Pt 3: Chapter 8 Vocab

Question 1

Election campaigns and other political processes in which candidates, not political parties, have the most of the initiative and influence

Answer 1

Candidate-centered campaigns

Question 2

The tendency of white women and men to differ in their political attitudes and voting preferences

Answer 2

Gender gap

Question 3

A political party organized at the level of the voters and dependent on their support for its strength

Answer 3

Grassroots party

Question 4

Campaign funds given directly to candidates to spend as they choose

Answer 4

Hard money

Question 5

An institution that serves to connect citizens with government. These include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media

Answer 5

Linkage institution

Question 6

The theory that parties in a two-party system can maximize their vote by locating themselves at the position of the median voter- the voter whose preferences are exactly in the middle

Answer 6

Median voter theorem

Question 7

A term used to describe the fact that US campaigns are very expensive and candidates must spend a great amount of time raising funds in order to compete successfully

Answer 7

Money chase

Question 8

A system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition

Answer 8

Multiparty system

Question 9

The designation of a particular individual to run as a political party’s candidate (its nominee) in the general election

Answer 9

Nomination

Question 10

A term of modern campaigning that refers to the process of recasting a candidate’s record into an appealing image

Answer 10

Packaging (a candidate)

Question 11

Election campaigns and other political processes in which political parties, not individual candidates, hold most of the initiative and influence

Answer 11

Party-centered campaign

Question 12

The groups and interests that support a political party

Answer 12

Party coalition

Question 13

A process in which conflict over society’s goals is transformed by political parties into electoral competition in which the winner gains the right to govern

Answer 13

Party competition

Question 14

The party organizational units at national, state, and local levels, their influence has decreased over time because of many factors

Answer 14

Party organizations

Question 15

An election or set of elections in which the electorate responds strongly to an extraordinary powerful issue that has disrupted the established political order. A realignment has a lasting impact on public policy, popular support for the parties, and the composition of the party coalitions.

Answer 15

Party realignment

Question 16

An electoral system in which the candidate who gets the most votes (the plurality) is an election district is elected to office from that district

Answer 16

Plurality (winner-takes-all) system

Question 17

An ongoing coalition of interests joined together to try to get their candidates for public office elected under a common label

Answer 17

Political party

Question 18

A form of election in which voters choose a party’s nominees for public office. In most states, eligibility to vote in a primary election is limited to voters who designated themselves as party members when they registered to vote

Answer 18

Primary election (direct primary)

Question 19

A form of representation in which seats in the legislature are allocated proportionally according to each political party’s share of the popular vote. This system enables smaller parties to compete successfully for seats.

Answer 19

Proportional representation system

Question 20

The form of representation in which only the candidate who gets the most votes in a district wins office

Answer 20

Single-member districts

Question 21

A system in which only two political parties have a real chance of acquiring control of the government

Answer 21

Two-party system