ch 14

Question 1

Straight-ticket voting

Answer 1

voting for all of the candidates on the ballot from one political party.

Question 2

Split-ticket voting

Answer 2

voting for candidates from different parties in the same election.

Question 2

Party Platform

Answer 2

a set of positions and policy objectives that members of a political party agree to.

Question 3

Recruitment

Answer 3

the process through which political parties identify potential candidates.

Question 4

Party Coalition

Answer 4

interest groups and like-minded voters who support a political party over time.

Question 5

Realignment

Answer 5

when the groups of people who support a political party shift their allegiance to a different political party.

Question 6

Critical Election

Answer 6

a major national election that signals a change in the balance of power between the two parties.

Question 7

Party era

Answer 7

time period when one party wins most national elections.

Question 8

Era of divided government

Answer 8

a trend since 1969, in which one party controls one or both houses of Congress and the president is from the opposing party.

Question 9

Nomination

Answer 9

the formal process through which parties choose their candidates for political office.

Question 10

Delegate

Answer 10

a person who acts as the voters’ representative at a convention to select the party’s nominee.

Question 11

Primary Election

Answer 11

an election in which a state’s voters choose delegates who support a particular presidential candidate for nomination or an election by a plurality vote to select a party’s nominee for a seat in Congress.

Question 12

Open Primary

Answer 12

a primary election in which all eligible voters may vote, regardless of their party affiliation.

Question 13

Closed Primary

Answer 13

a primary election in which only those who have registered as a member of a political party may vote.

Question 14

Caucus

Answer 14

a process through which a state’s eligible voters meet to select delegates to represent their preferences in the nomination process.

Question 15

Superdelegate

Answer 15

usually, a party leader or activist who is not pledged to a candidate based on the outcomes of the state’s primary or caucus.

Question 16

Front-loading

Answer 16

a decision by a state to push its primary or caucus to a date as early in the election season as possible to gain more influence in the presidential nomination process.

Question 17

National Convention

Answer 17

a meeting where delegates officially select their party’s nominee for the presidency.

Question 18

Candidate-centered campaign

Answer 18

a trend in which candidates develop their own strategies and raise money with less influence from the party elite.

Question 19

Two-party system

Answer 19

a system in which two political parties dominate politics, winning almost all elections.

Question 20

Proportional representation system

Answer 20

an election system for a legislature in which citizens vote for parties, rather than individuals, and parties are represented in the legislature according to the percentage of the vote they receive.

Question 21

Single-member plurality system

Answer 21

an election system for choosing members of the legislature where the winner is the candidate who receives the most votes, even if the candidate does not receive a majority of the votes.

Question 22

Third party

Answer 22

a minor political party in competition with the two major parties.