Approaching Democracy Chapter 9

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caucus

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meeting of party adherents who gather to discuss, to deliberate, and finally to give their support to a candidate for president. they then select delegates who will represent their choices at higher-level party meetings; eventually, their votes are reflected at the national convention itself. also means a conference of party members in congress

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closed primary

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a system of conducting primary elections in which only citizens registered as members of a particular political party may participate in that party's primary

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electoral college

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the group of 538 electors who meet separately in each of their states and the District of Columbia on the first monday following the second Wednesday in December after a national presidential election. their majority decision officially elects the president and vice president of the united states

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frontloading

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the process by which most party primaries and caucuses are held early in the nomination schedule so that the majority of the delegate support is locked up early.

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"King Caucus"

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the process of selecting candidates for president in the early nineteenth centry in which the members of each party's delegation in Conress did the nominating

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local party organizations

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the initial point of entry for those seeking involvement in politics as volunteers, organizers or candidates

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machine politics

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an orgainzational style of local politics in which party bosses traded jobs, money and favors for voters and campaign support

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Mcgovern-Fraser Commission

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democratic party commission that after the 1968 national convention opened up meetings and votes to a broad variety of party actiists, made primaries rather than caucuses the common means of choosing convention delegates, weakened the power of party leaders, and set up rules to ensure that a wide range of party members could participate fully ina all party operations

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minor or third parties

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parties in the American system other than the democrats or republicans

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multiparty system

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a political system in which five to ten or more parties regularly compete in elections, win seats, and have some chance of gaining power. promoted by systems with proportional representation and characteristic of most democratic nations

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national party convention

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the national meeting of the party every four years to choose the ticket for the presidential election and write the party platform

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national party organization

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party orgainzation at the national level whose primary tasks include fundraising, distribution of information and recruitment

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New Deal coalition

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brought together by franklin roosevelt in 1932, a broad electorate made up of the urban working class, most members of the newer ethnic groups, the bulk of American Catholics and Jews, the poor, the South and liberal intellectuals

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nomination

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a candidate's "sponsorship" by a political party

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open primary

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a system of conducting primary elections in which citizens vote in whichever party's primary they choose

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party identification

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a psychological orientation or long-term propensity to think positively of and vote regularly for a particular political party

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party platform

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the statement of principles and policies; the goals that a party pledges to carry out if voters give it control of the government

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political action committees (PACs)

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committees formed as the fund-raising and financial distribution arm of specific interest groups

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political parties

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organizations that exist to allow like-minded members of the population to group together and magnify their individual voices into a focus promoting individual candidates and government action

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primary election

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a pre-election that allows all members of a party, not just its leadership, to select the party's candidate for the general election in the fall

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primary system

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the system of nominating candidates in which voters in the state make the choice by casting ballots

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proportional representation

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a system of representation popular in Europe whereby the number of seats in the legislature is based on the proportion of the vote received in the election

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realignment

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a shift in fundamental party identificatio and loyalty caused by significant historical events or national crises

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recruitment

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the process through which parties look for effective, popular candidates to help them win votes and offices

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revolution of 1800

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the first election in world history in which one party (the Federalist party of John Adams) willingly gave up power because of a lost election to another party (the Republican party of Thomas Jefferson) without bloodshed

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single-member districts

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districts in which a seat goes tot he candidate witht he most votes. in this system, a small party, say, one that wins 10 percent in every district across the nation, would fall to secure a single seat in the legislature

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state party organizations

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party organizations at the state level; they organize elections and proved the electoral votes needed to win the presidency; they also supervise the various functions vital to state parties, such as fund raising, identifying potential candidates, providing election services, offering advice on reappointment matters, and developing campaign strategies.

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superdelegates

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delegates to the democratic national convention not bound to vote for any particular candidate; usually prominent memebers of the party or elected officials

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winner-take-all system

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a system in which the winner of the primary or electoral college vote receives all of the state's convention or electoral college delegates