Chapter 6 Flashcards
What is a political party?
An organization that selects candidates for office to represent the party’s ideals, conducts election campaigns to get their candidates into office, and organizes government to facilitate achievement of its goals.
primary
voters select a nominee
caucus
party members gather to agree upon a nominee
convention
party members gather in one location to formally choose a nominee, or some combination of these methods
a primary
can be either open to all voters or closed to all but registered party members(there are some other variations as well)
A caucus
Involves only party members meeting around the state.
Proportional representation
Rules which allocate delegates Favoring candidates in proportion to their support in the primary vote or the caucus.
Winner-take-all rules.
Where the top finisher gets all the states delegates if they so choose
Party system
a system of government in which a signle political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution
Realignment
a significant and lasting shift in the political landscape where voters move from one dominant political party to another, resulting in a major change in the party system, often triggered by a critical election or major historical event; essentially, a period when a new coalition supporting a partyy takes over from an old one
New deal
a series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt adminstation between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression
Civil rights movement
time in the 1950s and 1960s when people joined together, organized, and protested, and worked to make sure that everyone’s civil rights were protected
Dealignment
idea that many people are moving away from the two political parties and moving towards the idea of indifference
single-member district, plurality rules (SMDP)
“first-past-the-post)
one in which individuals cast a single vote for a candidate in a single-member district. The candidate with the most votes is elected-the simplest and most commonly used electoral system in the world
single-member districts
have only one representative
multi-member district (multi-winner elections)
each district elects several representatives
plurality elections
the threshold for victory is simply getting more botes than anyone else
majority elections
the threshold is higher: more than half of the votes cast (or alternatively, more votes than everyone else combined)
jim Crow laws
used to strip African Americans of social and political rights, these laws included barriers to voting
motor voter acgt of 1993
required all states to offer mail-in registration forms, and also required them to offer the forms at most state government facilities like schools and many state services locations like motor vehicle bureaus
2000 presidential election
was held up for over a month by voting controversies in Florida, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act. Among other things, it provided money to help sttate upgrade their voting equipment and required states to allow people to cast provisional votes if their eligibility is in question
voting cues
we decide alternatives by using this, or indicators
issue positions
which candidate’s issures do we most like?
incumbency
who currently holds office
valence issues
one-sided
party primaries
select nominees to repesent the party in a general election
have not technically elected anyone to office
general election
fill government offices for fixed terms
special elections
used to fill vacancies temporarily
recall elections
can actually remove someone from office
presidential election
you don’t actually vote for president
an indirect system where you, in facct, vote for electors for your state who in turn vote for president
run-off election
under a majority voting system, a second election is held only if no candidate wins a majority of the votes in the first general election. Only the top two vote-getters in the first election compete in the runoff
approval voting
voters may cast botes for each candidate they like
soft money
non-campaign, “party-building” activities like get-out-the-vote drives or issue advertiesments (as opposed to express campaign advertisements)
