Chapter 12

Question 1

Thomas Jefferson

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Donald J. Trump

Answer 2

The forty-fifth president, a Republican, elected in 2016; first president elected without prior political or military experience; an experienced business man.

Question 3

Hillary Clinton

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

electorate

Answer 4

The citizens eligible to vote.

Question 5

mandate

Answer 5

A command, indicated by an electorate’s votes, for the elected officials to carry out a party platform or policy agenda.

Question 6

primary election

Answer 6

Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election.

Question 7

closed primary

Answer 7

A primary election in which only a party’s registered voters are eligible to cast ballot.

Question 8

open primary

Answer 8

A primary election in which party members, independents, and sometimes members of the other party are allowed to participate.

Question 9

crossover voting

Answer 9

Participation in the primary election of a party with which the voter is not affiliated.

Question 10

runoff primary

Answer 10

A second primary election between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in the first primary.

Question 11

general election

Answer 11

Election in which votes decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices.

Question 12

initiative

Answer 12

An election that allows citizens to propose legislation or state constitutional amendments by submitting them to the electorate for popular vote.

Question 13

referendum

Answer 13

An election whereby the state legislature submits proposed legislation or state constitutional amendments to the voters for approval.

Question 14

recall

Answer 14

An election in which voters can remove an incumbent from office prior to the next scheduled election.

Question 15

Electoral College

Answer 15

Representatives of each state who cast the final ballots that actually elect a president.

Question 16

elector

Answer 16

Member of the Electoral College.

Question 17

reapportionment

Answer 17

The reallocation of the number of seats in the House of Representatives after each decennial census.

Question 18

incumbancy

Answer 18

Already holding an office

Question 19

presidential coattails

Answer 19

When successful presidential candidates carry into office congressional candidates of the same party in the year of their election.

Question 20

Barack Obama

Answer 20

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 19997 to 2004.

Question 21

mid-term election

Answer 21

An election that takes place in the middle of a presidential term.

Question 22

campaign manager

Answer 22

The individual who travels with the candidate and coordinates the financial business of the campaign.

Question 23

finance chair

Answer 23

The individual who coordinates the financial business of the campaign.

Question 24

communications director

Answer 24

The person who develops the overall media strategy for the candidate.

Question 25

press secretary

Answer 25

The individual charges with interacting and communicating with journalists on a daily basis.

Question 26

campaign consultant

Answer 26

A private-sector professional who sells to a candidate the technologies, services, and strategies requires to get that candidate elected.

Question 27

pollster

Answer 27

A campaign consultant who conducts public opinion surveys.

Question 28

voter canvass

Answer 28

The process by which a campaign reaches individual voters, either by door-to-door solicitation or by telephone.

Question 29

get-out-the-vote (GOTV)

Answer 29

A push at the end of a political campaign to encourage supporters to go to polls.

Question 30

Bernie Sanders

Answer 30

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 Representatives in 1991

Question 31

positive ad

Answer 31

Advertising on behalf of a candidate that stresses the candidate’s qualifications, family, and issue positions, with no direct reference to the opponent.

Question 32

negative ad

Answer 32

Advertising on behalf of a candidate that attacks the opponent’s character or platform.

Question 33

contrast ad

Answer 33

Ad that compares the records and proposals of the candidates, with a bias toward the candidate sponsoring the ad.

Question 34

inoculation ad

Answer 34

Advertising that attempts to counteract and anticipated attack from the opposition before the attack is launched.

Question 35

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)

Answer 35

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.

Question 36

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Answer 36

An independent regulatory agency founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States.

Question 37

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)

Answer 37

Passed in 2002, this act amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 with several provisions designed to end the use of non federal, or “soft money” (money raised outside the limits and prohibitions of federal campaign finance law) for activity affecting federal elections.

Question 38

Citizens United v. FEC

Answer 38

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.

Question 39

McCutcheon v. FEC

Answer 39

The 2014 Supreme Court ruling that declared Section 441 of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) unconstitutional. Section 441 imposed limits on any individual’s total political contributions (to federal candidates, parties, or political action committees) in a two-year period.

Question 40

political action committee (PAC)

Answer 40

Officially recognized fund-raising organizations that represent interest groups and are allowed by federal law to make contributions directly to candidates’ campaigns.

Question 41

527 political committee

Answer 41

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.

Question 42

501 (c) group

Answer 42

Interest groups whose primary purpose is not electoral politics.

Question 43

super PAC

Answer 43

Political action committees established to make independent expenditures.

Question 44

independent expenditures

Answer 44

Spending for campaign activity that is not coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.

Question 45

public finds

Answer 45

Donations from general tax revenues to the campaigns of qualifying presidential candidate.

Question 46

marching funds

Answer 46

Donations to presidential campaigns whereby every dollar raised form individuals in amounts less than $251 is marched by the federal treasury.

Question 47

conventional political participation

Answer 47

Activism that attempts to influence the political process through commonly accepted forms of persuasion such as voting or letter writing.

Question 48

unconventional political participation

Answer 48

Activism that attempts to influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures, such as protests, boycotts, and picketing.

Question 49

turnout

Answer 49

The proportion of the voting-age public that casts a ballot.

Question 50

retrospective judgement

Answer 50

A voter’s evasion of a candidate based in past performance on a particular issue.

Question 51

prospective judgement

Answer 51

A voter’s evaluation of a candidate based on what he or she pledges to do about an issue if elected.

Question 52

front-loading

Answer 52

The tendency of states to choose an early date on the nomination calendar.

Question 53

Help America Vote Act (HAVA)

Answer 53

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 an units of local government with responsibility for the administration of federal elections and for other purposes related to the bill.