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37 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Political Parties
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A group of like-minded people with a common goal: winning elections.
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Duverger's Law
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asserts that plurality rule elections structured within single-member districts that tend to favor a 2-party system.
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Australian Ballot
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a ballot prepared and distributed by government officials that places the names of all candidates on a single list and is filled out by voters in private
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Patronage
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the practice of awarding jobs, grants, licenses, or other special favors in exchange for political support
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Proportional representation |
An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded to candidates or parties in proportion to the percentage of votes received.
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Two-party system |
A political system in which only 2 major parties compete for all of the elective offices. (republican and democrat)
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Interest groups
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Organized groups of people seeking to influence public policy
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Public Interest lobby
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a group that promotes some conception of the public interest rather than the narrowly defined economic or other special interest of its members
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Selective Incentives
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Private goods or benefits that induce rational actors to participate in a collective effort to provide a collective good
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Yellow Journalism
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Style of journalism born of intense competition and characterized by screaming headlines and sensational stories.
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Muckracking
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Journalistic investigation and exposure of scandals, corruption, and injustices
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Shield laws
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laws that protect journalists from having to testify about their sources in court
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Unit cost
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the cost of transmitting a news product to a consumer
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Earmarks
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money set aside by Congress in the federal budget to pay for projects in the home district of a member of congress
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Party identifications
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an individual's ending affective or instrumental attachment to 1 of the political parties
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Party machines
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state or local organizations based on patronage that work to elect candidates to public offices that control government jibs and contracts which in turn are used by party leaders to reward the subleaders and activists who mobilize voters for the party on Election Day
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Line-item veto
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Permits a president to cancel amounts of new discretionary appropriations, as well as new items of direct spending and certain limited tax benefits, unless congress disapproves by law within a specified period of time
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Soft money
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money used by political parties for voter registration, public education, and voter mobilization
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ideology
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a comprehensive, integrated set of views about government and politics
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Opinion leader
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a citizen who is highly attentive to and involved in politics or some related area and to whom other citizens turn for political info and cues
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Cognitive shortcut
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a mental device allowing citizens to make complex decisions based on a small amount of info
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Inside Lobbying
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direct contact with policymakers (meetings, petitions, etc)
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Outside Lobbying
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indirect contact with policymakers (rallies, marches etc)
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Motor Voter Law
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law that enables prospective voters to register when they obtain or renew a driver's license
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Rational ignorance
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choice of a person not to acquire a certain kind of info because of its cost in terms and effort that yields little or no effort |
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Aggregate opinion
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sum of individuals opinions
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Why do we have political parties?
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Created democracy, recruit and train leaders, political participation, constrains political conflicts, and organize activities of government
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Why do we have only a Two-Party System?
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Competitors reduced parties to two because people would vote strategically
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What are the consequences of having only a 2-party system?
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Groups interests might not all align; must house many diverse interests, voters may not feel strong allegiance to big-tent party, plurality election needed to win
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What do interest groups do?
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They influence public policy or supply essential resources (bills)
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How are interest groups similar to public parties?
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They influence policy, and affect election results to influence that policy
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How are interest groups different from public parties?
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They focus on much more than elections, candidates don't run under the "label," and their are many more than two
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Was James Madison's ideal of faction control achieved through interest group pluralism? Why or why not?
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Yes, because groups were free to organize and participate in an open political system, the political process balanced competing interests
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News Media
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organizations that gather, package, and transmit the news through some communications in technology
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What is the role of the News Media in democracy?
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The influence of profit seeking, especially in the introduction of mass circulation and advertising
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What is the role of News Media in reality?
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To give information to the public about our democracy
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