Everything Flashcards
This provision changed the method of election for U.S. senators from state legislators to a popular vote.
17th amendment
This provision lowered the voting age to 18.
26th amendment
Voting for a candidate based on campaign promises and a belief that he or she will bring about positive change.
Prospective voting
Voting for a candidate based on the approval of his or her past actions in office.
Retrospective voting.
This provision stated that the right of citizens to vote may not be denied on account of race or color.
15th amendment
The role of the media that can influence what subjects become national political issues and for how long.
Gatekeeper
Voting for a candidate based on an indivisual’s best interests, weigh the pros and cons of alternative options.
Rational choice voting
Voting for a candidate based of party loyalty.
Party-line voting
The percentage of eligible citizens who cast a ballot in an election
Voter turnout
This provision granted women sufferage.
19th amendment
A group of link-minded citizens who organize to win elections, hold office, and determine public policy.
Political party
This provision eliminated the poll tax.
24th amendment
A political party’s statement of its beliefs, goals, and policy aim for the next four years.
Party platform
A meeting of party delegates every four years, where a party’s candidate is offiially nominated and the platform is adopted.
Party convention
The means through which people’s concerns and interest become political issues on the goverment’s policy agenda. For example: political parties, interest groups, media, and elections.
Linkage institutions
An election in which new issues emerge and voters shift party loyalty.
Critical election
Elections that take place from Janurary to June of an election year for the purpose of selecting each party’s candidate for the general election.
Direct primary
Elections in which registered party memebrs and non-members can vote to select a presidential candidate.
Open primary
Elections in which only registered party memebers can vote.
Closed primary
A meeting of party members to select delegates that will back a particular primary candidate.
Caucus
Requirements that all eligible citizens vote in election.
Compulsory voting
Elections held to determine which candidate will hold public office.
General election
Elections that take place every other year during which there is no presidential contest.
Mid-term election
The benefit a current office holder has going into an election, due to factors such as name regcognition and campaign finance.
Incumbency advantage
The people who are entitled to vote in an election.
Electorate
An electoral system in which all voters are given to the candidate who come in first in their consituency.
Winner-Takes-All-System
An individual who does not join a group represnting his or her interest yet recieves the benefit of the group’s influence.
Free rider
An electoral system that awards votes to a candidate as a percentage of the number of votes won in a election.
Proportional system
A committee set up by a corporation, labor union, or intrest group that raises and spends campaign money.
Political action committee (PAC)
Citizens United v. FEC paved the way for these organizations, which are allowed to raise an unlimited amount of funds as long as they do not coordinate directly with candidates.
Super PACs
The group of 538 indivisuals who ultimately elect the president of the United States every four years.
Electoral college
An organization of people sharing common concern or goal that seeks to influence public policy.
Interest group
Funding given directly to a candidate.
Hard money
Funding given to political parties for party activites, as opposed to funding directed torwards a specific candidate
Soft money
Indivisuals who provide information and pressure legislators to pass laws that align with a particular agenda.
Lobbyist
A tatic of influencing goverment officaials that involves ultizing large groups of memebrs or the public to make phone calls, send letters, sign petitions, etc.
Grassroots support
Popular means of communication to reach a wide audience, such as television, radio, and the internet.
Mass media
A short radio or video clip lasting approximately 8-10 seconds.
Sound bite
News coverage that focuses on who is ahead in the polls rather than the issues.
Horse-race journalism
