Ap Gov. Ch. 9 Key Terms

Front 1

nomination

Back 1

The official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party. Generally, success in the nomination game requires momentum, money, and media attention

Front 2

campaign strategy

Back 2

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

Front 3

national party convention

Back 3

The supreme power within each of the parties. The convention meets every four years to nominate the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates and to write the party's platform

Front 4

McGovern-Fraser Commission

Back 4

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

Front 5

superdelegates

Back 5

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

Front 6

invisible primary

Back 6

The period before any votes are cast when candidates compete to win early support from the elite of the party and to create a positive first impression of their leadership

Front 7

caucus

Back 7

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

Front 8

presidential primary

Back 8

Elections in which a state's voters go to the polls to express their preference for a party's nominee for the president. Most delegates to the national party conventions are chosen this way.

Front 9

frontloading

Back 9

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

Front 10

party platform

Back 10

A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. The platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidates strength. It is the best formal statement of a party's belief

Front 11

campaign contributions

Back 11

Donations that are made directly to a candidate or a party and that must be reported to the FEC. As of 2012, individuals were allowed to donate up to $2,500 per election to a candidate and up to $30,800 to a political party.

Front 12

independent expenditures

Back 12

Expenses on behalf of a political message that are made by groups that are uncoordinated with any candidate's campaign.

Front 13

Federal Election Campaign Act

Back 13

A law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. The act created the Federal Election Commission and provided for limits on and disclosure of campaign contributions

Front 14

political action commitees

Back 14

Groups that raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to candidates that the group supports. PACs must register with the FEC and report their donations and contributions to it. Individual contributions to a PAC are limited to $5,000 per year, and a PAC may give up to $5,000 to a candidate for each election

Front 15

Federal Election Commission

Back 15

A six-member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. It administers and enforces campaign finance laws.

Front 16

soft money

Back 16

Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising. For a time, such contribution were unlimited until they were banned by the McCain-Feingold Act.

Front 17

527 groups

Back 17

Independent political groups that are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates. Section 527of the tax code specifies that contributions to such groups must be reported to the IRS.

Front 18

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

Back 18

A 2010 landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures.