US Chapter 7

Question 1

Amicus curiae brief

Answer 1

Latin for “friend of the court”–persons, government agencies, or groups that are not parties to a case but nonetheless have an interest in its outcome can make their views known by filing an amicus curiae brief with the court

Question 2

Caucus

Answer 2

A meeting of members of a political party or the members of a party in a legislature–also referred to as a party caucus–in some states used to select delegates to the national conventions, which nominate presidential candidates

Question 3

Christian Right

Answer 3

Conservative, religiously based groups that involve themselves in the political process

Question 4

Class action suit

Answer 4

Legal action initiated on behalf of a large number of individuals without any common interest other than their grievance against the person or institution being sued

Question 5

Coalition

Answer 5

A subgroup of a party, based on common social, economic, and religious characteristics

Question 6

Cross-cutting cleavage

Answer 6

The overlapping of interest group membership from individual to individual with the result that society rarely finds the same people lined up on opposite sides on all the issues and is thus protected against political polarization

Question 7

Dealignment

Answer 7

Period during which the partisan ties of the public diminish and the party system breaks down

Question 8

Decline

Answer 8

The idea that the American political parties are collapsing and may, perhaps, eventually disappear

Question 9

Direct mail

Answer 9

Method a contacting citizens by mail, rather than through personal contact or the mass media

Question 10

Electoral functions

Answer 10

With reference to political parties, the ways in which parties, by seeking to win elections, help to bring order to campaigns and elections

Question 11

Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974

Answer 11

Law passed in 1974 and amended several times that regulates campaign financing requiring full disclosure of sources and uses of campaign funds, and limits contributions to political candidates

Question 12

Formal party organization

Answer 12

One of the three components or distinguishable sectors of a political party, it is the official structure of a political party and includes people who officially belong to it, elected and appointed officers, and committees

Question 13

Governmental functions

Answer 13

With reference to political parties, the ways in which parties, by seeking to win elections, help to organize the government, give coherence to public policy, and make government responsible to the people

Question 14

Grass roots lobbying

Answer 14

Attempting to influence members of Congress by encouraging citizens in the home district or state to contact their legislators

Question 15

Interest group elitism

Answer 15

The idea that the leaders of an interest group may act in ways that promote their own interests rather than the interests of the broader membership of the group

Question 16

Interest groups

Answer 16

Associations of people who hold common views and who work together to influence what government does

Question 17

Iron triangle

Answer 17

The combination of interest group representatives, legislative committees, and government administrators seen as extremely influential in determining the outcome of political decisions

Question 18

Lobbying

Answer 18

Attempting to influence legislation under consideration, particularly through personal contact by group representatives

Question 19

Majority election

Answer 19

Election in which a candidate wins by getting more than one-half of the votes cast

Question 20

Melting pot

Answer 20

Characterization of America as the coming together of a wide variety of racial, ethnic, and religious groups

Question 21

Movement

Answer 21

An effort to attain an end through an organized set of actions and individuals

Question 22

National committee

Answer 22

The body responsible for guiding political party organization on an ongoing basis

Question 23

National convention

Answer 23

The quadrennial meeting of an American political party that focuses on the upcoming presidential election

Question 24

Party in the electorate

Answer 24

The individual citizens throughout the country who identify with a political party

Question 25

Party in the government

Answer 25

One of the three components or sectors of a political party; the party as embodied in those of its members who have been elected or appointed to public office, the organizations they establish, and the leaders they choose to help them carry out their work

Question 26

Party system

Answer 26

Period during which the pattern of support for political parties based on a particular set of important political issues remains reasonably stable

Question 27

Platform

Answer 27

A broad statement of the philosophy and program under which a party’s candidates run for election

Question 28

Pluralist democracy

Answer 28

A system in which the people rule and have their interests protected through the interaction of many different social, political, and economic groups, and in which the principal task of government is to manage group conflict and cooperation

Question 29

Plurality election

Answer 29

Election in which a candidate wins simply by getting more votes than any other candidate, even if it is less than a majority of the votes

Question 30

Political action committee (PAC)

Answer 30

Political organization set up to channel campaign money from a group to political candidates sympathetic to the group’s political views

Question 31

Political machine

Answer 31

Political organization that recruits and controls its membership through the use of its governmental authority to give benefits (jobs, contracts, etc.) to its supporters and deny them to its opponents

Question 32

Political party

Answer 32

A group that seeks to influence public policy by placing its own members in positions of governmental authority

Question 33

Proportional representation

Answer 33

A system for allocating seats in a legislative body in which the number of seats a party gets out of the total is based on the percentage of votes that the party receives in an election

Question 34

Realignment

Answer 34

A major change in the pattern of support for political parties and the important issues on which that pattern of support is based

Question 35

Resurgence

Answer 35

The idea that American political parties, following a period of decline from the 1960s to the early 1980s, are now making a comeback, gaining in organizational, electoral, and governmental strength

Question 36

Run-off election

Answer 36

An election pitting the leading candidates of a previous election against each other when the previous election has not produced a clear-cut winner

Question 37

Socialization functions

Answer 37

With reference to political parties, the ways in which parties, by seeking to win elections, help to socialize voters into politics and form public opinion

Question 38

State committee

Answer 38

The body responsible for guiding a state political party organization on an ongoing basis

Question 39

Third party

Answer 39

In the American political context, a minor party that attracts only a small share of the electorate’s vote and is a party other than the two major parties that have dominated politics through most of American history