Ch 7-10 Definitions Flashcards
Political Participation
Actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence our support government and politics
Conventional Participation
Relatively routine political behavior that uses established institutions of representative government, especially campaigning in voting in elections
Unconventional Participation
Relatively uncommon behavior that challenges/defies established institutions or dominant culture. Personally stressful to the participants and their opponents
Terrorism
Pre-meditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents
Direct Action
Unconventional participation that involves assembling crowds to confront businesses and local government to demand a hearing
Supportive Behavior
Action that expresses allegiance to government and country
Influencing Behavior
Behavior that seeks to modify or reserve a government policy to serve political interests
Class Action Suit
A legal action brought by a person in our group on behalf of a number of people in similar circumstances
Voter Turnout
The percentage of eligible citizens who actually vote in a given election
Suffrage
The right to vote, also known as the franchise
Progressivism
A philosophy of political reform based on the goodness and wisdom of the individual citizen as opposed to special interests and political institutions
Direct Primary
A preliminary election, run by the state government, in which the voters choose each party’s candidate for the general election
Recall
The process for removing an elected official from office
Referendum
Direct vote by the people on either a proposed law or amendment to a state constitution
Initiative
A procedure by which the people can propose a measure to be decided by the legislature or by the people in a referendum. Requires a specified number of signatures and submission of a petition to a designated agency
Standard Socioeconomic Model
A relationship between socioeconomic status and conventional political involvement: people with higher status and education are more likely to participate
Political Parties
An organization that sponsors candidates for office under the organizations name
Nomination
Designation as an official candidate of a political party
Political System
A set of interrelated institutions that links people with government
Electoral College
A body of electors chosen by voters to cast ballots for president and Vice President. Total of 538; One for each state senator (100), one for each state representative (435), and three for the District of Columbia
Caucuses
A closed meeting of the members of a political party to decide questions of policy and the selection of candidates for office
National Convention
A gathering of delegates of a single political party from across the country to choose candidates for president and vice president and to adopt a party platform
Party Platform
The statement of policies of a national political party
Critical Election
An election that produces a sharp change in the existing pattern of party loyalties among groups of voters
Two-party System
A political system in which two major political parties compete for control of the government. Candidates from a third-party have a little chance of winning office
Party Identification
Refers to the political party with which an individual identifies with psychologically. Voting is a behavior, identification is a state of mind
Electoral Dealignment
A lessening of the importance of party loyalty is in voting decisions
Majority Representation
The system by which one office contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes
Proportional Representation
A system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election
National Committee
Committee of a political party composed of party chair persons and party officials from every state
Party Conferences
A meeting to select party leaders and decide committee assignments, held at the beginning of a session of Congress by Republicans or Democrats and each chamber
Congressional Campaign Committees
An organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to support its own candidates in congressional elections
Party Machine
A centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections
Responsible Party Government
A set of principles formalizing of the ideal role of parties in a majoritarian democracy:
• parties should represent clear and coherent programs to voters
• voters should choose candidates on the basis of party programs
• The winning party you should carry out its program once in office
• voters should hold the governing party responsible after the next election for executing it’s program
Election Campaign
An organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate over others competing for the same office
Primary Election
Preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election
Closed Primaries
Primary elections in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party’s potential nominees
Open Primaries
Primary elections in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose one party’s primary ballot to take into the voting booth
Modified Closed Primaries
Political elections that allow individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents toto vote in their primaries and for which offices
Modified Open Primaries
Political elections that entitle independent voters to vote in a party’s primary
Presidential Primary
A special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party’s national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate
Caucus/Convention
A method used to select delegates to attend a party’s national convention. Generally a local meeting select delegates for a county level meeting, which in turn select delegates for a higher level meeting: the process culminates in a state convention that actually selects the national convention delegates
Front – loading
States practice of moving delegate selection primaries and caucuses earlier in the calendar year to gain media and candidate attention
General Election
A national election held by law in November of every even numbered year
Plurality Vote
Describes the circumstance when a candidate or proposition polls more votes than any other, but does not receive a majority
Straight Ticket
When voting, choosing a single party’s candidates for all the offices
Split Ticket
When voting, choosing candidates from different parties for different offices
First-past-the-post Elections
A British term for elections conducted in single member districts that award victory to the candidate with the most votes
Incumbent
The current officeholder running for reelection
Open Election
An election that lacks an incumbent
FEC Federal Election Commission
A bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns
501 (c) 4
501 (c) 4 social welfare organizations are exempt from reporting donors if they spend most of their fans on issues, not candidates
Tax exemptions for committees
527 committees enjoy tax exempt status in election campaigns if they’re unaffiliated with political parties and take positions on issues, not specific candidates
Redistricting
Taking census data and creating congressional districts
Gerrymandering
Manipulating The redistricting process to give one party and advantage
Proportional Representation Method
Candidates Who win at least 15% of the vote to by the states delegates in proportion to the percentage of their primary votes
Winner-take-all
Gives all the states delegates to the candidate who wins a plurality of its vote
Interest Group
An organized group of individuals who share some political goals and try to influence public policy decisions. Also known as lobbies.
Prominent interest groups in the United States
- AFL/CIO – represent labor union members
- American Farm Bureau Federation-represent farmers
- Business Roundtable – represents big business
- Common Cause– represents citizens concerned with reforming government
Lobbyists
Representatives of an interest group
Interest group functions
Representation, participation, education, agenda building, programmer monitoring
Agenda Building
Interest groups bring new issues to the political limelight through a process called agenda building, and see to it that something is done to solve them
Program Monitoring
Keeping track of government program: usually done by interest groups. Makes sure programs operate as they should and push for change if they don’t. Interest groups draw attention to transgressions and file suit to stop actions they consider unlawful
Interest Group Entrepreneur
An interest group organizer or leader
Free-rider Program
The situation in which people benefit from the activities of an organization but do not contribute to those activities
Trade Associations
An organization that represents firms with in a particular industry
PAC Political Action Committee
An organization that pulls a campaign contributions from group members and donates those funds to candidates for political office
Direct Lobbying
Attempts to influence a legislators vote through personal contact with the legislator
Grassroots Lobbying
Lobbying activities performed by rank-and-file interest group members and would-be members
Information Campaigns
An organized effort to gain public backing by bringing a group’s views to public attention
Collation Building
The banding together of several interest groups for the purpose of lobbying
Citizen Groups
Lobbying organizations built around policy concerns unrelated to members vocational interests
Interest groups and pluralism
Interest groups are the Pluralism theory in action. Many interest groups trying to influence our elections, government and laws in their favor
