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Poli S 102 > Final Exam > Flashcards

Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

What is a criteria of democracy?

A

Competitive elections

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2
Q

What is a political party?

A

An organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization’s name

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3
Q

Define the term “Factions”

A

Groups of people with shared interests or goals who work together to influence government decisions, often competing with other groups

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4
Q

What do political parties do?

A
  1. Organize the election process
  2. Facilitate voter choice
  3. Accountability
  4. Inform the people & define issues
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5
Q

Define the term “Nomination”

A

When political parties pick who will run for office

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6
Q

What are primaries?

A

Elections where people vote to help choose a party’s candidate

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7
Q

What is an open primary?

A

Anyone can vote, no matter their party

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8
Q

What is a closed primary?

A

Only people registered with that party can vote

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9
Q

What is a caucus?

A

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.

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10
Q

How do political parties facilitate voter choice?

A

By reducing the number of candidates on the ballot to those who have a realistic chance of winning, usually a democrat or republican

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11
Q

How do political parties take accountability?

A

Party whip, they count heads & round up party members for votes, they also vote with their party platform

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12
Q

How do political parties inform the people & define issues?

A

Party platform, democrat, republican, libertarian, green party, they all push laws related to their platform

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13
Q

What are two characteristics of the American party system?

A

Candidate centered vs. Party (or policy) centered

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14
Q

Define “candidate centered”

A

Focuses on the individual candidate’s personality, qualifications & personal appeal, rather than their party or policies

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15
Q

Define “party centered”

A

Emphasizes the party’s platform, ideology, & collective goals over the individual

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16
Q

Define “Two-party system”

A

A political system in which two major political parties compete for control of the government
- 3rd parties have little chance of winning

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17
Q

Why do we have a two-party system?

A
  1. Historical foundations of the system
  2. Self-perpetuation of parties
  3. Media coverage
  4. State & federal laws favoring the two-party system
  5. Money
  6. Electoral laws
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18
Q

How does the state & federal laws favor the 2 party system?

A

Ballot access & structure, committee rules, debates

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19
Q

How does money involve the two-party system?

A

Interest group contributions, give money in support of a certain party

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20
Q

Define “single member districts”

A

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

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21
Q

Define “office block voting”

A

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

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22
Q

What are political consequences of electoral laws?

A

Duverger’s Law

23
Q

Define “Duverger’s Law”

A

Electoral laws shape the party system
- how we calculate the winning candidate determines the party system

24
Q

Define “Plurality Rule”

A
  • 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
25
Q

Define “proportional representation”

A
  • Seats assigned to % of votes received
  • Multimember districts
  • Creates a multi-party system
  • High voter turnout rate
  • Voter support = seats in parliament
26
Q

What are the minor parties in the United States?

A
  • Platforms are adopted by major parties –> address issues
  • Speak for the people
  • Candidates can have an impact on the outcome of an election
27
Q

How do we link “the people” to the government?

A
  1. Political parties
  2. Running for office
  3. Voting
  4. Money
28
Q

What are the reasons for low voter turnout?

A

Lack of candidates, wasted vote, frequency of elections, registration, no compulsory, no time-national holiday

29
Q

Define the term “no compulsory”

A

Voting is not required by law

30
Q

How are elections conducted?

A

Primary vs. Caucus, in-person vs. vote by mail, forms of ID required

31
Q

What are the current qualifications?

A

18 years old, citizen, registered, have ID

32
Q

What are factors that influence voter turnout?

A

Level of education, socio-economic status, ethnic background, age

33
Q

Who actually votes?

A

Well educated, wealthy, caucasian, senior citizens

34
Q

Define “Election Laws”

A

States have jurisdiction over election laws

35
Q

Define “straight-ticket voting”

A

Allows voters to choose a party’s entire slate of candidates with just a single ballot mark

36
Q

Why are campaigns important?

A

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

37
Q

Define the term “Game Frame”

A

Media relies on a “game frame” for campaign coverage

38
Q

Define the term “Horse race politics”

A

Greater focus on people & polls, not policy

39
Q

Define the term “Ground War”

A

Candidate appearances, fundraising polling

40
Q

Define the term “Air War”

A

Most expensive part of a campaign, also most useful for reaching national audience

41
Q

What is important about the TV, radio, social media, and internet ads in campaigning?

A

It dominates candidate spending, tv time is particularly expensive

42
Q

Define the term “Political Events”

A

Political events as psuedo-events, carefully planned & managed, aimed at the media, surrogates

43
Q

Define the term “Campaign Advertising”

A

Positive ads –> Soft, slow motion, lyrical or patriot music
- Negative ads –> Has increased over the past few decades

44
Q

What are adbites?

A

Political ads created to lead media sound bites, negative ads do this well, also secures free ad time

45
Q

When was the original adbite?

A

1964, Lyndon Johnson’s Daisy ad

46
Q

Why is debate coverage important?

A

It has turned into the ultimate “strategy” evaluation
- Also shows who won, was better prepared, who messed up, who lied?

47
Q

Who regulates money in politics/

A

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

48
Q

What is the “Federal Election Commission”?

A

A bipartisan federal agency that oversees the financing of national election campaigns
- They also enforce limits on financial contributions
- Requires disclosure of campaign spending

49
Q

What is the “McCain-Feingold Act (2002) (BCRA)”?

A

Placed stricter limits on individual contribution, banned “soft money” contributions

50
Q

Define the term “soft money’

A

Donations to a party, not candidates

51
Q

Define the term “Political Action Committees” (PACs)

A

An organization that raises money privately to donate to candidates for political office

52
Q

What is “Citizens United V. FEC”?

A

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

53
Q

Define the term “mental heuristics”

A

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

Poli S 102 (3 decks)

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