political parties and interest groups

Question 1

political party

Answer 1

a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office

Question 2

primary elections

Answer 2

an election held to determine the nominee from a particular party

Question 3

mugwumps/progressives

Answer 3

republican party faction of the 1890s to the 1910s, composed of reformers who opposed patronage

Question 4

critical or realignment periods

Answer 4

a period when a major, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties

Question 5

primary elections

Answer 5

an election held to determine the nominee from a particular party

Question 6

closed primary

Answer 6

a primary election where only registered party members may vote for the party’s nominee

Question 7

open primary

Answer 7

a primary election where all voters (regardless of party membership) may vote for the party’s nominee

Question 8

superdelegates

Answer 8

party leaders and elected officials who become delegates to the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses

Question 9

invisible primary

Answer 9

process by which candidates try to attract the support of key party leaders before the election begins

Question 10

national convention

Answer 10

a meeting of party delegates held every four years

Question 11

national committee

Answer 11

delegates who run party affairs between national conventions

Question 12

congressional campaign committee

Answer 12

a party committee in congress that provides funds to members and would-be members

Question 13

national chair

Answer 13

day-to-day party manager elected by the national committee

Question 14

political machines

Answer 14

a party organization that recruits members by dispensing patronage

Question 15

partisan identification

Answer 15

a voter’s long-term, stable attachment to one of the political parties

Question 16

partisanship

Answer 16

another name for partisan identity

Question 17

two-party system

Answer 17

an electoral system with two dominant parties that compete in national elections

Question 18

plurality system

Answer 18

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

Question 19

interest group

Answer 19

an organization of people sharing a common interest or goal that seeks to influence public policy

Question 20

social movement

Answer 20

a widely shared demand for change in some aspect of the social or political order

Question 21

public good

Answer 21

something of value that all individuals share, whether or not they contribute to it (such as clean air or water)

Question 22

free rider problem

Answer 22

the tendency of individuals to avoid contributing to public goods

Question 23

material incentives

Answer 23

money or things valued in monetary terms

Question 24

solidary incentives

Answer 24

the social rewards (sense of pleasure, status, or companionship) that lead people to join political organizations

Question 25

purposive incentive

Answer 25

a benefit that comes from serving a cause or principle

Question 26

political cue

Answer 26

a signal telling a legislator what values are at stake in a vote, and how that issue fits into his or her own political views on party agenda

Question 27

ratings

Answer 27

assessments of a representative’s voting record on issues important to an interest group

Question 28

grassroots lobbying

Answer 28

using the general public (rather than the lobbyists) to contact government officials about a public policy

Question 29

political action committee (PAC)

Answer 29

a committee set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises and spends campaign money from voluntary donations