American Government Exam 2

Front 1

political efficacy

Back 1

that belief that a citizen can make a difference in politics

Front 2

selection bias

Back 2

distortion caused when a sampling method includes or excludes people with certain attitudes

Front 3

focus groups

Back 3

small groups brought together to talk about issues or candidates

Front 4

measurement error

Back 4

error that arises from attempting to measure something as subjective as opinion

Front 5

Roe v Wade

Back 5

ruled for constitutionality of abortion

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mass public

Back 6

ordinary people for whom politics is a peripheral concern

Front 7

political elites

Back 7

activists and officeholders who have well-structured ideologies that bind together their positions on policy issues

Front 8

voter mobilization

Back 8

efforts of organizations to increase turnout

Front 9

undervotes

Back 9

ballots that indicate no choice for office

Front 10

overvotes

Back 10

ballots that have more than one choice for office

Front 11

compositional effect

Back 11

a shift in behavior of a group that results from change of composition, rather than change in behavior of individuals

Front 12

interest groups

Back 12

organization that engages in politics on behalf of its members

Front 13

public goods

Back 13

goods enjoyed simultaneously by a group, EG clean air

Front 14

social movements

Back 14

broad-based demand for government action

Front 15

selective benefits

Back 15

specific private goods that an organization provides only to contributing members

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political entrepreneur

Back 16

person willing to assume the cost of forming and maintaining and organization, even when others might free-ride

Front 17

grassroots lobbying

Back 17

attempts by groups to influence officials indirectly through their constituents

Front 18

political action committee

Back 18

specialized organization for raising and spending campaign funds

Front 19

direct action

Back 19

everything from peaceful sit-ins to riots and rebellion

Front 20

issue advocacy

Back 20

advertising campaigns that attempt to influence public opinion

Front 21

subgovernment

Back 21

alliance of a congressional committee, an executive agency, and a small number of allied interest groups

Front 22

issue network

Back 22

a loose collection of interest groups, politicians, bureaucrats, and policy experts who share a particular interest

Front 23

pluralism

Back 23

school of thought holding that politics is the class of groups that check and balance each other

Front 24

divided government

Back 24

when one party holds the presidency but does not control congress

Front 25

realignment

Back 25

shift occurring when pattern of group support for political parties changes in a significant and lasting way

Front 26

critical election

Back 26

election that marks the emergence of a new, lasting alignment of partisan support within the electorate

Front 27

national nominating convention

Back 27

quadrennial gathering of party officials and delegates that selects presidential and vice presidential nominees

Front 28

progressives

Back 28

loose aggregation of political elites in late nineteenth/early twentieth century who promoted political reforms and a 'cleaned up' government

Front 29

direct primary

Back 29

a method of choosing party candidates that allows voters to choose nominees for office

Front 30

ticket-splitting

Back 30

voter selection of candidates from different parties at the same election

Front 31

single-member, simple-plurality system

Back 31

voting system where candidates who win the most votes in their districts are elected

Front 32

proportional representation

Back 32

electoral system in which parties receive a share of seats in parliament that is proportional to the popular vote they receive

Front 33

reapportionment

Back 33

the allocation of House seats to the states after each decennial census

Front 34

redistricting

Back 34

drawing new boundaries of congressional districts

Front 35

filing deadline

Back 35

latest date on which a candidate who wishes to be on a primary ballot may file official documents and pay fees

Front 36

open seat

Back 36

a House or Senate race with no incumbent

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safe seat

Back 37

a district certain to vote for the candidate of one party

Front 38

incumbency advantage

Back 38

electoral advantage a candidate enjoys by virtue of being an incumbent

Front 39

frank

Back 39

name given to representatives' and senators' free use of US mail

Front 40

casework

Back 40

efforts by members of Congress to help individuals and groups when they have difficulties with federal agencies

Front 41

constituency service

Back 41

efforts by members of Congress to secure federal funding for their districts

Front 42

coattails

Back 42

positive electoral effect of a popular presidential candidate

Front 43

affirmative action redistricting

Back 43

process of drawing district lines to maximize the number of majority-minority districts

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whip

Back 44

member of congress who connects party leaders to rank and file

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party caucus

Back 45

all democratic members of house or senate

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party conference

Back 46

all republican members of house or senate

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president pro tempore

Back 47

serves as senate's presiding officer in VP's absence

Front 48

unanimous-consent agreement

Back 48

an agreement that sets forth the terms and conditions according to which the Senate will consider a bill

Front 49

standing committee

Back 49

committee with fixed membership and jurisdiction

Front 50

select committee

Back 50

temporary committee created to deal with a specific issue or problem

Front 51

seniority

Back 51

practice by which the majority-party member with the longest continuous service on a committee becomes chair

Front 52

caucus

Back 52

a voluntary group within Congress formed by members to pursue shared interests

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sponsor

Back 53

rep who introduces a bill or resolution

Front 54

multiple referrals

Back 54

process occurring when party leaders give more than one committee responsibility for considering a bill

Front 55

markup

Back 55

process in which a committee considers and revises a bill that has been introduced

Front 56

conference committee

Back 56

a group of reps from both house and senate who iron out differences between the two chambers' versions of a bill or resolution

Front 57

authorization process

Back 57

term applied to the entire process of providing statutory authority for a government program or activity

Front 58

appropriations process

Back 58

process of providing funding for governmental activities and programs that have been authorized

Front 59

trustees

Back 59

rep who acts in accordance with best judgment

Front 60

delegate

Back 60

role a rep plays when following the wishes of those who have elected him

Front 61

earmarks

Back 61

in a budget, designation of funds for a specific use

Front 62

Plessy v Ferguson

Back 62

Supreme Court decision declaring separate but equal facilities to be constitutional

Front 63

grandfather clause

Back 63

reconstruction-era southern law permitting a man to vote if his father or grandfather was eligible to vote before the Civil War

Front 64

white primary

Back 64

a primary election, held by democratic party after reconstruction, that excluded nonwhites from participation

Front 65

restrictive housing covenants

Back 65

legal promises by home buyers that they would not resell to blacks

Front 66

brown v. board of education

Back 66

1954 decision declaring racial segregation in schools unconstitutional

Front 67

suspect classification

Back 67

categorization of a particular racial or ethnic group that will be closely scrutinized by courts to see whether its use is unconstitutional

Front 68

affirmative action

Back 68

programs designed to enhance opportunities for groups that have suffered discrimination in the past

Front 69

equal rights amendment

Back 69

proposed amendment to the constitution that banned gender discrimination

Front 70

glass ceiling

Back 70

invisible barrier that has limited women's opportunities for advancement to highest ranks of politics, business, and professions