Texas Government - Test 3

Front 1

Primary Election

Back 1

-Intraparty election

-Determines party candidate

-Must win 50% + 1 majority vote (for city/local election)

Front 2

Open Primary

Back 2

Any registered voter can participate, regardless of party affiliation.

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Semiopen Primary

Back 3

(TEXAS DOES THIS) Any voter, voter declares their party, in that if they vote that party, they cannot vote any other party for that election period/year

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Closed Primary

Back 4

Only party members may vote, and requires pre-registration.

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Runoff Election

Back 5

If there is no majority voted; A second primary election held between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first primary election if no candidate in the first primary election had received a majority.

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General Election

Back 6

Determines office holder, can vote for any candidate; the election in which voters cast ballots to select public officials.

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Special Election

Back 7

To fill vacancy, amend TX constitution, or to give approval for the state government to borrow money.

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Poll Tax

Back 8

A tax that was required to be paid in order to vote, in 1902 it was $1.75 which is ~$25 today. This was an intentional restriction to voting.

Front 9

White Primary

Back 9

Primary election in which only white voters are eligible to participate; 1923 it was allowed by state law, 1930s the Supreme Court allowed this, 1940s the Supreme Court ruled this unconstitutional.

Front 10

Early Voting

Back 10

A procedure that allows voters to cast ballots during the two-week period before the regularly scheduled election date.

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*Straight-Ticket Voting

Back 11

Party-line voting (voting straight down the line for your preferred party).

Front 12

*Turnout Rate

Back 12

Percentage of eligible voters.

Front 13

*Literacy Tests

Back 13

Given to African Americans to allow to vote.

Front 14

*Timing of Elections

Back 14

Higher in November elections in even-numbered years (higher profile; more media attention)

Lower in local elections, usually in may (less visible; less attention).

Front 15

*Permanent Registration

Back 15

Registration in which you do not have to register every year for voter registration.

Front 16

*Annual Voter Registration

Back 16

Voter registration that occurs every year.

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Two-Party Competitive State

Back 17

Parties share state offices

Front 18

Duverger's Law

Back 18

The observations that in single-member district systems of electing representatives, a two-party system will emerge.

Front 19

Modified One-Party State

Back 19

-One party holds most offices

-Texas a long-time Democratic state

-Always been conservative (Dixiecrats)

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Presidential Republicanism

Back 20

A voting pattern in which conservatives vote Democratic for state offices but Republican for presidential candidates.

Front 21

Dixiecrats

Back 21

Conservative democrats who abandoned the national Democratic Party in the 1948 presidential election.

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Permanent Party Organization

Back 22

Precinct (Precinct Chair)

County chair

County Executive Committee

State Executive Committee

Front 23

Precinct

Back 23

The most basic level of political organization at the local level.

Front 24

Precinct Chair

Back 24

The local party's official, elected in the party's primary election, who heads the precinct convention and serves on the party's county executive committee.

Front 25

County Chair

Back 25

The county party official who leads the county executive committee.

Front 26

County Executive Committee

Back 26

The party group made up of a party's county chair and precinct chairs, that is responsible for running a county's primary elections and planning county conventions.

Front 27

State Executive Committee

Back 27

The committee responsible for governing a party's activities throughout the state.

Front 28

*Party Realignment

Back 28

When the balance of power between a country's political parties changes greatly.

Front 29

*Party Dealignment

Back 29

The process where a large portion of the electorate abandons its previous partisan affiliation, without developing a new one to replace it.

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*Major Party

Back 30

Party that gets 20%+ of gubernatorial election.

Front 31

*Political Socialization

Back 31

The introduction of individuals into the political culture; learning the underlying beliefs and values on which the political system is based.

Front 32

Agents of Socialization

Back 32

Family, friends, school, church/religion, media, elected officials.

Front 33

Interest group

Back 33

An organization established to influence the government's programs and policies.

Front 34

Bundling

Back 34

The interest-group practice of combining campaign contributions from several sources into one larger contribution from the group, so as to increase the group's impact on the candidate.

Front 35

Lobbyist

Back 35

An individual employed by an interest group who tries to influence governmental decisions on behalf of that group.

Front 36

Political Action Committee

Back 36

A private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns.

Front 37

Dark Money

Back 37

Political money where the donors of the money do not have to be disclosed.

Front 38

Interest Group Capture

Back 38

Government agency that serves the objectives of the interests that the agency is supposed to regulate.

Front 39

*Fragmented Government Structure (Strength of Interest Group)

Back 39

The more fragmented government structure is, the stronger interest groups are.

Front 40

*Party Competition (Strength of Interest Group)

Back 40

The weaker the parties, the more strength interest groups have, the more competition they have, the weaker the interest groups are.

Front 41

*Economic Diversity (Strength of Interest Group)

Back 41

The more diverse it is, the less strength interest groups have.

Front 42

*Pluralist Theory

Back 42

- Politics is mainly a competition among groups, each pressing for own preferred policies.

- You win some, you lose some, but no group wins or loses all the time.

- A key link between people and government.

- Play by the rules of government.

- Group weak in one resource can use another.

- Lobbying is open to all and not a problem.

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*Hyperpluralist Theory

Back 43

- Pluralist system out of control; critical of pluralism

- Groups are so strong that government is weakened; this is a perverted form of government.

- Aggravated by numerous sub-governments; Iron triangle.

- Pleasing every group results in contradictory and confusing policy.

Front 44

*Elite Theory

Back 44

- Power held by few people, key groups, and institutions; Critical of pluralism.

- Societies are divided along class lines and upper-class elite will rule.

- Most groups insignificant or at least unequal in power.

- Interlocking and awesome, concentrated power centers.

- Other groups may win minor policy battles, elite prevail in big decisions.

Front 45

*Olson's Law of Large Groups

Back 45

The larger the group, the further it will fall of the optimal amount of collective good.

Front 46

*Free Rider Problem

Back 46

The incentive to benefit from others' work without making a contribution, which leads individuals in a collective action situation to refuse to work together.

Front 47

Types of Interest Groups in TX

Back 47

Economic, Citizens, Governmental

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Economic interest Group

Back 48

Trade associations, Agricultural associations, Peak Business Orginizations, and Professional Associations

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Citizens Interest Group

Back 49

Ideas, causes, ethnic groups;

-LULAC, MAD, MALDEF, NAACP, CORE

-Sierra Club

-MADD

-Catholic Church

-Interfaith Alliance

-ACLU

Front 50

Governmental Interest Group

Back 50

State and local interest groups

Front 51

*Agricultural Associations

Back 51

Farmers, ranchers; those who supply the aforementioned, TX Farm Bureau, TX Farmers Union

Front 52

*Peak Business Organizations

Back 52

Statewide interests, Exxon/Mobil, State Chamber of Commerce, Chilli's Bar & Grill, HEB.

Front 53

*Professional Associations

Back 53

Doctors, Lawyers, a few others, and Architects

Front 54

*Trade Associations

Back 54

Specific industries/trades, Plumbers, Carpenters, Automotive dealers.

Front 55

*State and Local Interest Groups

Back 55

Police groups, Firemen Groups, Mayors, City Managers, Municipal employees.

Front 56

***Iron Triangle

Back 56

The closed, mutually supportive relationships

between the government agencies, the special interest lobbying organizations, and the legislative committees or subcommittees with jurisdiction over a particular functional area of government policy. As long as they hang together, the members of these small groups of movers and shakers tend to dominate all policy-making in their respective specialized areas of concern, and they tend to present a united front against "outsiders" who attempt to invade their turf and alter established policies that have been worked out by years of private negotiations among the "insiders."

Front 57

Litigate against unfavorable policies

Back 57

State and local party organizations do all the following EXCEPT...

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Liberal

Back 58

Most Texas Democrats would be classified as

Front 59

All of the Above

Back 59

Which of the following is part of the profile for the average Republican voter in Texas?

Front 60

Single-member district systems result in two-party systems.

Back 60

Duverger's Law states that

Front 61

Fiscal conservatives and social liberals.

Back 61

The Libertarian Party can be considered

Front 62

Independent

Back 62

Texas are increasingly identifying themselves as

Front 63

The ongoing dominance of the Republican Party in the state and the state's growing minority population, which is increasingly Latino.

Back 63

Why have political pundits in Texas been asking when Texas will "turn blue"?

Front 64

Democratic

Back 64

Which party dominated Texas politics throughout most of the 20th century?

Front 65

Hispanic; Democratic

Back 65

The fastest-growing demographic group in Texas is ..., the majority of whom vote ...?

Front 66

Lies solely in the hands of the Republicans

Back 66

In modern-day Texas, control of the state government

Front 67

False

Back 67

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Teas was a competitive, two-party state.

Front 68

Shivercrat

Back 68

The ... movement was a movement during the 1950s in which conservative Democrats in Texas supported Republican candidate Eisenhower for the presidency because many of those conservative Democrats believed that the national Democratic Party had become too liberal.

Front 69

The Regan Revolution reached Texas

Back 69

The Democratic Party in the state shrank to become the minority party when

Front 70

True

Back 70

New immigrants are more likely than Tejanos to identify as Democrats and to see the Democratic Party as more supportive of immigrant rights.

Front 71

county

Back 71

The ... convention is a meeting held by a political party following its precinct convention for the purpose of electing delegates to its state convention.