Ch 9 Campaigns

Question 1

nomination

Answer 1

the official endorsement of a candiate for office by a 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 lay out 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

McGovern-Fraser Commission

Answer 4

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

Question 5

superdelegates

Answer 5

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

Question 6

invisible primary

Answer 6

the period before any votes are cast when candidates compete to win early support from the elite of the party and to create a positive first impression of their leadership skills

Question 7

caucus

Answer 7

a system for selecting convention delegates used in about a dozen states in which voters must attend an open meeting to express their presidential preference

Question 8

presidential primaries

Answer 8

elections in which a state’s voters go to the polls to express their preference for a party’s nominee for president. most delegates to the national party conventions are chosen this way.

Question 9

frontloading

Answer 9

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

Question 10

party platform

Answer 10

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 11

direct mail

Answer 11

a method of raising money for a political cause or candidate, in which information and requests for money are sent to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar view or candidates in the past

Question 12

campaign contributions

Answer 12

donations that are made directly to a candidate or a party and that must be reported to the FEC. as of 2012, individuals were allowed to donate up to $2500 per election to a candidate and up to $30,800 to a political party.

Question 13

independent expenditures

Answer 13

expenses on behalf of a political message that are made by groups that are uncoordinated with any candidate’s campaign

Question 14

federal election campaign act

Answer 14

a law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. the act created the federal election commission and provided for limits on and disclosure of campaign contributions

Question 15

political action committees

Answer 15

Groups that raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to candidates that the group supports. PACs must register with the FEC and report their donations and contributions to it. Individual contributions to a PAC are limited to $5000 per year, and a PAC may give up to $5000 to a candidate for each election

Question 16

Federal Election Commission

Answer 16

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 17

soft money

Answer 17

Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising. For a time, such contributions were unlimited, until they were banned by the McCain-Feingold Act

Question 18

527 groups

Answer 18

Independent political groups that are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates. Section 527 of the tax code specifies that contributions to such groups must be reported to the IRS

Question 19

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

Answer 19

a 2010 landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures

Question 20

501(c) groups

Answer 20

groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions. Section 501c of the tax code specifies that such groups cannot spend more than half their funds on political activities

Question 21

Super PACs

Answer 21

independent expenditure-only PACs are known as Super PACs because they may accept donations of any size and can endorse candidates. Their contributions and expenditures must be periodically reported to the FEC

Question 22

selective perception

Answer 22

the phenomenon that people’s beliefs often guide what they pay the most attention to and how they interpret events