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| A politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology |
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| Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication |
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| Events purposely staged for the media that nonetheless look spontaneous. In keeping with politics as theater, media events can be staged by individuals, groups, and government officials, especially presidents |
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| Meetings of public officials |
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| The use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders. |
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| Newspapers and magazines, as compared with broadcast media |
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| Television, radio, and the Internet, as compared with print media |
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| Media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience. Examples inclued MTV, ESPN, C-SPAN. |
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| Newspapers published by massive media conglomerates that account for over four-fifths of the nation's daily newspaper circulation. Often these chains control broadcast media as well |
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| Specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House. Most top reporters work a particular beat, thereby becoming specialists in what goes on at that location. |
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| An international news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction. |
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| Short video clips of approximately 10 seconds. Typically, they are all that is shown from a politician's speech on the nightly television news. |
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| A shot of a person's face talking directly to the camera. Because this is visually unappealing, the major commercial networks rarely show a politician talking one-on-one for very long. |
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| The issues that atttract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time |
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| People who invest their political "capital" in an issue. According to John Kingdon, a plicy entrepreneur "could be in or out of government, in elected or appointed positions, in interest groups or research organizations." |
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| The battle of the parties for control of public officies. Ups and downs of the two major parties are one of the most important elements in American politics |
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| According to Anthony Downs, a "team of men [and women] seekig to control the govering apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election." |
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| The channels through which people's concerns become plitical issues on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media. |
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| A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives. |
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| The voter's perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stand for, such as conservatism or liberalism |
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| A citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other. |
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| Voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices. It has become the norm in American voting behavior. |
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| A type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern. |
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| One of the key inducements used by party machines. A patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone |
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| 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 |
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| Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests. |
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| Elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates from all the parties. Voters can then select some Democrats and some Republicans if they like. |
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| The meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform. |
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| One of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. The national committee is composed of representatives from the states and territories |
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| The national chairperson is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party and is usually handpicked by the presidential nominee |
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| A group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends |
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| Historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in poser, which tends to win a majority of the elections |
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| An electoral "earthquake" where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Critical election periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era |
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| The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period. |
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| A coalition forged by the Democrats, who dominated American politics from the 1930s to the 1960s. Its basic elements were the urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholics and Jews, the poor, Southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals. |
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| The gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification. |
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| Electoral contenders other than the two major parties. American third parties are not unusual, but they rarely win elections. |
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| An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come first in their constituencies. In American presidential elections, the system in which the winner of the popular vote in a state recieves all the electoral votes of that state. |
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| Proportional Representation |
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| An electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election. |
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| When tow or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. This form of government is quite common in the multiparty systems of Europe |
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| A view favored by some political scientists about how parties should work. According to the model, parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates. Once in office, parties would carry out their campaign promises. |
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| The official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party. Generally, success in the nomination game requires momentum, money, and media attention. |
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| The master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign. |
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| National Party Convention |
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| 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 |
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| A meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention. Caucuses are usually organized as a pyramid. |
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| Elections in which voters in a state vote for a candidate (or delegates pledged to him or her). Most delegates to the national party conventions are chosen this way |
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| McGovern-Fraser Commission |
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| A commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation. |
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| National party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic national party convention. |
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| The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention |
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| A proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries, which would replace these electoral methods witha nationwide primary held early in the election year. |
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| 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. |
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| 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 candidate's strenght. It is the best formal statement of a party's beliefs. |
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| A high-tech method of raising money for a political cause or candidate. It involves sending information and requests for money to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past. |
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| Federal Election Campaign Act |
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| A law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. The act created the Federal Election Commission, provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions. |
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| Federal Election Commission |
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| A siz-member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. The federal Election Commission administers and enforces campaign finance laws. |
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| Presidential Election Campaign Fund |
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| Money from the $3 federal income tax check-off goes into this fund, which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns. |
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| Contributions of up to $250 are matched from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to candidates for the presidential nomination who qualify and agree to meet various conditions, such as limiting their overall spending. |
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| Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grass-roots level or for generic party advertising. Unlike money that goes to the campaign of a particular candidate, such party donations are not subject to contribution limits. For a time, such contributions were unlimited, until they were banned by the McCain-Feingold Act. |
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| The phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predispositions |
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| 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 USA, even the losers accept the results peacefully. |
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| A state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or a proposed constitutional amendment |
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| 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. |
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| The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth Amendment, and to the poeple over the age of 18 by the Twenty-sixth Amendment. |
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| The belief that one's political participation really matters--that one's vote can actually make a difference |
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| the belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen shoudl always vote |
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| A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of Election Day. A few states permit Election Day registration |
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| 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. |
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| Mandate Theory of Elections |
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| 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. |
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| Electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters' policy preferences and on the basis of where the candidates stand on policy issues |
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| A unique American institution, created by the Constitution, providing for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the state parties. Although the electoral college vote usually reflects a popular majority, the winner-take-all rule gives clout to big states. |
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| A theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question:"What have you done for me lately?" |
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| An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals. Interest groups pursue their goals in many arenas. |
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| A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies. |
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| A theory of govenrment and politcs contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization |
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| A theory of governmetn and plitics contending that groups are so strong that goverment is weakened. Hyperpluralism is an extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism |
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| A network of groups within the American plitical system that exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas. Also known as iron triangles, subgovernments are composed of inerest group leaders interested in a particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering that policy, and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy |
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| All the people who might be Interest group members because they share some common interest. A potential group is almost always larger than an actual group. |
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| That part of the potential group consisting of members who actually join |
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| Something of value (money, a tax write-off, prestige, clean air, and so on) that cannot be withheld from a group member. |
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| The problem faced by unions and other groups when people do not join because they can benefit from the group's activities without officially joining. The bigger the group, the more serious the problem. |
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| Olson's law of large Groups |
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| Advanced by Mancur Olson, a principle stating that "the larger the group, the further it will fall short of providing an optimal amount of a collective good." |
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| Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics. These features distinguish them from traditional interest groups. |
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| According to Lester Milbrath, a "communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on his own behlaf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his decision." |
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| Direct group involvement in the electoral process. Groups can help fund campaigns, provide testimony, and get members to work for candidates, and some form political action committees. |
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| Political Action Committees (PACs) |
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| Political funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms. A corporation, union, or some other interest group can create a political action committee and register it with the Federal Election Commission, which will meticulously monitor the PAC's expenditures. |
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| LEgal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the breifs of the formal parties. These briefs attempt to influence a court's decision. |
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| Lawsuits permitting a small number of peole to sue on behalf of all other people similarly situated |
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| A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period, usually 30 days, and to remain members as a condition of employment |
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| A state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs. State right-to-work laws were specifically permitted by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 |
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| According to Jeffrey Berry, organizations that seek "a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership or activities of the organization." |
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