AP Test Prep
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| 8155038246 | Incumbent | currently holding an office | 0 | |
| 8155038247 | 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 | |
| 8155038248 | 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 | |
| 8155038249 | 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 | |
| 8155038250 | Iowa Caucus | First state to hold a caucus or primary, therefore giving Iowa much attention during the campaign season. | 4 | |
| 8155038251 | Primary | a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen | 5 | |
| 8155038252 | Front-Loaded Campaign | campaigning heavily in the early primaries (usually if the candidate is relatively unknown) | 6 | |
| 8155038256 | General Election | a national or state election | 7 | |
| 8155038257 | Open Primary | a primary in which any registered voter can vote (but must vote for candidates of only one party) | 8 | |
| 8155038258 | Closed Primary | Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote. | 9 | |
| 8155038260 | Runoff Primary | a second primary election held when no candidate wins a majority of the votes in the first primary | 10 | |
| 8155038265 | Federal Election Campaign Act (1974) | A law passed for reforming campaign finance that created the FEC, provided public financing for primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions. | 11 | |
| 8155038266 | Federal Election Commission (FEC) | A commission created by the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act to administer election reform laws. It consists of six commissioners appointed by president and confirmed by the Senate. Its duties include overseeing disclosure of campaign finance information and public funding of presidential elections, and enforcing contribution limits. | 12 | |
| 8155038267 | 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 | |
| 8155038270 | Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002) | Banned soft money contributions to national political parties from corporations and unions; independent expenditures by corporations, labor unions, trade associations, and nonprofit organizations are sharply restricted. | 14 | |
| 8155038271 | 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 | 15 | |
| 8155038272 | Prospective Voting | Voting based on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected. | 16 | |
| 8155038273 | Retrospective Voting | Holding incumbents, usually the president's party, responsible for their records on issues, such as the economy or foreign policy. | 17 | |
| 8155038274 | 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 | 18 | |
| 8155038278 | "Winner-Take-All" Primaries | the candidate who won the support of all delegates chosen at the primary | 19 | |
| 8155038279 | Super Tuesday | Day when several states hold their presidential primaries (usually the second Tuesday in March) | 20 | |
| 8155038280 | Bush v. Gore (2000) | The court ruled that manual recounts of presidential ballots in the Nov. 2000 election could not proceed because inconsistent evaluation standards in different counties violated the equal protection clause, 14th Amendment. In effect, the ruling meant Bush would win the election. | 21 | |
| 8155038281 | Opposition Research | Attempts by a candidate's campaign or other groups of supporters to uncover embarrassing or politically damaging information about the candidate's opponent. | 22 | |
| 8155038282 | McConnell v. FEC (2003) | Upheld the constitutionality of most of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, but exempted non-profits that didn't coordinate with campaigns | 23 | |
| 8155038283 | Continuous Body | governing unit (e.g. the United States Senate) whose seats are never all up for election at the same time | 24 | |
| 8155038284 | Influence Peddling | using personal friendships and inside information to get political advantage | 25 | |
| 8155038285 | Plurality Election | the winning candidate is the person who recieves more votes than anyone else, but less than half the total. | 26 | |
| 8155038286 | Election of 1800 | Jefferson and Burr each received 73 votes in the Electoral College, so the House of Representatives had to decide the outcome. The House chose Jefferson as President and Burr as Vice President. | 27 | |
| 8155038288 | Election of 1824 | John Quincy Adams won after Henry Clay gave his support to Adams, securing his Presidency. When Adams appointed Clay as his secretary of state, Jackson's supporters raged that a "corrupt bargain" had cheated Jackson of presidency. | 28 | |
| 8155038289 | Election of 2000 | Bush v. Gore; Bush won although Gore won popular vote; controversy over the final vote count in Florida; settled by Supreme Court decision in favor of Bush. | 29 | |
| 8155038290 | Ralph Nader | A leftist American politician who promotes the environment, fair consumerism, and social welfare programs. His book Unsafe at Any Speed brought attention to the lack of safety in American automobiles. | 30 | |
| 11862650553 | Citizens United v. FEC | A 2010 decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that independent expenditures are free speech protected by the 1st Amendment and so cannot be limited by federal law. Leads to creation of SuperPACs & massive rise in amount of third party electioneering (Citizens for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow) | 31 | |
| 11862656721 | Baker v. Carr | case that est. one man one vote. this decision created guidelines for drawing up congressional districts and guaranteed a more equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state | 32 | |
| 11862659923 | Gerrymandering | Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power. | 33 | |
| 11862664276 | incumbency advantage | The electoral advantage a candidate enjoys by virtue of being an incumbent, over and above his or her other personal and political characteristics | 34 |
