidate based on what he or she pledges to do about an issue if elected.
Front-Loading
The tendency of states to choose an early date on the nominated calendar.
