Exam 3 Pols 1160 Uncc

Front 1

High-Tech Politics

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

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Mass Media

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Television, radio, newspaper, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication

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Media Events

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Events that are purposely stages for the media and significant just because the media is there

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Press Conference

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Meeting of public officials with reporters

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Investigative Journalism

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The use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders

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Print Media

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Magazines and newspapers

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Electronic Media

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Radio, television and the Internet

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Narrowcasting

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Media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is focused on a particular interest and aimed at a particular audience

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Chains

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Groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates and today accounting for over four-fifths of the nation’s daily circulation

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Beats

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Specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House

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Trail Balloons

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Intentional news leaks for the purpose of assessing the political reaction

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Sound Bites

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Short video clips of approximately 10 seconds

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Talking Head

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A shot of a person’s face talking directly to the camera

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Policy Agenda

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The issues that attract serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time

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Policy Entrepreneurs

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People who invest their political capital in an issue

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Party Competition

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The battle of the parties for control of public office

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Political Party

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A team of men and women seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election

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Linkage Institutions

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The channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the government’s policy agenda

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Rational-Choice Theory

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A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians

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Party Image

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The voter’s perception of the positions of the major or minor parties

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Party Identification

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A citizen’s self-proclaimed preference for one party over another

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Ticket Splitting

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Voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices

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Party Machine

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A type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements to win votes and govern

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Patronage

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One of the key inducements used by party machines, representing jobs, promotions or contracts

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Closed Primaries

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Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for the party’s candidates

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Open Primary

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Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day which party primary to participate in

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National Convention

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

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National Committee

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One of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions

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National Chairperson

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The individual responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party

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Coalition

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A group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends

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Party Eras

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

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Critical Election

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An electoral earthquake where new issues emerge and new coalitions replace one ones, in which the majority party is usually replaced by the minority party

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Party Realignment

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The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually in a critical election

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New Deal Coalition

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A coalition forged by Democrats, who dominated American politics from the early 1930s to the late 1960s

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Party Dealignment

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

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Third Parties

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Electoral contenders other than the two major parties

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Responsible Party Model

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A view about how parties should work, favored by political scientists

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Blue Dog Democrats

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Fiscally conservative Democrats who are mostly from the South and/or rural parts of the USA

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Nomination

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The official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party

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Campaign Strategy

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The master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign

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McGovern-Fraser Convention

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A commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation

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Superdelegates

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National party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the national party convention

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Caucus

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A system for selecting convention delegates used in about a dozen states in which voters must attend an open meeting to express their presidential preference

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Frontloading

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The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention

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Federal Election Campaign Act

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A law passed in 1974 from reforming campaign finances

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Federal Election Commission

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A six-member bipartisan agency created to administer and enforce campaign finance laws

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Presidential Election Campaign Fund

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Funded by a $3 redirection of personal income taxes to provide a source of money for matching funds in the primary and general elections for president

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Matching Funds

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Contribution of up to $250 from individuals are matched for qualified presidential candidates in the primaries

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Soft Money

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Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grass-roots level or for general party advertising

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527 Groups

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Independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates

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501(c) Groups

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Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions

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Political Action Committees

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Funding vehicles created by corporations, unions or some other interest group whose activities are monitored by the Federal Election Commission

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Selective Perception

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The phenomenon that people’s beliefs often guide what they pay attention to and how they interpret events

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Suffrage

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The legal right to vote

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Political Efficacy

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The belief that one’s political participation matters

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Civic Duty

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The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should vote

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Voter Registration

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A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register prior to voting

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Motor Voter Act

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A 1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license

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Mandate Theory of Elections

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The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics

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Policy Voting

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Electoral choices that are made on the basis of voters’ policy preferences and where the candidates stand on policy issues

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Electoral College

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A uniquely American institution that was provided by the Constitution to elect the president by a majority vote from electors selected by the state parties

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Interest Groups

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An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals

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Pluralism

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A theory of government and politics emphasizing many groups, each pressing for its preferred policies, compete and counterbalance one another in the political marketplace

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Elitism

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A theory of government and politics contending that an upper-class elite will hold most of the power and thus, in effect, control the government

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Hyperpluralism

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A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strop that government, seeking to please them all, is thereby weakened

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Iron Triangles

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Subgovernments composed of interest group leaders interested in a particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering that policy, and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy

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Potential Group

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All the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest

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Actual Group

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The people in the potential group who actually join

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Collective Good

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Something of value that cannot be withheld from a group member

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Free-Rider Problem

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The problem of people not joining a group because they can benefit from the group’s activities without joining

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Selective Benefits

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Goods that a group can restrict to those who actually join

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Single-Issue Groups

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Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics

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Lobbying

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Communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on his or her own behalf, directed to a government decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her decision

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Electioneering

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Direct group involvement in the electoral process

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Union Shop

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A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all of the employees of a business to join the union a short time after being hired

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Right-to-Work Laws

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A state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs

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Public Interest Lobbies

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Organizations that seek a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership or activists of the organization