Final Exam Flashcards
What is a criteria of democracy?
Competitive elections
What is a political party?
An organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization’s name
Define the term “Factions”
Groups of people with shared interests or goals who work together to influence government decisions, often competing with other groups
What do political parties do?
- Organize the election process
- Facilitate voter choice
- Accountability
- Inform the people & define issues
Define the term “Nomination”
When political parties pick who will run for office
What are primaries?
Elections where people vote to help choose a party’s candidate
What is an open primary?
Anyone can vote, no matter their party
What is a closed primary?
Only people registered with that party can vote
What is a caucus?
A meeting where party members talk, vote, and decide who they want as their candidate. It’s like a big group discussion instead of a regular election.
How do political parties facilitate voter choice?
By reducing the number of candidates on the ballot to those who have a realistic chance of winning, usually a democrat or republican
How do political parties take accountability?
Party whip, they count heads & round up party members for votes, they also vote with their party platform
How do political parties inform the people & define issues?
Party platform, democrat, republican, libertarian, green party, they all push laws related to their platform
What are two characteristics of the American party system?
Candidate centered vs. Party (or policy) centered
Define “candidate centered”
Focuses on the individual candidate’s personality, qualifications & personal appeal, rather than their party or policies
Define “party centered”
Emphasizes the party’s platform, ideology, & collective goals over the individual
Define “Two-party system”
A political system in which two major political parties compete for control of the government
- 3rd parties have little chance of winning
Why do we have a two-party system?
- Historical foundations of the system
- Self-perpetuation of parties
- Media coverage
- State & federal laws favoring the two-party system
- Money
- Electoral laws
How does the state & federal laws favor the 2 party system?
Ballot access & structure, committee rules, debates
How does money involve the two-party system?
Interest group contributions, give money in support of a certain party
Define “single member districts”
Has plurality voting, where 1 candidate with the most votes wins, tends to favor a two-candidate system, smaller parties often struggle to win enough votes to compete effectively
Define “office block voting”
A way of organizing election ballots in the U.S
- Candidates are listed by the office they are running for rather than by political party
- Encourages voters to make decisions based on the candidate rather than simply voting for all candidates from one party, which happens more often with a party-column ballot. Designed to reduce straight-ticket voting
What are political consequences of electoral laws?
Duverger’s Law
Define “Duverger’s Law”
Electoral laws shape the party system
- how we calculate the winning candidate determines the party system
Define “Plurality Rule”
- Winner take all
- Candidate with the most votes wins
- Single member districts (SMDs)
- Creates & maintains a two-party system
- “Wasted vote”
- Catch-all-parties/center positions
- Stable democracy
Define “proportional representation”
- Seats assigned to % of votes received
- Multimember districts
- Creates a multi-party system
- High voter turnout rate
- Voter support = seats in parliament
What are the minor parties in the United States?
- Platforms are adopted by major parties –> address issues
- Speak for the people
- Candidates can have an impact on the outcome of an election
How do we link “the people” to the government?
- Political parties
- Running for office
- Voting
- Money
What are the reasons for low voter turnout?
Lack of candidates, wasted vote, frequency of elections, registration, no compulsory, no time-national holiday
Define the term “no compulsory”
Voting is not required by law
How are elections conducted?
Primary vs. Caucus, in-person vs. vote by mail, forms of ID required
What are the current qualifications?
18 years old, citizen, registered, have ID
What are factors that influence voter turnout?
Level of education, socio-economic status, ethnic background, age
Who actually votes?
Well educated, wealthy, caucasian, senior citizens
Define “Election Laws”
States have jurisdiction over election laws
Define “straight-ticket voting”
Allows voters to choose a party’s entire slate of candidates with just a single ballot mark
Why are campaigns important?
They are now longer in the past, greater emphasis on fundraising, greater reliance on consultants for strategy, use of polls & focus groups, emphasis on candidate recognition, candidates must become performers
Define the term “Game Frame”
Media relies on a “game frame” for campaign coverage
Define the term “Horse race politics”
Greater focus on people & polls, not policy
Define the term “Ground War”
Candidate appearances, fundraising polling
Define the term “Air War”
Most expensive part of a campaign, also most useful for reaching national audience
What is important about the TV, radio, social media, and internet ads in campaigning?
It dominates candidate spending, tv time is particularly expensive
Define the term “Political Events”
Political events as psuedo-events, carefully planned & managed, aimed at the media, surrogates
Define the term “Campaign Advertising”
Positive ads –> Soft, slow motion, lyrical or patriot music
- Negative ads –> Has increased over the past few decades
What are adbites?
Political ads created to lead media sound bites, negative ads do this well, also secures free ad time
When was the original adbite?
1964, Lyndon Johnson’s Daisy ad
Why is debate coverage important?
It has turned into the ultimate “strategy” evaluation
- Also shows who won, was better prepared, who messed up, who lied?
Who regulates money in politics/
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
What is the “Federal Election Commission”?
A bipartisan federal agency that oversees the financing of national election campaigns
- They also enforce limits on financial contributions
- Requires disclosure of campaign spending
What is the “McCain-Feingold Act (2002) (BCRA)”?
Placed stricter limits on individual contribution, banned “soft money” contributions
Define the term “soft money’
Donations to a party, not candidates
Define the term “Political Action Committees” (PACs)
An organization that raises money privately to donate to candidates for political office
What is “Citizens United V. FEC”?
This was a supreme court case that said corporations & groups can spend unlimited money on political campaigns
- The court decided that limiting their spending would violate free speech, but they can’t give money directly to candidates-only to support them through ads or other ways
Define the term “mental heuristics”
People use mental heuristics to decide who to vote for based on things that make sense to them
- Not really about principles & policy positions
- They take mental shortcuts : respected sources & the political party
