BEATRIZSANTILLANES Flashcards
CHAPTER 12 VOCAB
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; an experienced businessman.
Hillary Clinton
First female major party candidate for president of the United States, a Democrat, who ran against President Donald J. Trump in 2016. Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013; New York senator from 2001 to 2009; former first lady.
Electorate
The citizens eligible to vote.
Mandate
A comman, indicated by an electorate´s 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 are 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 votes in the first primary.
General Election
Election in which voters decide which 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.
Electoral College
Representatives of each state who cast the final ballots that actually elect a president.
Elector
Member of the Electoral College.
Reapportionment
The reallocation of the number of seats in the House of Representatives after each decennial census.
Presidential Coattails
When successful presidential candidates carry into office congressional candidates of the same party in the year of their election.
Barack Obama
The first African American president of the United States, a Democrat, who served as forty-fourth president from 2009 to 2017. Senator from illinois from 2005 to 2008; member of the illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.
Mid-Term Election
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 charged with interacting and communicating with journalists on a daily basis.
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 (GOTV)
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 Democratic presidential primary; senator from Vermont since 2007; first elected to the House of Representative.
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.
Negative Ad
Advertising on behalf of a candidate that attacks the opponent’s character or platform.
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 anticipated attack from the opposition before the attack is launched.
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)
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 Commision (FEC)
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 Act (BCRA)
Passed in 2002, this act amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 with several provisions designed to end the use of nonfederal, or ¨soft money¨ (money raised outside the limits and prohibitions of federal campaign finance law) for activity affecting federal elections.
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 using their general treasury funds to support or denounce political candidates in elections.
McCutcheon v. FEC
The 2014 Supreme Court ruling that declared Section 441 of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) unconstitutional. Section 441 imposed limits on any individuals total political contributions (to federal candidates, parties or political action committees) in a two-year period.
Political Action Committee (PAC)
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 for the election of a candidate.
501(c) group
Interest groups 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’s 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 through commonly accepted forms of persuasion such as voting or letter writing.
Unconventional Political Participation
Activism that attempts to influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures, such as protests, boycotts, and picketing.
Turnout
The proportion of the voting-age public that casts a ballot.
Retrospective Judgment
A voters evaluation of a candidate based on what he or she pledges to do about an issue if elected.
Prospective Judgment
A voters evaluation of a candidate based on what he or she pledged to do about an issue if elected.
Front-loading
The tendency of states to choose an early date on the nomination calendar.
Help America Vote Again (HAVA)
A federal law passed in 2002 that addresses issues of voting systems and voter access that were identified following the 2000 election. It established minimum election administration standards for states and units of local government with responsibility for the administration of federal elections and for other purposes related to the bill.
Incumbancy
Already holding an office.
