Chapter 9: Participation, Campaigns, and Elections

Question 1

insurrection

Answer 1

a violent attack on gov’t; the act of revolting against civic authority or an established gov’t

Question 2

protest

Answer 2

participation that involves assembling crowds to confront a gov’t or other official organization

Question 3

suffrage

Answer 3

the right to vote; also called franchise

Question 4

turnout

Answer 4

the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote

Question 5

digital political participation

Answer 5

activities designed to influence politics using the internet, including visiting a candidate’s website, organizing events online, and signing an online petition

Question 6

socioeconomic status

Answer 6

status in society based on level of education, income, and occupational prestige

Question 7

midtern elections

Answer 7

congressional elections not coinciding with a presedential election
*AKA: off-year elections

Question 8

voting process responsibility

Answer 8

rests with state and local gov’t
*elections are administered by state, county, and city election boards
*establishing/staffing polling places, processing mail-in ballots, verifying elegibility of voters

Question 9

primary elections

Answer 9

elections held to select a party’s candidates for the general election
*used for offices at national, state, and often local levels

Question 10

“two top”/”top four” primaries

Answer 10

*primaries held in a few states (eg - California, Washington, Alaska, etc.)
*candidate from all parties run against one another and the two with the most votes v.s in the general election

Question 11

closed primaries

Answer 11

only registered members of a political party may vote in that party’s primaries
*independents cannot participate

Question 12

open primaries

Answer 12

*allow all registered voters vote in primaries

Question 13

general election

Answer 13

regularly scheduled election involving most districts in the nation or state, in which voters select officeholders
*most are (for national/state/local office) held on the first tueday after the first monday in November on even-numbered years

Question 14

same day registration

Answer 14

option to register to vote on the day of an election at the polling place

Question 15

early voting

Answer 15

option to cast a vote at a polling place or by mail before an election

Question 16

frontloading

Answer 16

moving up of presedential primaries by a state to provide that state greater influence on the selection of candidates

Question 17

delegate (political parties)

Answer 17

representative to national party conventions who votes according to the preferences of voters in caucus and primary elections

Question 18

superdelegates

Answer 18

*in the Democratic party
*an unelected memeber/leader, free to support any candidate for the presidential nomination at the party’s national convention
*only allowed to vote if no candidate has a majority after the first round of voting

Question 19

party platform

Answer 19

*a party document
*written at a national convention
*contains party philosophy, principles, and positions on issues

Question 20

electoral college

Answer 20

the presidential electors from each state who meet after the general election to cast ballots for president and vice president

Question 21

campaign

Answer 21

an effort by political candidates and their supporters, to win the backing of donors, political activists, and voters in their quest for political office

Question 22

incumbent

Answer 22

a candidate running for re-election to a position that the candidate already holds

Question 23

PAC

Answer 23

*political action commitee
*private group that can raise funds and donate them to political campaigns/parties
*not run by a political party or candidate
*limited in how much money it can provide to a campaign
*expenses must be reported to the FEC
*administered by corporations, labor unions, memebership groups, trade associations, etc.

Question 24

Super PAC

Answer 24

*an “independent expenditure-only” group that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate for/against a political candidate (cannot donate directly to candidates)
*not run by a political party or candidate
*donations must be reported to the FEC

Question 25

527 committee

Answer 25

*an non-profit, tax-exempt, organization operating primarily to influence the election of certain candidates (PACs, Super PACs, etc.)

Question 26

dark money groups/501(c)(4) committees

Answer 26

*politically active nonprofit social welfare groups
*can spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns
*donors not need be disclosed, as long as activities are not coordinated with candidate campaigns and political activities are not their primary purpose

Question 27

grassroots campaigns

Answer 27

*political campaigns that operate at the local level, often using face-to-face communication to generate interest and momentum by citizens

Question 28

micro-targeting

Answer 28

*campaign strategy making use of data and demographics to identify interests of small groups of like-minded individuals to deliver tailored ads or messages designed to influence their voting behavior

Question 29

mobilization

Answer 29

the process by which large numbers of people are organized for a political activity