AP Test Prep
Terms : Hide Images
| 6742671866 | Incumbent | currently holding an office |  | 0 |
| 6742671867 | 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 | 1 | |
| 6742671868 | Political Action Committee (PAC) | A committee set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises and spends campaign money from voluntary donations | 2 | |
| 6742671869 | Federal Matching Funds | public funding of presidential campaigns that is provided for by the Federal Election Campaign Act. Presidential candidates can become eligible for public funds by raising $5,000 in individual contributions of $250 or less in each of twenty states. Candidates who reach this threshold may apply for federal funds to match, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, all individual contributions of $250 or less that they receive. Third-party candidates are eligible for public funding only if they received at least 5 percent of the vote in the previous presidential race. | 3 | |
| 6742671870 | Iowa Caucus | First state to hold a caucus or primary, therefore giving Iowa much attention during the campaign season. | 4 | |
| 6742671871 | Primary | a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen | 5 | |
| 6742671873 | Clothespin Vote | the vote cast by a person who does not like either candidate and so votes for the less objectionable of the two, putting a clothespin over his nose to keep out the unpleasant stench | 6 | |
| 6742671875 | 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 best represent those widely shared beliefs | 7 | |
| 6742671876 | General Election | a national or state election | 8 | |
| 6742671877 | Open Primary | a primary in which any registered voter can vote (but must vote for candidates of only one party) | 9 | |
| 6742671878 | Closed Primary | Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote. | 10 | |
| 6742671879 | Blanket Primary | Registered voters may vote for candidates from either party on the same primary ballot | 11 | |
| 6742671880 | Runoff Primary | a second primary election held when no candidate wins a majority of the votes in the first primary | 12 | |
| 6742671887 | Buckley v. Valeo (1976) | 1st Amendment protects campaign spending; legislatures can limit contributions, but not how much one spends of his own money on campaigns. | 13 | |
| 6742671888 | Soft Money | Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. | 14 | |
| 6742671889 | Hard Money | Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed. | 15 | |
| 6742671891 | 527's | created to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office - permitted to accept contributions in any amount from any source. No Limits. Tax-exempted | 16 | |
| 6742671894 | Critical/Realigning Election | Elections in which there are sharp changes in issues, party leaders, the regional and demographic basis of power of the two parties, structures or rules of election (like voter age/restrictions) resulting in a new political power structure. 60s & 70s vs.80's & 90's | 17 | |
| 6742671895 | Split Ticket Voting | Casting votes for candidates of one's own party and for candidates of opposing parties, e.g., voting for a Republican presidential candidate and a Democratic congressional candidate. | 18 | |
| 6742671896 | Straight Ticket Voting | Voting for candidates all of the same party on the same ballot-creates the coattail effect | 19 | |
| 6742671898 | "Winner-Take-All" Primaries | the candidate who won the support of all delegates chosen at the primary | 20 | |
| 6742671905 | Plurality Election | the winning candidate is the person who recieves more votes than anyone else, but less than half the total. | 21 |
