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| Election that marks the emergence of a new, lasting alignment of partisan support within the electorate. |
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| A method of choosing party candidates by popular vote of all self-identified party members. This method of nominating candidates is virtually unknown outside of the United States. |
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| Said to exist when a single party does not control the presidency and both houses of Congress. |
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| A means of translating popular votes into control of public offices. |
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| A highly organized party under the control of a boss, based on patronage and control of government activities. Machines were common in many cities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. |
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| Quadrennial gathering of party officials and delegates who select presidential and vice-presidential nominees and adopt party platforms. Extension to the direct primary to the presidential level after 1968 has greatly reduced the importance of conventions. |
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| groups of like-minded people who band together in attempt to win control of government. |
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| Middle-class reformers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who weakened the power of the machines and attempted to clean up elections and government. |
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| proportional representation (PR) |
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| Electoral systems in which parties receive a share of seats in parliament that is proportional to the popular vote they receive. |
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| Occurs when the pattern of group support for political parties shifts in a significant and lasting way. |
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| single-member, simple plurality (SMSP) system |
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| Electoral system in which the country is divided into geographic districts, and the candidates who win the most votes within their district are elected. |
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| Occurs when a voter does not vote a straight party ticket. |
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| System in which only two significant parties compete for office. Such systems are in the minority among world democracies. |
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