Terms : Hide Images
| 251226594 | Winner-take-all system | an election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins. only the candidate with the most votes in a district or state takes office. | |
| 251226596 | Single-member district | an electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official | |
| 251226598 | Proportional representation | an election in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote | |
| 251226600 | Electoral college | the electoral system in which electing the president and vice president, in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for a particular party's candidates | |
| 251226602 | Safe seats | an elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other, so the success of the party's candidate is almost taken for granted | |
| 251226604 | Coattail effect | the boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot, especially the president. | |
| 251226606 | Caucus | convention system which permits party leaders to play a role in the selection of nominees by placing their selection in the hands of people willing to attend party meetings called caucuses or conventions. Meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform. | |
| 251226609 | National party convention | a national meeting of delegates elected in primaries, caucuses, or state conventions who assemble once every 4 years to nominate candidates for president and vice president, ratify the party platform, elect officers, and adopt rules. supreme authority in both major parties. | |
| 251226611 | Interested money | financial contributions by individuals or groups in the hope of influencing the outcome of an election and subsequently influencing policy. | |
| 251226613 | Bundling | a tactic of political action committees whereby they collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2,000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a "bundle," thus increasing their influence; "urge members and friends to contribute directly to candidates or parties or send checks to the group and have them delivered in a 'bundle'' | |
| 251226615 | Hard Money | political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed. "raising such limited funds is harder than raising unlimited funds" "interest groups or individuals give money to candidate or political party contributions limited and must be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission" | |
| 251226617 | Quid Pro Quo | something given with the expectation of receiving something in return | |
| 251226619 | Soft money | money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state and local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote effort. spent only on generic party activity | |
| 251226621 | Issue advocacy | unlimited or undisclosed spending by an individual group on communications that do not use words like "vote for" or "vote against" although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates. regulated by FECA of 1971 | |
| 251226623 | 527 groups | interest groups (swift boat veterans for truth, moveon, the media fund) organized under section 527 of the internal revenue code that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on election activities as long as the expenditures were independent of the candidates or parties and did not use corporate or union treasury funds as long as they are not spent on broadcast ads within 30 days of a primary election or within 60 days of a general election. (america coming together) important in 2000 and 2004 elections | |
| 251226625 | independent expenditures | the supreme court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts on campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. "raise and spend money independently" | |
| 251226627 | Public Opinion | the distribution of individual preferences for or evaluations of a given issue, candidate, or institution within a specific population | |
| 251226630 | Attentive Public | those citizens who follow public affairs carefully. know and understand how the government works. about 25% of public. they read daily newspapers, vote in most elections, talk politics | |
| 251226632 | Voter Registration | system designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility by submitting the proper form | |
| 251226634 | Australian Ballot | a secret ballot printed by the state for the party printed ballots | |
| 251226636 | Turnout | the proportion of the voting-age public that votes, sometimes defined as the number of registered voters that vote | |
| 251226638 | Candidate Appeal | how voters feel about a candidate's background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities. | |
| 251226640 | Party Column Ballot | type of ballot that encourages party-line voting by listing all of a parties candidates in a column under the party's name (straight ticket) | |
| 251226642 | Office Block Ballot | ballot based in which all candidates are listed under the office for which they are running, making split ticket voting easier | |
| 251226644 | Direct Primary | election in which voters choose party nominees. to involve more voters and reduce the power of the bosses to pick party nominees. people could vote for the party's nominees for office | |
| 251226646 | Open Primary | primary election in which any voter, regardless of party may vote. | |
| 251226648 | Crossover Voting | voting by a member of one party for a candidate of another party. republicans and independents help determining who the democratic nominee will be and vice versa. | |
| 251226650 | Closed Primary | primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote. |
