Unit 3: chapters 7, 8, 11

Question 1

narrowcasting

Answer 1

as opposed to the traditional “broadcasting,” the appeal to a narrow, particular audience by channels such as espn, mtv, and c-span, which focus on a narrow particular interest.

Question 2

print media

Answer 2

newspapers and magazines, as compared with broadcast media.

Question 3

high tech politics

Answer 3

a politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology.

Question 4

mass media

Answer 4

television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and other means of popular communication. they are a key part of high-tech politics.

Question 5

press conferences

Answer 5

meetings of public officials with reporters.

Question 6

investigative journalism

Answer 6

the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, which at times puts reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders.

Question 7

broadcast media

Answer 7

television and radio, as compared with print media.

Question 8

(newspaper) chains

Answer 8

newspapers published by massive media conglomerates that account for almost 3/4 of the nation’s daily circulation. often these chains control broadcast media as well.

Question 9

beats

Answer 9

specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as congress or the white house. most too reporters work a particular beat, thereby becoming specialists in what goes on at that location.

Question 10

trial balloons

Answer 10

an intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction.

Question 11

talking head

Answer 11

a shot of a person’s face talking directly to the camera. because this is visually unappealing, the major commercial networks rarely show a politician talking one-on-one for very long.

Question 12

policy agenda

Answer 12

the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time.

Question 13

sound bites

Answer 13

short video clips of approximately 15 seconds, which are typically all that is shown from a politician’s speech or activities on television news.

Question 14

policy entrepreneurs

Answer 14

people who invest their political “capital” in an issue. according to john kingdon, a policy entrepreneur “could be in our out of government, in elected or appointed positions, in interest groups or research organizations.”

Question 15

responsible party model

Answer 15

a view favored by some political scientists about how parties should work. according to the model, parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates. once in office, parties would carry out their campaign promises.

Question 16

coalition government

Answer 16

when two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. this form of government is quite common in the multiparty systems of europe.

Question 17

winner-take-all system

Answer 17

an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies. in american presidential elections, the system in which the winner of the popular vote in a state receives all the electoral votes of the state.

Question 18

coalition

Answer 18

a group of individuals with a common interest upon which every political party depends.

Question 19

national chairperson

Answer 19

one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. the national chairperson is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party and is usually selected by the presidential nominee.

Question 20

national committee

Answer 20

one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. the national committee is composed of representatives from the states and territories.

Question 21

blanket primaries

Answer 21

elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates from all the parties. voters can then select some democrats and some republicans if they like.

Question 22

party machines

Answer 22

a type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern.

Question 23

political party

Answer 23

according to anthony downs, a “team of men [and women] seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.”

Question 24

party image

Answer 24

the voter’s perception of what the republicans or democrats stand for, such as conservatism or liberalism.

Question 25

new deal coalition

Answer 25

a coalition forged by the democrats, who dominated american politics from the 1930s to the 1960s. its basic elements were the urban working class, ethnic groups, catholics and jews, the poor, southerners, african americans, intellectuals.

Question 26

critical election

Answer 26

an electoral “earthquake” whereby 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.

Question 27

party eras

Answer 27

historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections.

Question 28

party competition

Answer 28

the battle of the parties for control of public offices. ups and downs of the major parties are one of the most important elements in american politics.

Question 29

party identification

Answer 29

a citizen’s self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other.

Question 30

ticket splitting

Answer 30

voting with one party for one office and with another party other offices. it has become the norm in american voting behavior.

Question 31

open primaries

Answer 31

elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on election day whether they want to participate in the democratic or republican contests.

Question 32

closed primaries

Answer 32

elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party’s candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty.

Question 33

party dealignment

Answer 33

the gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification.

Question 34

third parties

Answer 34

electoral contenders other than the two major parties. american third parties are not unusual, but they rarely win elections.

Question 35

proportional representations

Answer 35

an electoral system used throughout most of europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election.

Question 36

patronage

Answer 36

one of the key inducements used by political machines. a patronage job, promotion, or contrast is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.

Question 37

linkage institutions

Answer 37

the channels or access points through which issues and people’s policy preferences get on government’s policy agenda. in the united states, elections, political parties, interest groups, and the mass media are the four main linkage institutions.

Question 38

rational-choice theory

Answer 38

a popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. it assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives.

Question 39

national convention

Answer 39

the meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party’s platform.

Question 40

amicus curiae briefs

Answer 40

legal briefs submitted by a “friend of the court” for the purpose of raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties. these briefs attempt to influence a court’s decision.

Question 41

right-to-work laws

Answer 41

a state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs. state right-to-work laws were specifically permitted by the taft-hartley act of 1947.

Question 42

class action lawsuits

Answer 42

lawsuits permitting a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people similarly situated.

Question 43

union shop

Answer 43

a provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period, usually 30 days, and to remain members as a condition of employment.

Question 44

free-rider problem

Answer 44

the problem faced by unions and other groups when people do not join because they can benefit from the group’s activities without officially joining. the bigger the group, the more serious the free-rider problem.

Question 45

electioneering

Answer 45

direct group involvement in the electoral process. groups can help fund campaigns, provide testimony, and get members to work for candidates, and some form political action committees (pacs).

Question 46

selective benefits

Answer 46

goods, (such as information publications, travel discounts, and group insurance rates), that a group can restrict to those who pay their yearly dues.

Question 47

olson’s law of large groups

Answer 47

advanced by mancur olson, s principle stating that “the larger the group, the further it will fall short of providing an optimal amount of a collective good.”

Question 48

collective good

Answer 48

something of value (money, a tax write-off, prestige, clean air, and so on) that cannot be withheld from a group member.

Question 49

subgovernments

Answer 49

a network of groups within the US political system which exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas. aka: iron triangles, subgovernments are composed of interest group leaders interested in a particular policy, the gov agency in charge of administering that policy, and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy.

Question 50

potential group

Answer 50

all the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest. a potential group is almost always larger than an actual group.

Question 51

actual group

Answer 51

the part of the potential group consisting of members who actually join.

Question 52

single-issue group

Answer 52

groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics. these features distinguish them from traditional interest groups.

Question 53

hyperpluralist theory

Answer 53

a theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened. hyperpluralism is an extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism.

Question 54

elite theory

Answer 54

a theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization.

Question 55

pluralist theory

Answer 55

a theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.

Question 56

interest group

Answer 56

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 arenas.

Question 57

political action committees (pacs)

Answer 57

funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms. a corporation, union, or some other interest group can create a pac and register it with the federal election commission (fec), which will meticulously monitor the pac’s expenditures.

Question 58

lobbying

Answer 58

according to lester milbrath, a “communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on his/her own behalf, directed to a governmental decision-maker with the hope of influencing his/her decision.”

Question 59

public interest lobbies

Answer 59

according to jeffrey berry, organizations that seek “a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership or activities of the organization.”