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pol sci test 2
vocab
70
Political Studies
Undergraduate 3
03/03/2011

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
15th Amendment
Definition
1st important limitation on state powers 1870, to expand the right of all citizens and prohibit voter discrimination on the basis of race.
Term
19th Amendment
Definition

Following the civil war 1920, constitutional amendment guaranteed women the right to vote.

Term
26th Amendment
Definition

1971 constitutional amendment guaranteeing 18-year-olds the right to vote.

Australian ballot:

Term

Big state strategy

Definition

Presidential political campaign strategy in which a candidate focuses on winning primaries in large states b/c of their high delegate counts.

 

Term

Campaign contribution disclosure (campaign strategy):

Definition

Plan for a political campaign, usually including a theme, an attempt to define the opponent of the issues, and an effort to coordinate images and messages in news broadcasts and paid advertising.

Term

Closed primaries

Definition

Primary elections in which voters must declare (or have previously declared) their party affiliation and can cast a ballot only in their own party’s primary election.

Term
Direct popular (primary?) election
Definition
 Selection of candidates for government office through direct election by the voters of a political party.
Term

Delegates

Definition

Accredited voting members of a party’s national presidential nominating convention.

 

Term
Democratic
Definition

Republicans: one of the main parties in American politics; it traces its origins to Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party, acquiring its current name under Andrew Jackson in 1828.

Term
Feeding frenzy
Definition

Intense media coverage of a scandal or event that blocks out most other news.

Term
Franking privilege
Definition

Free use of the U.S. mails granted to members of Congress to promote communication with constituents.

Term
Front-end strategy
Definition

Presidential political campaign strategy in which a candidate focuses on winning early primaries to build momentum.

Term
Front loading
Definition
The scheduling of presidential primary elections early in the year.
Term
Federalists
Definition

Those who supported the U.S. Constitution during the ratification process and who later formed a political party in support of John Adam’s presidential candidacy.

Term
Federal Election Commission (FEC): 
Definition

Agency charged with enforcing federal election laws and disbursing public presidential campaign funds.

Term
Free riders
Definition

People who do not belong to an organization or pay dues, yet nevertheless benefit from its activities.

Term
Generational effects
Definition

Historical events that affect the views of those who lived through them age groups.

Term
Gender gap
Definition

Aggregate differences in political opinions of men and women.

Term
Group voting
Definition

Groups given a larger percentage of their vote to the Democratic (blacks, Catholics, Jews, less-educated) or Republican (whites, protestants, better educated voters) candidates than the candidate received from the total electorate.

Term
Grass roots lobbying
Definition

Attempts to influence government decision making by inspiring constituents to contact their representatives.

Term
Horse race coverage
Definition

Media coverage of electoral campaigns that concentrates on who is ahead and who is behind, and neglects the issues at stake.

Term
Halo effect
Definition

Tendency of survey respondents to provide socially acceptable answers to questions.

Term
Help America Vote Act (2003): 
Definition

Congress passed this in 2002 in reaction to the controversy surrounding the 2000 presidential election. The act authorizes federal aid to the states to help replace punch cards and lever voting machines and establishes minimum election administration standards throughout the country. Requires states to modernize registration and voting procedures and technologies.

Term
Ideology:
Definition

Consistent and integrated system of ideas, values, and beliefs.

Term
Information overload
Definition

Diminishes the influence of the media in determining what we think about. 2 Situation in which individuals are subjected to so many communications that they cannot make sense of them

Term
Impact of public opinion on policy
Definition

Are often weak, unstable, ill informed, or nonexistent on specific policy issues.

Term
Impact of opinion family
Definition

is the first agent of socialization (grades 3-5) begins to identify themselves as either D or R, schools: Political revolutionaries once believed that the school was the key to molding political values and beliefs. It is not clear whether education itself is a cause of political participation, or whether people who choose a college experience are predisposed to participate in civic affairs, religion: Shapes political attitudes on a variety of issues, including abortion, drugs, the death penalty, homosexuality, and prayer in public schools. Plays a role in political ideology, race: differs sharply across racial lines on 

Term
Intensity of opinion
Definition

People who feel strongly about politics and who hold strong opinions about political issues are more likely to vote than people who do not.

Term
Issue voting:
Definition

an expression of good citizenship, and it reinforces attachment to the nation and to democratic government. Nonvoting suggests alienation from the political system.

Term
Ideological parties
Definition

Third party that exists to promote an ideology rather than to win elections.

Term
Issue ads
Definition
Ads that advocate policy positions rather than explicitly supporting or opposing particular candidates.
Term
Iron triangle
Definition

Mutually supportive relationships among interest groups, government agencies, and legislative committees with jurisdiction over a specific policy area.

Term
Ideological groups (organizations?)
Definition

Interest groups that pursue ideologically based (liberal or conservative) agendas.

 

Term
Literacy test
Definition

Examination of a person’s ability to read and write as a prerequisite to voter registration, outlawed by Voting Rights Act (1965) as discriminatory.

Term
Lobbying
Definition

Activities directed at government officials with the hope of influencing their decisions.

Term
Machines
Definition

Tightly disciplined party organization, headed by a boss, that relies on material rewards—including patronage jobs—too control politics.

Term
National Voters Registration Act (Motor Voter Act 1993)
Definition

Federal mandates that states offer voter registration at driver’s licensing and welfare offices.

Term
Non-partisan elections
Definition

Elections in which candidates do not officially indicate their party affiliation; often used for city, county, school board, and judicial elections.

Term

New Deal, Fair Deal, Great Society:

 

Definition
Policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Depression of the 1930s that helped form a Democratic Party coalition of urban working-class, ethnic, Catholic, Jewish, poor, and Southern voters.
Term

New Democrats

Definition

During 1980s, Democratic leaders among governors and senators came together in the Democratic Leadership Council to create a “new” Democratic Party closer to the center of the political spectrum. The chair was Bill Clinton. The concern of the council was that the Dem. Party’s traditional support for social justice and social welfare programs was overshadowing its commitment to economic prosperity.

 

Term
Open primaries
Definition

Primary elections in which a voter may cast a ballot in either party’s primary election.

Term
Public opinion
Definition

Aggregate of preferences and opinions of individuals on significant issues.

Term
Political socialization
Definition
 is the learning of political values, beliefs, and opinions.
Term
Party identification
Definition
Self-described identification with a political party, usually in response to the question, “Generally speaking, how would you identify yourself: as a republican, democrat, independent, or something else?”
Term
Poll tax
Definition

Taxes imposed as a prerequisite to voting; prohibited by the 24th Amendment.

Term
Party organization structure:
Definition
Parties and interest groups that function as intermediaries between individuals and government.
Term
Party platform
Definition

Statement of principles adopted by a political party at its national convention (specific portions of the platform are known as planks); a platform is not binding on the party’s candidates.

Term
Proportional (representation?) election: 
Definition
Electoral system that allocates seats in a legislature based on the proportion of votes each party receives in a national election.
Term
Protest parties
Definition

Third party that arises in response to issues of popular concern which have not been addressed by the major parties.

Term
Patronage
Definition

Appointment to public office based on party loyalty.

Term
PAC contribution limits:
Definition

Organizations that solicit and receive campaign contributions from corporations, unions, trade associations, and ideological and issue-oriented groups, and their members, then distribute these funds to political candidates.

Term
Power elite model
Definition

The small group of people who are interested and active in public affairs, who call or write their elected representatives; who join organizations and contribute money to causes and candidates,; who attend meetings, rallies, and demonstrations; and who hold strong opinions on a wide variety of public issues.

Term
Public interest groups
Definition

Interest groups that claim to represent broad classes of people or the public as a whole.

Term
Pluralist (pluralism?) model:
Definition

Theory that democracy can be achieved through competition among multiple organized groups and that individuals can participate in politics through group memberships and elections.

Term
Retrospective voting
Definition

Voting for or against a candidate or party on the basis of past performance in office.

Term
Race and gender gap
Definition

Aggregate differences in political opinions between men and women.

Term
Reagan coalition
Definition

Combination of economic and social conservatives, religious fundamentalists, and defense-minded anti-communists who rallied behind Republican President Ronald Reagan.

Term
Responsible party model
Definition

System in which competitive parties adopt a platform of principles, recruiting candidates and directing campaigns based on the platform, and holding their elected officials responsible for enacting it.

Term
Revolving door
Definition

The movement of individuals from government positions to jobs in the private sector, using the experience, knowledge, and contacts they acquired in government employment.

Term
“Rational” voters
Definition
An individual should vote only if the costs of voting are less than the expected value of having the preferred candidate win, multiplied by the probability that one’s own vote will be the deciding vote. Rewards include the ethic of voting, patriotism, a sense of duty, and allegiance to democracy.
Term
Selective perception
Definition
Mentally screening out information or opinions with which one disagrees.
Term
Salient issues
Definition

Issues about which most people have an opinion.

Term
Superdelegates
Definition

Delegates to the Democratic Party national convention selected b/c of their position in government or that party and not pledged to any candidate.

Term
Swing states
Definition
States that are not considered to be firmly in the Democratic or Republican column.
Term
Single issue parties
Definition

Third party formed around one particular cause.

Term
Single interest groups
Definition

Organizations formed to support or oppose government action on a specific issue.

Term
Television malaise
Definition
Generalized feelings of distrust, cynicism, and powerlessness stemming from television’s emphasis on the negative aspects of American life.
Term
Universal Voter Registration
Definition
Requirement that prospective voters establish their identity and place of residence prior to an election in order to be eligible to vote.
Term
Voting Rights Act (1965)
Definition

Federal law designed to protect the voting rights of minorities by requiring the Justice Department’s approval of changes in political districts and certain other electoral procedures. The 1965 act, as amended, has eliminated most of the restrictive practices that limited minority political participation.

Term
Voter turnout
Definition

Number of voters who actually cast ballots in an election, as a percentage of people eligible to register and vote. Typically 40% of the voting-age fails to vote.

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