Political Parties Vocab Flashcards
Candidate-Centered Politics
Politics that focuses on the candidates, their particular issues and character rather than party affiliation
Critical Election
An election that signals party realignment through voter polarization around new issues and personalities
Dealignment
A general decline in party identification and loyalty in the electorate
National Convention
A party meeting held in the presidential election year for the purposes of nominating a presidential and vice presidential ticket and adopting a platform
National Party Platform
A statement of the general specific philosophy and policy goals of a political party, usually promulgated at the national convention
Party Identification
A citizen’s personal affinity for a political party, usually expressed by a tendency to vote for the candidates of that party
Party Realignment
Dramatic shifts in partisan preferences that drastically alter the political landscape
Political Machine
A party organization that recruits voter loyalty with tangible incentives and is characterized by a high degree of control over member activity
Political Party
An organized effort by office holders, candidate, activists and voters to pursue their common interests by gaining and exercising power through the electoral process
Proportional Representation
A voting system that apportions legislative seats according to the percentage of the vote won by a particular political party
Secular Realignment
The gradual rearrangement of party coalitions, based more on demographic shifts than on shocks to the political system.
Superdelegate
Delegate to the Democratic Party’s national convention that is reserved for a party official and whose vote at the convention is unpledged to a candidate
Think Tank
Institutional collection of policy-oriented researches and academics who are sources of policy ideas
Winner-Take-All-System
An electoral system in which the party that receives at least one more vote than any other party wins the election
