Elections

Question 1

Nomination

Answer 1

Official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party

Question 2

Campaign strategy

Answer 2

Master game plan candidates lay out to guide their campain

Question 3

National Party Convention

Answer 3

Supreme power within the party. Meets every 4 years

Question 4

Caucus

Answer 4

Meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention

Question 5

Presidential primaries

Answer 5

Voters in a state can vote for a candidate

Question 6

McGovern-Fraser Commision

Answer 6

Comission formed in 1968 in response to demands for reforms by minorities

Question 7

Superdelegates

Answer 7

National party leaders who automatically gets a delegate slot at the Democratic national party convention

Question 8

Frontloading

Answer 8

Tendency of states to hold primaries early

Question 9

National primary

Answer 9

A proposal to replace all electoral methods with a series of primaries in each geographic region

Question 10

Party platform

Answer 10

A political party’s statement of its goals and policies for the next four years

Question 11

Direct mail

Answer 11

High-tech method of raising money for a political cause or candidate

Question 12

Federal election Campaign Act

Answer 12

Law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. Created FEC

Question 13

Federal Election Comission (FEC)

Answer 13

six-member bipartisan agency that administers and enforces campaign finance laws

Question 14

Presidential Election Campaign Fund

Answer 14

Money from the federal income tax check-off foes into this fund to be used for campaigning

Question 15

Matching Funds

Answer 15

Contributions of up to $250 are matched to candidates who qualify

Question 16

Soft Money

Answer 16

Political donations earmarked for party - building expenses, etc

Question 17

Political Action Committees (PAC)

Answer 17

Funding vehicles created by 1974 tax reforms

Question 18

Selective participation

Answer 18

The phenomenon that people pay attention to things they already agree to

Question 19

Legitimacy

Answer 19

Almost universally accepted as a fair and free method of selecting political leaders

Question 20

Referendum

Answer 20

State-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to look at legislation

Question 21

Initiative petition

Answer 21

Process permitted in some states where voters can propose changes in the state consitution and put it to a vote

Question 22

Suffrage

Answer 22

Legal right to vote

Question 23

Political efficacy

Answer 23

Belief that one’s political participation matters

Question 24

Civic duty

Answer 24

Belief that in order to support democratic government, one must vote.

Question 25

Voter registration

Answer 25

System that requires voters to register before election day

Question 26

Motor Voter Act

Answer 26

Requires states to permit people to get their driving and voting license at the same time

Question 27

Mandate theory of election

Answer 27

The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate to carry out their platforms and politics

Question 28

Policy voting

Answer 28

Electoral choices made on the voter’s policy preferences

Question 29

Electoral College

Answer 29

Selects the president by electors chosen by state parties

Question 30

Retrospective voting

Answer 30

Theory of voting where voters ask “What have you done for me lately?”