Chapter 9: Participation, Campaigns, and Elections Flashcards
insurrection
a violent attack on gov’t; the act of revolting against civic authority or an established gov’t
protest
participation that involves assembling crowds to confront a gov’t or other official organization
suffrage
the right to vote; also called franchise
turnout
the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote
digital political participation
activities designed to influence politics using the internet, including visiting a candidate’s website, organizing events online, and signing an online petition
socioeconomic status
status in society based on level of education, income, and occupational prestige
midtern elections
congressional elections not coinciding with a presedential election
*AKA: off-year elections
voting process responsibility
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
primary elections
elections held to select a party’s candidates for the general election
*used for offices at national, state, and often local levels
“two top”/”top four” primaries
*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
closed primaries
only registered members of a political party may vote in that party’s primaries
*independents cannot participate
open primaries
*allow all registered voters vote in primaries
general election
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
same day registration
option to register to vote on the day of an election at the polling place
early voting
option to cast a vote at a polling place or by mail before an election
frontloading
moving up of presedential primaries by a state to provide that state greater influence on the selection of candidates
delegate (political parties)
representative to national party conventions who votes according to the preferences of voters in caucus and primary elections
superdelegates
*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
party platform
*a party document
*written at a national convention
*contains party philosophy, principles, and positions on issues
electoral college
the presidential electors from each state who meet after the general election to cast ballots for president and vice president
campaign
an effort by political candidates and their supporters, to win the backing of donors, political activists, and voters in their quest for political office
incumbent
a candidate running for re-election to a position that the candidate already holds
PAC
*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.
Super PAC
*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
527 committee
*an non-profit, tax-exempt, organization operating primarily to influence the election of certain candidates (PACs, Super PACs, etc.)
dark money groups/501(c)(4) committees
*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
grassroots campaigns
*political campaigns that operate at the local level, often using face-to-face communication to generate interest and momentum by citizens
micro-targeting
*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
mobilization
the process by which large numbers of people are organized for a political activity
