Chapter 8: Vocabulary

Question 1

party competition

Answer 1

battle of the parties for control of public offices

Question 2

political party

Answer 2

“team of men and women seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.” - Anthony Downs

Question 3

linkage institutions

Answer 3

channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the government’s policy agenda

Question 4

party image

Answer 4

voter’s perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stand for.

Question 5

rational-choice theory

Answer 5

popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians.

Question 6

party identification

Answer 6

citizen’s self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other

Question 7

ticket-splitting

Answer 7

voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices

Question 8

party machines

Answer 8

type of political party organization the relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern.

Question 9

patronage

Answer 9

given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone. One of the key inducements used by party machines.

Question 10

closed primaries

Answer 10

elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party’s candidates

Question 11

open primaries

Answer 11

elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests.

Question 12

blanket primaries

Answer 12

elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates from all the parties

Question 13

national convention

Answer 13

meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party’s platform.

Question 14

national committee

Answer 14

one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions.

Question 15

national chairperson

Answer 15

responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party and is usually hand-picked by the presidential nominee

Question 16

coalition

Answer 16

group of individuals with a common interest upon which every political party depends

Question 17

party eras

Answer 17

historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections

Question 18

critical election

Answer 18

electoral “earthquake” where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old one, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party

Question 19

party realignment

Answer 19

displacement of the majority party by the minority party

Question 20

New Deal coalition

Answer 20

coalition forged by the Democrats, who dominated American politics from the 1930s to the 1960s

Question 21

party dealignment

Answer 21

gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification

Question 22

party neutrality

Answer 22

term used to describe the fact that many Americans are indifferent toward the two political parties

Question 23

third parties

Answer 23

electoral contenders other than the two major parties

Question 24

winner-take-all- system

Answer 24

electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first to their constituencies.

Question 25

proportional representation

Answer 25

electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election

Question 26

coalition government

Answer 26

when two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legisature

Question 27

responsible party model

Answer 27

view favored by some political scientists about how parties should work: parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates