Chapter 6: Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections

Question 0

nomination

Answer 0

Designation as an official candidate of a political party.

Question 1

political party

Answer 1

An organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization’s name.

Question 2

political system

Answer 2

A set of interrelated institutions that links people with government.

Question 3

critical election

Answer 3

An election that produces a sharp change in the existing pattern of party loyalties among groups of voters.

Question 4

electoral realignment

Answer 4

The change in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election.

Question 5

electoral dealignment

Answer 5

A lessening of the importance of party loyalties in voting decisions.

Question 6

two-party system

Answer 6

A political system in which two major political parties compete for control of the government. Candidates from a third party have little chance of winning office

Question 7

majority representation

Answer 7

The system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes.

Question 8

proportional representation

Answer 8

The system by which legisla-tive seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election.

Question 9

party identification

Answer 9

A voter’s sense of psychological attachment to a party.

Question 10

party platform

Answer 10

The statement of policies of a national political party.

Question 11

national convention

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

national committee

Answer 12

A committee of a political party composed of party chairpersons and party officials from every state.

Question 13

party conference

Answer 13

A meeting to select party leaders and decide committee assignments, held at the beginning of a session of Congress by Republicans or Democrats in each chamber.

Question 14

congressional campaign committee

Answer 14

An organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to support its own candidates in congressional elections.

Question 15

party machine

Answer 15

A centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections.

Question 16

responsible party government

Answer 16

A set of principles formalizing the ideal role of parties in a majoritarian democracy.

Question 17

election campaign

Answer 17

An organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate over others competing for the same office.

Question 18

primary election

Answer 18

A preliminary election con- ducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election

Question 19

closed primary

Answer 19

A primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party’s potential nominees.

Question 20

open primary

Answer 20

A primary election in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose either party’s primary ballot to take into the voting booth.

Question 21

modified closed primary

Answer 21

A primary election that allows individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and for which offices.

Question 22

modified open primary

Answer 22

A primary election that entitles independent voters to vote in a party’s primary.

Question 23

presidential primary

Answer 23

A special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party’s national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate.

Question 24

caucus/convention

Answer 24

A method used to select delegates to attend a party’s national convention. Generally a local meeting selects delegates for a countylevel meeting, which in turn selects delegates for a higher-level meeting; the process culminates in a state convention that selects the national convention delegates.

Question 25

front-loading

Answer 25

States’ practice of moving delegate selection primaries and caucuses earlier in the calendar year to gain media and candidate attention.

Question 26

general election

Answer 26

A national election held by law in November of every even-numbered year.

Question 27

straight ticket

Answer 27

In voting, a single party’s candidates for all the offices.

Question 28

split ticket

Answer 28

In voting, candidates from different parties for different offices.

Question 29

open election

Answer 29

An election that lacks an incumbent.

Question 30

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Answer 30

A bipartisan federal agency that oversees the financing of national election campaigns.

Question 31

hard money

Answer 31

Financial contributions given directly to a congressional or presidential campaign.

Question 32

soft money

Answer 32

Funds raised by parties to be spent on party mailings, voter registration, and get-out-the- vote campaigns rather than for a specific federal election campaign.

Question 33

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)

Answer 33

A law passed in 2002 governing campaign financing; the law took effect with the 2004 election.

Question 34

527 committees

Answer 34

Political organizations that are organized under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code; they enjoy tax-exempt status and may accept unlimited funds from unlimited sources but cannot expressly advo- cate a candidate’s election or defeat.