Ch.7 Vocab Flashcards
Regularly scheduled elections at which voters make the final selection of officeholders
General elections
What are the five methods of nomination?
Caucus, primary, self-announcement, convention, and petition
A group of like minded people who meet to select the candidates they will support in an upcoming election
Caucus
A person who wants to run for office simply announces that fact
Self- announcement
A party’s members meet in a local caucus to pick candidates for local offices and select delegates to represent them at a county convention
Convention
An intraparty election, held within a party to pick that party’s candidates for the general election
Direct primary
Candidates collect a specified number of signatures from voters to qualify for the general election
Petition
Qualified voters cast ballots in private for their preferred candidate, the person with the most votes is nominated
Primary
A party’s nominating election in which only declared party members can vote (type of primary)
Closed primary
A party’s nominating election In which any qualified voter can cast a ballot (type of primary)
Open primary
Every candidate, regardless of the party, is listed on a long ballot for voters to choose
Blanket primary
The two top vote getters in the first primary face one another to determine the party’s nomination, winner becomes party’s nominee (type of primary)
Runoff primary
Candidates are not identified by party labels
Nonpartisan elections
The medium by which a voter registers a choice in an election
Ballot
A process by which they could vote without going to their polling places on Election Day
Absentee voting
Occurs when a strong candidate running for an office at the top of the ballot helps attract voters to other candidates on the party’s ticket
Coattail effect
A voting district
Precinct
The place where the voters who live in a precinct vote
Polling place
The naming of those who will seek office
Nomination
The political arms of special interest groups and other organizations with a stake in electoral politics
Political action committees (PACs)
A grant of money, usually from a government
Subsidy
Those contributions that are given directly to candidates for their campaign for Congress or the White House, limited in amount
Hard money
Funds given to parties or to other political organizations, in unlimited amounts
Soft money
