JC Important Terms pp.35-61 and 110-140

Question 1

Slurge and its incumbency advantage

Answer 1

1. The calculation of first time incumbents and the retirement slump, which together forms the slurge.
2. Always shows growing value, indicating a distinct advantage for incumbents.

Question 2

Marginal Seat

Answer 2

1. a seat in which elections tend to be won by small margins making it competitive.
2. Increasingly fewer of these seats

Question 3

Institutional incumbency advantages

Answer 3

1. Congress is specialized to local interests.
2. Light party discipline in Congress.
3. More resources available for incumbents.

Question 4

Constituency Service

Answer 4

1. Fitting the needs of voters/self advertising.

2. Providing services to electorate.

Question 5

Discouraging Opposition to Incumbents

Answer 5

1. Staying active in the district.

2. Showing experience to silence the inexperienced.

Question 6

Scare-off Effect

Answer 6

the ability of incumbents to scare off high-quality challengers and reflect how electoral advantage a party accrues when it has an experienced rather than inexperienced candidate.

Question 7

Innovative Campaign Techniques

Answer 7

Traveling across the state by bike, helicopter, or on foot to reach out to the constituents.

Question 8

Senate vs House use of campaign money

Answer 8

House- less TV more radio due to district size.

Senate- more TV and lots of spending.

Question 9

Direct Mail

Answer 9

Send messages to specific individuals/groups in the electorate.

Question 10

Micro-targeting

Answer 10

strategy that capitalizes on the constituents’s demographic, geographic, and voting behavior data to predict a persons vote and reach out to them.

Question 11

Personal Campaigning

Answer 11

1 Personal contact of candidates with potential voters.

2. Personalization of the candidate with door to door and shaking hands with constituents.

Question 12

Going negative

Answer 12

Attacking individual candidates to gain support for yourself.