Political Science Test 2

Front 1

The collection of individual opinions toward issues or objects of general interest.

Back 1

Public opinion

Front 2

The process of learning about politics by being exposed to information from parents, peers, schools, the media, political leaders, and the community.

Back 2

Political scocialization

Front 3

Sources of information about politics; include parents, peers, schools, the media, political leaders, and the community.

Back 3

Agents of political socialization

Front 4

Unscientific polls

Back 4

Straw polls

Front 5

A group of a dozen or so average men and women brought together by political consultants and pollsters to share their feelings and reactions to different things in an effort to develop a campaign strategy that will attract voters to or away from a particular candidate.

Back 5

Focus groups

Front 6

A public opinion poll presenting the respondent with biased information favoring or opposing a particular candidate. This idea is to see whether certain "information" can "push" voters away from a candidate or a neutral opinion toward the candidate or a neutral opinion toward the candidate favored by those doing the poll. Push polls seek to maipulate opinion.

Back 6

Push poll

Front 7

Election-day poll of voters leaving the polling places, conducted mainly by television networks and major newspapers.

Back 7

Exit polls

Front 8

A highly organized and coherent set of opinions.

Back 8

Ideology

Front 9

An important, noneconomic issue affecting significant numbers of the populace, such as crime, racial conflict, or changing values.

Back 9

Social issue

Front 10

Also referred to as "middle of the roaders," these are persons with centrist positions on issues that distinguish them from liberals and conservatives.

Back 10

Moderates

Front 11

The collection of individual opinions toward issues or objects of general interest.

Back 11

Public opinion

Front 12

The process of learning about politics by being exposed to information from parents, peers, schools, the media, political leaders, and the community.

Back 12

Political scocialization

Front 13

Sources of information about politics; include parents, peers, schools, the media, political leaders, and the community.

Back 13

Agents of political socialization

Front 14

Unscientific polls

Back 14

Straw polls

Front 15

A group of a dozen or so average men and women brought together by political consultants and pollsters to share their feelings and reactions to different things in an effort to develop a campaign strategy that will attract voters to or away from a particular candidate.

Back 15

Focus groups

Front 16

A public opinion poll presenting the respondent with biased information favoring or opposing a particular candidate. This idea is to see whether certain "information" can "push" voters away from a candidate or a neutral opinion toward the candidate or a neutral opinion toward the candidate favored by those doing the poll. Push polls seek to maipulate opinion.

Back 16

Push poll

Front 17

Election-day poll of voters leaving the polling places, conducted mainly by television networks and major newspapers.

Back 17

Exit polls

Front 18

A highly organized and coherent set of opinions.

Back 18

Ideology

Front 19

An important, noneconomic issue affecting significant numbers of the populace, such as crime, racial conflict, or changing values.

Back 19

Social issue

Front 20

Also referred to as "middle of the roaders," these are persons with centrist positions on issues that distinguish them from liberals and conservatives.

Back 20

Moderates

Front 21

These are the states that voted for George Bush in 2000 and 2004 and in general more conservative outlook. They include the states of the South, Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain West.

Back 21

Red states

Front 22

These are the states that voted Democratic in 2000 and 2004 and in general more liberal in outlook. They include New England, Middle Atlantic, Upper Midwest, and Pacific Coast states.

Back 22

Blue states

Front 23

Organizations that try to achieve at least some of their goals with government assistance.

Back 23

interest groups

Front 24

The efforts of interest groups to influence government.

Back 24

lobbying

Front 25

A committee established by corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises money and contributes it to a political campaign.

Back 25

political action committees (PACs)

Front 26

Interest groups that chiefly pursue economic interests that benefit their members; e.g., business organizations and labor unions.

Back 26

private interest groups

Front 27

Interest groups that chiefly pursue benefits that cannot be limited or restricted to their members.

Back 27

public interest groups

Front 28

Interest groups that pursue a single public interest goal and are characteristically reluctant to compromise.

Back 28

single-issue groups

Front 29

Peaceful but illegal protest activity in which those involved allow themselves to be arrested and charged.

Back 29

civil disobedience

Front 30

A network of interest groups with similar concerns that combine forces to pursue a common goal; may be short-lived or permanent.

Back 30

coalitions

Front 31

The number of members of an interest group compared to its potential membership.

Back 31

market share

Front 32

The configuration of parties in a political system. Usually noted in conjunction with the number of parties in the system.

Back 32

party system

Front 33

A political system like that in the U.S. in which only two parties have a realistic chance of winning most government offices. This system is rare among the world's other democracies.

Back 33

two-party system

Front 34

A type of politcial party system where more than two groups have a chance at winning an election.

Back 34

multiparty system

Front 35

Where only one individual is elected from a particular electoral district.

Back 35

single-member districts

Front 36

The outcome of an election where only one individual is elected from a district or state, the individual who receives the most votes. It is contrasted with multi member systems where more than one person wins seats in an election.

Back 36

winner take all

Front 37

An election system based on election from multimember districts. The number of seats awarded to each party in each district is equal to the percentage of the total the party receives in the district.

Back 37

proportional representation

Front 38

The transition from one stable party system to another, as occurred when the New Deal coalition was formed.

Back 38

realignment

Front 39

Reform movement designed to wrest control from political machines and the lower-class immigrants they served. These reforms reduced corruption in politics, but they also seriously weakened the power pf political parties.

Back 39

Progressive movement

Front 40

Voting for or against incumbents on the basis or their past performance.

Back 40

retrospective voting

Front 41

Party leaders who, once in office, openly award government jobs and other benefits to their supporters.

Back 41

political patronage

Front 42

The broadly based coalition of southern conservatives, northern liberals, and ethnic and religious minorities that sustained the Democratic Party for some 40 years.

Back 42

New Deal coalition

Front 43

A psychological link between individuals and a political party that leads those persons to regard themselves as members of that party.

Back 43

party identification

Front 44

Term used to refer to the diminished relevance of political parties.

Back 44

dealignment

Front 45

Voting for a member of one party for one office and another party for a different office, such as for a Republican presidential candidate but a Democratic House candidate.

Back 45

split-ticket voting

Front 46

A governing system in which political parties have real issue differences, voters align according to those issue differences, and elected officials are expected to vote with their party leadership or lose their chance to run for office.

Back 46

responsible party government

Front 47

The head of a political party organization, appointed by the national committee of that party, usually at the direction of the party's presidential nominee.

Back 47

national party chair

Front 48

The highest level of party organization; chooses the site of the national convention and the formula for determining the number of delegates from each state.

Back 48

national committee

Front 49

Refers to citizens who vote for candidates whose stands on specific issues are consistent with their own.

Back 49

issue voting

Front 50

suffrage

Back 50

right to vote

Front 51

Reconstruction

Back 51

the period after the civil war when black rights were ensured by northern military presence in the south and be close monitoring of southern politics

Front 52

literacy test

Back 52

examinations carried out to ensure that voters could read and write but actually a device used in the south to disqualify blacks from voting

Front 53

grandfather clause

Back 53

if your grandfather could vote before 1867, then you can vote. most blacks' grandfather's could not vote before 1867

Front 54

poll tax

Back 54

a tax that must be paid before a person can vote; used in the south to prevent blacks from voting. twenty fourth amendment prohibits poll taxes in the federal elections.

Front 55

white primaray

Back 55

a device for preventing blacks from voting in the south. under the pretense that political parties were private clubs, blakcs were barred from voting in democratic primaries, which were the real elections because democrats always won the general election

Front 56

voting rights act

Back 56

law passed by congress in 1965 that made it illegal to interfere with any one's right to vote. the act and its subsequent amendments have been the main vehicles for expanding and protecting minority voting rights

Front 57

gerrymandering

Back 57

a congressional district whose boundaries are drawn so as to maximize the political advantage of a party or racial group; often such a district has a bizarre shape

Front 58

cracking, stacking and packing

Back 58

method of drawing district boundaries that minimize black representation. with cracking a large concentrated black population is divided among two or more districts so that blacks will not have a majority anywhere. with stacking a large population is combined with an even larger white population. with packing a large black population is put into one district rather than two so that blacks will have a majority in only one district.

Front 59

majority-minority districts

Back 59

a congressional district whose boundaries are drawn to give a minority group a majority in the district

Front 60

split-ticket voting

Back 60

voting for different parties on one ballot

Front 61

porgressive reforms

Back 61

elections reforms introduced in the early twentieth century as party of the progressive movement; included the secret ballot, primary elections and voter registration law

Front 62

moter voter law

Back 62

a statute that allows people to register to vote at public offices such as welfare offices and driver licenses bureaus

Front 63

presidential preference primaries

Back 63

a direct primary where voters select delegates to presidential nominating conventions; voters indicate a preference for a presidential candidate, delegates committed to a candidate, or both

Front 64

super tuesday

Back 64

day when most southern states hold presidential preference primaries simultaneously

Front 65

battleground states

Back 65

also known as swing states. during presidental elections these are states whose electoral college votes are not safely in one candidates pocket; candidates will spend time and more money these to try to win the state

Front 66

electoral college

Back 66

a group of electors selected by the voters in each state and the district of columbia; the electors offcially elect the president and vice president

Front 67

faithless elector

Back 67

member of the electoral college who votes on the basis of personal preference rather than the way the majority of voters in his or her state voted

Front 68

permanent campaign

Back 68

the situation in which elected officials are constantly engaged in a campaign; fundraising for the next election begins as soon as one election is concluded

Front 69

mandate

Back 69

a term used in the media to refer to a president having clear directions from the voters to take a certain course of action; in practice, it is not always clear that a president, even one elected by a large majority, has a mandate or, if so, for what.

Front 70

muckrackers

Back 70

reform-minded journalists in the early 20th century who exposed corruption in politics and worked to break the financial link between business and politicians

Front 71

teapot dome scandal

Back 71

a 1921 scandal i which president Warren Harding's secretary of the interior received large contributions from corporations that were then allowed to lease oil reserves; led to the federal corrupt practices act of 1925, which required reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures

Front 72

federal election commission

Back 72

created in 1975, the commission enforces federal laws on campaign financing

Front 73

political action committees

Back 73

a committee established by corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises money and contributes it to a political campaign

Front 74

public disclosure

Back 74

the requirement that names of campaign donors be made public

Front 75

contribution limits

Back 75

ceilings set on the overall amount of money that individuals and groups five to candidates

Front 76

independent spending

Back 76

spending on political campaigns by groups not under the control of the candidates

Front 77

McCain-Feingold Act

Back 77

also known as the Bipartisan campaign finance reform act of 2001, this legislation was created to regulate campaign financing. it limited the amount of gifts and banned soft money contributions to the national parties but not to certain types of private groups

Front 78

soft money

Back 78

contributions to national party committes that do not have to be reported to the federal government because they are used for voter registration drives, educating voters on the issues, and the like, rather than for a particular candidate; the national committees send the funds to the state parties, which operate under less stringent reporting regulations than the federal laws provide

Front 79

527 groups

Back 79

tax-exempt groups, named after the provision in the tax code, that are organized to provide politically relevant advertising, usually with the aim of helping particular candidates or parties. technically they are supposed to be independent, but in reality are often closely linked to the candidates

Front 80

spoils system

Back 80

the practice of giving political supporters government jobs or other benefits

Front 81

conflicts of interest

Back 81

the situation when government officials make decisions that directly affect their own personal lively hoods or interests

Front 82

influence peddling

Back 82

using one's access to powerful people to make money, as when former government officials use access to former colleagues to win high-paying jobs in the private sector