Terms : Hide Images
| 82015703 | elite | People with a disproportionate amount of some valued resource. | 0 | |
| 82015704 | exit poles | Polls based on interviews conducted on Election Day with randomly selected voters. | 1 | |
| 82015705 | gender gap | Difference in political views between men and women. | 2 | |
| 82015706 | norm | A standard of right and proper conduct. | 3 | |
| 82015707 | political elites | Persons with a disproportionate share of political power. | 4 | |
| 82015708 | political ideology | A more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue. | 5 | |
| 82015709 | political socialization | Process by which background traits influence one's political views. | 6 | |
| 82015710 | poll | A survey of public opinion. | 7 | |
| 82015711 | public opinion | How people think or feel about particular things. | 8 | |
| 82015712 | random sample | A method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal chance of being selected. | 9 | |
| 82015713 | sampling error | The difference between the results from two different samples of the same population. | 10 | |
| 82015714 | activists | People who tend to participate in all forms of politics. | 11 | |
| 82015715 | Australian ballot | A government-printed ballot or uniform dimensions to be cast in secret that many states adopted around1890 to reduce voting fraud associated with party-printed ballots cast in public. | 12 | |
| 82015716 | grandfather clause | A clause in registration laws allowing a person who does not meet registration requirements to vote if he or his ancestor voted before 1867. | 13 | |
| 82015717 | literacy test | A requirement that citizens pass a literacy test in order to register to vote. | 14 | |
| 82015718 | poll tax | A requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote. | 15 | |
| 82015719 | registered voters | People who are registered to vote. | 16 | |
| 82015720 | voting age population | Citizens who are eligible to vote after reaching a minimum age requirement. | 17 | |
| 82015721 | white primary | The practice of keeping Blacks from voting in southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation. | 18 | |
| 82015722 | congressional campaign committee | A party committee in Congress that provides funds to members and would-be members. | 19 | |
| 82015723 | critical or realignment period | Periods when a major, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties. | 20 | |
| 82015724 | ideological party | A party that values principled stands on issues above all else. | 21 | |
| 82015725 | mugwumps (or progressives) | Republican party faction of the 1890s to the 1910s composed of reformers who opposed patronage. | 22 | |
| 82015726 | national chairman | Day-to-day party manager elected by the national committee. | 23 | |
| 82015727 | national committee | Delegates who run party affairs between national conventions. | 24 | |
| 82015728 | national convention | A meeting of party delegates held every four years. | 25 | |
| 82015729 | personal following | The political support provided to a candidate on the basis of personal popularity and networks. | 26 | |
| 82015730 | plurality system | An electoral system in which the winner is that person who gets the most votes, even if they do not receive a majority; used in almost all American elections. | 27 | |
| 82015731 | political machine | A party organization that recruits members by dispensing patronage. | 28 | |
| 82015732 | political party | A group that seeks to elect candidates to public office. | 29 | |
| 82015733 | solidary incentive | The social rewards that lead people to join political organizations. | 30 | |
| 82015734 | split ticket | Voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election. | 31 | |
| 82015735 | 527 organizations | Organizations that, under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, raise and spend money to advance political causes. | 32 | |
| 82015736 | blanket primary | A primary election in which each voter may vote for candidates from both parties. | 33 | |
| 82015737 | caucus (electoral) | A meeting of voters held to help choose a candidate for office. | 34 | |
| 82015738 | closed primary | A primary election in which voting is limited to already registered party members. | 35 | |
| 82015739 | coattails | The alleged tendency of candidates to win more votes in an election because of the presence at the top of the ticket of a better-known candidate, such as the president. | 36 | |
| 82015740 | general election | An election held to determine which candidate will hold office. | 37 | |
| 82015741 | gerrymandering | Drawing the boundaries of legislative districts in bizarre or unusual shapes so that they favor one party. | 38 | |
| 82015742 | incumbent | The person already holding office. | 39 | |
| 82015743 | independent expenditures | Spending by political action committees, corporations, or labor unions that is done to help a party or candidate but is done independently of them. | 40 | |
| 82015744 | malapportionment | Drawing the boundaries of legislative districts so that they are unequal in population. | 41 | |
| 82015745 | open primary | A primary election in which voters may choose in which party to vote as they enter the polling place. | 42 | |
| 82015746 | political action committee | A committee, set up by a corporation, labor union, or other interest, that raises and spends campaign money from voluntary donations. | 43 | |
| 82015747 | position issue | An issue about which the public is divided and rival parties or candidates adopt different positions. | 44 | |
| 82015748 | primary election | An election held to choose candidates for office. | 45 | |
| 82015749 | prospective voting | Voting for a candidate because you favor his or her ideas for handling issues. | 46 | |
| 82015750 | retrospective voting | Voting for a candidate because you like his or her past actions in office. | 47 | |
| 82015751 | runoff primary | A second primary election held when no candidate gets a majority of the votes in the first primary. | 48 | |
| 82015752 | soft money | Funds obtained by political parties that are spend on party activities, such as get-out-the-vote drives, but not on behalf of a specific candidate. | 49 | |
| 82015753 | sophomore surge | An increase in the votes a congressional candidate usually gets when they first run for re-election. | 50 | |
| 82015754 | valence issue | An issue about which the public is united and rival candidates or political parties adopt similar positions in hopes that each will be thought to represent those widely shared beliefs. | 51 | |
| 82015755 | ideological interest group | Political organization that attracts members by appealing to their political convictions or principles. | 52 | |
| 82015756 | incentive | Something of value one cannot get without joining an organization. | 53 | |
| 82015757 | material incentive | Many things valued in monetary terms. | 54 | |
| 82015758 | political cue | A signal telling a legislator what values are at stake in a vote, and how that issue fits with his or her own political views or party agenda. | 55 | |
| 82015759 | public-interest lobby | An interest group whose efforts significantly benefit nonmembers. | 56 | |
| 82015760 | purposive incentive | A benefit that comes from serving a cause or principle. | 57 | |
| 82015761 | ratings | Assessment of a legislator's voting record on issues important to an interest group. | 58 | |
| 82015762 | social movement | A widely shared demand for change in some aspect of the social or political order. | 59 | |
| 82015763 | solidary incentive | The sense of pleasure, status or companionship experienced in small groups. | 60 | |
| 82015764 | adversarial press | The tendency of the national media to be suspicious of officials and eager to reveal unflattering stories about them. | 61 | |
| 82015765 | background story | A public official's statement to a reporter that is given on condition that the official not be named. | 62 | |
| 82015766 | blog | A series, or log, of discussion items on a page of the World Wide Web. | 63 | |
| 82015767 | equal time rule | An FCC regulation that if a broadcaster sells time to one candidate, it must sell equal time to other candidates. | 64 | |
| 82015768 | feature stories | Media stories about events that, though public, are not regularly covered by reporters. | 65 | |
| 82015769 | insider stories | Media stories about events that are not usually made public. | 66 | |
| 82015770 | loaded language | Words that imply a value judgment, used to persuade a reader without having made a serious argument. | 67 | |
| 82015771 | routine stories | Media stories about evens that are regularly covered by reporters. | 68 | |
| 82015772 | selective attention | Paying attention only to those news stories with which one already agrees. | 69 | |
| 82015773 | sound bite | A radio or video clip of someone speakig. | 70 | |
| 82015774 | trial balloon | Information leaked to the media to test public reaction to a possible policy. | 71 | |
| 82015775 | sponsored party | A local or state political party that is largely supported by another organization in the community. | 72 | |
| 82015776 | straight ticket | Voting for candidates who are all of the same party. | 73 | |
| 82015777 | super delegates | Party leaders and elected officials who become delegates to the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses. | 74 | |
| 82015778 | two-party system | An electoral system with two dominant parties that compete in national elections. | 75 |
