Linkage Institutions Flashcards
linkage institutions
The channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the government’s policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.
impact of minor parties on elections
Third parties may help voter turnout by bringing more people to the polls. Third-party candidates at the top of the ticket can help draw attention to other party candidates down the ballot, helping them win local or state office.
critical election
An electoral “earthquake” where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Critical election periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era.
proportional representation
An electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of voters won in an election.
party realignment
The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period.
party dealignment
The gradual disengagement of people from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification.
National Party Conventions
A national meeting of delegates elected in primaries, caucuses, state conventions who assemble once every 4 years to nominate candidates for president and vice president, ratify the party platform, elect officers, and adopt rules.
political machines/bosses
A type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern. They are headed by a single boss or small autocratic group that commands enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, state, or country.
patronage
One of the key inducements used by party machines. A patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.
winner-take-all electoral system
An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies.
plurality system
An electoral system in which the winner is the person who gets the most votes, even if he or she does not receive a majority; used in almost all American elections.
reapportionment
The process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census (every 10 years).
redistricting/gerrymandering
The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.
Gerrymandering is the process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting a certain party.
Baker v. Carr
Supreme Court case that established “one man one vote.” This decision created decisions created guidelines for drawing up congressional districts and guaranteed a more equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state. federal courts could hear cases alleging that a state’s drawing of electoral boundaries, i.e. redistricting, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. In so ruling, the Court also reformulated the political question doctrine.
Shaw v. Reno
The court ruled that although it was a legitimate goal for state legislatures to take race into account when they draw electoral districts in order to increase the voting strength of minorities, they may not make race the sole reason for drawing district lines. Redistricting based on race must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny under the equal protection clause while bodies doing redistricting must be conscious of race to the extent that they must ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
Democratic National Committee
A convention where the Democratic delegates from each state nominate the Democratic party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Republican National Committee
Provides national leadership for the Republicans who are responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political pattern.
primary vs. general elections
- The general election decides who will get to serve in office as the president.
- Nominees are usually chosen by a political party in the primary election, an election in which voters can decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election.
open primary
A primary election in which voters may choose which party to vote for as they enter the polling place. They do not have to be registered under the party that they vote for.
closed primary
A primary in which only registered members of a particular political party can vote for the candidates of that party.
caucus
A meeting of local party members to choose party officials and candidates for public office and to decide the party platform.
- Republican caucuses have the party members cast ballots to indicate their preferred candidate. The votes are counted by the caucus chair and the winner is announced.
- Democratic caucuses have party members physically stand on the side of their room that represents their preferred candidate. For 30 minutes, they try to convince each other why their candidate is better. People can switch sides during this if their opinions change. Delegates are distributed based on the strength of each candidate.
pledged delegates
Delegates that are pledged to voter for the winner of the party election or caucus.
superdelegates
National party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic National Party Convention. They are unpledged, meaning they choose who they want to vote for themselves.
Super Tuesday
The day when many states hold their presidential primaries (usually the second Tuesday in March).
McGovern-Fraser Commission
A commission formed at the 1968 Democratic Convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and other who sought better representation.
- Composed of 28 members,
- Rewrote the party’s roles between 1969 and 1970.
- Mandated that all national party convention delegates had to be chosen in forums that were open to all party members.
- Gave the party the means to enforce the new roles by centralizing control over the certification of delegates.
Hunt Commission
Created superdelegates for the Democratic Party National Convention. Reversed the increasing influence of elected officials and made conventions more deliberative. Changed the way parties select their presidential candidate.
incumbent electoral advantages
For most political offices, the incumbent often has more name recognition due to their previous work in office. Incumbents also have easier access to campaign finance, as well as government resources (franking privilege) that can be indirectly used to boost the incumbent’s re-election campaign.
front-loading
The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar year in order to capitalize on media attention.
presidential coattails
These occur when voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president’s party because they support the president. Recent studies show that few races are won this way.
Tillman Act of 1907
Law that banned corporate contributions to political campaigns.
Federal Election Campaign Act
A law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. The act created the Federal Election Commission (FEC), provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions.
Federal Election Commission
A 6 member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. The FEC administers and enforces campaigns finance laws.
Buckley v. Valeo
A case in which the Supreme Court upheld federal limits on campaign contributions and ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech. The court also stated candidates can give unlimited amounts of money to their own campaigns.
-1976 case of Buckley v. Valeo, the Supreme Court struck down a portion of the act that had limited the amount individuals could contribute to their own campaigns. The Court reasoned that, while big campaign contributions could corrupt politicians and hence needed to be limited, one could hardly corrupt oneself by donating to one’s own campaign. This Court ruling made it possible for Ross Perot to spend over $60 million of his own fortune on his independent presidential candidacy in 1992 and for Mitt Romney to spend $44 million out of his own pocket in pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.
political action committee (PAC)
Groups that raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to candidates that the group supports. PACs must register with the FEC and report their donations and contributions to it. Individual contributions to a PAC are limited to $5,000 per year, and a PAC may give up to $5,000 to a candidate for each election.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
The major provision of the McCain–Feingold Act was to ban soft money contributions. Limits on contributions to political parties were set at $25,000 and indexed to rise with inflation.
soft vs. hard money
Soft Money → Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising. For a time, such contributions were unlimited, until they were banned by the McCain–Feingold Act.
Hard Money → Hard money refers to donations that go directly to support or oppose a candidate running for federal office. Federal law limits how much hard money donors can contribute and what it can be spent on. Money contributed directly to a specific candidate is known as hard money, while indirect contributions to political parties and political action committees are known as soft money.
McConnell v. FEC
In the 2003 case of McConnell v. Federal Election Commission,
the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 in favor of this ban on unlimited contributions
directly to the political parties. The majority concluded that this restriction was
justified by the government’s legitimate interest in preventing “both the actual
corruption threatened by large financial contributions and … the appearance of corruption” that might result from those contributions.
Citizens United v. FEC
A 2010 landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures.
Speechnow.org v. FEC
SpeechNow.org v. FEC the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that donations to a PAC that makes only independent expenditures could not be limited. Whereas a regular PAC can accept donations of no more than $5,000 a year from each individual and can donate no more than $5,000 per election to a candidate, the SpeechNow ruling made it possible for a PAC that just expresses its views to collect and spend heretofore unheard of amounts. Journalists soon realized the explosive impact these independent expenditure-only PACs could have, labeling them Super PACs.
super PACs
Independent expenditure-only PACs are known as Super PACs because they may accept donations of any size and can endorse candidates. Their contributions and expenditures must be periodically reported to the FEC.
independent expenditure
Expenses on behalf of a political message that are made by groups that are uncoordinated with any candidate’s campaign.
horse race journalism
Today, the news never stops on a campaign. In presidential elections, debates are televised to all markets (viewing areas) and each candidate is given equal time to speak. However, often the media downplays the issues and looks at the more entertaining polls and standings of the candidate’s debate wins and losses. This is called horse-race journalism. In Presidential Campaigns, the media spends so much time on the candidate’s life story, image, and gaffe sound-bites (mess-ups); they often overlook what’s at stake.
consumer-driven media
Media whose content is influenced by the actions and needs of consumers.
narrowcasting
Media programming on cable TV (e.g., on MTV, ESPN, or C-SPAN) or the Internet that is focused on a particular interest and aimed at a particular audience, in contrast to broadcasting.
selective exposure
The process through which people consciously choose to get the news from information sources that have viewpoints compatible with their own.
muckrakers
The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States who exposed corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publications.
yellow journalism
Yellow journalism and yellow press are American terms for journalism and associated newspapers that present little or no legitimate, well-researched news while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism.
Freedom of Information Act (1974)
The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, is a federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government upon request.
interest groups
An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals. Interest groups pursue their goals in many areas.
lobbying
According to Lester Milbrath, a “communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on his or her own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her own decision.”
free-rider problem
For a group, the problem of people not joining because they can benefit from the group’s activities without joining.
amicus curiae brief
Literally, a friend of the court. A person with a strong interest in or views on the subject matter of an action, but not a party to the action, may petition the court for permission to file a brief, ostensibly on behalf of a party but actually to suggest a rationale consistent with its own views. Such amicus curiae briefs are commonly filed in appeals concerning matters of broad public interest; e.g., civil rights cases. They may be filed by private persons or the government. In appeals to the U.S. courts of appeals, an amicus brief may be filed only if accompanied by written consent of all parties, or by leave of court granted on motion or at the request of the court, except that consent or leave shall not be required when the brief is presented by the United States or an officer or agency thereof. An amicus curiae educates the court on points of law that are in doubt, gathers or organizes information, or raises awareness about some aspect of the case that the court might otherwise miss. The person is usually, but not necessarily, an attorney, and is usually not paid for her or his expertise. An amicus curiae must not be a party to the case, nor an attorney in the case, but must have some knowledge or perspective that makes her or his views valuable to the court.
revolving door
In politics, a revolving door is a situation in which personnel moves between roles as legislators and regulators, on one hand, and members of the industries affected by the legislation and regulation, on the other, analogous to the movement of people in a physical revolving door
pluralism
Classical pluralism is the view that politics and decision-making are located mostly in the framework of government, but that many non-governmental groups use their resources to exert influence. The central question for classical pluralism is how power and influence are distributed in a political process.
hyper pluralism
A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government, seeking to please them all, is thereby weakened.
iron triangles
Subgovernments are composed of interest group leaders interest in a particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering that policy, and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy; they exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas.
Hatch Act
The Hatch Act restricts federal employee participation in certain partisan political activities. The political activity restrictions apply during the entire time of an employee’s federal service. Certain rules prohibit both on-duty and off-duty conduct.
