Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Nomination |
A political party's official endorsement of a candidate. Generally, success in the primary elections brings momentum, money, and media attention, which ultimately helps a candidate win the nomination from their party |
|
|
Caucus |
A meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention |
|
|
National party convention |
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 |
|
|
Presidential primaries |
Elections in which voters in a state vote for a candidate. Most of the delegates who attend the national part convention are chosen this way |
|
|
McGovern-Fraser Commission |
A commission formed in 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representatives |
|
|
Front loading |
The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention |
|
|
Superdelegates |
National party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic national party convention |
|
|
National primary |
A proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries, which who would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year |
|
|
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 |
Campaign finance regulations that double the amounts specified by FECA while trying to eliminate soft money contributions. It inadvertently created another loophole for section 527 contributions |
|
|
"527" |
Named for the section of the IRS Tax Code, a 527 is an advocacy group trying to influence elections through voter mobilization and the spending of unlimited dollars in “independent expenditures.” The most famous of these in the 2004 election cycle was the “Swiftboat Veterans for Truth.” |
|
|
Legitimacy |
A characterization of elections by political scientists meaning that they are almost universally accepted as a fair and free method of selecting political leaders. When legitimacy is high, as in the United States, even the losers accept the results peacefully |
|
|
Referendum |
A state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or a proposed constitutional amendment. |
|
|
Initiative petition |
A process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote if sufficient signatures are obtained on petitions calling for such a referendum. |
|
|
Suffrage |
The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth Amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the Twenty-sixth Amendment. |
|
|
Political efficacy |
The belief that one’s political participation really matters; that one’s vote can actually make a difference. Since the 1960s, it has been dropping – especially among 18-25 year olds. |
|
|
Civic duty |
The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote. |
|
|
Voter registration |
A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of Election Day. A few states permit Election Day registration…but NOT Washington! |
|
|
Motor voter act |
Passed in 1993, this Act went into effect for the 1996 election. It requires states to permit people to register to vote at the same time they apply for their driver’s license. |
|
|
Mandate theory of elections |
The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do. |
|
|
Policy voting |
Electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voter’s policy preferences and on the basis of where the candidates stand on policy issues. Link to: dealignment; ticket splitting. |
|
|
Electoral College |
A unique American institution, created by the Constitution, providing for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the state parties. Candidates who win the popular vote in each state receive all of that state’s electoral votes. The candidate receiving 270 electoral votes wins the presidential election. Critics of this system claim it’s outdated and gives too much clout to big states; while its supporters claim it actually protects the less populated states in the heart of the country. |
|
|
Retrospective voting |
A theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question: “What have you done for me lately?” Link to: policy voting; pork barrel projects; incumbency. |
|
|
Bush vs Gore 2000 |
An extremely controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling that stopped a manual recount of ballots in Florida, thereby awarding Florida’s electoral votes to George W. Bush and declaring him the winner of the 2000 election. Critics use this election as one more example of the need to revamp the Electoral College system. |
|
|
Recall election |
The power of the people at the state or local level to “recall” an elected official, or remove them from office and force a follow up election. The idea is as old as the Constitution itself, but the power of recall only started showing up in the states at the beginning of the twentieth century as part of the Progressive effort to “take back the country.” |
|
|
Direct mail |
A high tech method of raising money for a candidate or cause. It involves sending information and requests for money to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar candidates in the past. |
|
|
Party platform |
A political party's statement of its goals for the next four years. The platform, crafted at the National convention, often appears as a mission statement on the party's official website |
|
|
Regional primaries |
A proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries to replace these electoral methods with a series of primaries held in each geographic region. |
|
|
Primary election |
A run-off election between the contenders within the parties. For example, in the year before the general election, the Democrats will need to hold a primary in order to narrow the field to their top candidate. |
|
|
Closed primaries |
Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party’s candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty. |
|
|
Open primaries |
Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on election day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests. |
|
|
Blanket primaries |
Elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates form all the parties. Voters can then select some Democrats and some Republicans if they like. |
|
|
Selective perception |
The phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predispositions. This decreases the likelihood that average Americans challenge their own presuppositions. |
|
|
Political action committee |
Fundraising vehicles created by FECA 1974. A corporation, union, or some other interest group can create a PAC and register it with the FEC which will meticulously monitor their expenditures. |
|
|
Soft money |
Money given to a party for the purpose of building up the party at the grassroots level. This category of campaign contributions have been banned by BiCRA |
|
|
Federal elections commission |
A six member bipartisan agency that administers campaign finance laws and enforces compliance with their requirements. |
|
|
Federal elections campaign act of 1974 |
A law passed for reforming campaign finance that creates the Federal Elections Commission, provided public financing for primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions. |
