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| 5419759893 | blanket primaries | elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidate from all the parties. Voters can then select some Democrats and some Republicans if they like | 0 | |
| 5419759895 | coalition government | when two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. This form of government is quite common in the multiparty system of Europe | 1 | |
| 5419759896 | closed primaries | election to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party's candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty | 2 | |
| 5419759897 | coalition building | the process by which different groups or individuals come together for a particular cause or legislation | 3 | |
| 5419759898 | critical election | an electoral "earthquake" whereby new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Critical election periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era | 4 | |
| 5419759899 | factions | interest groups arising from the unequal distribution of property or wealth that James Madison attacked in Federalist Paper No. 10. Today's parties or interest groups are what Madison had in mind when he warned of the instability in government caused by factions. | 5 | |
| 5419759900 | linkage institution | the channels or access points through which issues and people's policy preferences get on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, elections, political parties, interest groups, and the mass media are the three main linkage institutions. | 6 | |
| 5419759901 | national chairperson | one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. The national chairperson is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party and is usually selected by the presidential nominee. | 7 | |
| 5419759902 | national committee | one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. The national committee is composed of representatives from the states and territories. | 8 | |
| 5419759903 | national convention | the meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform. | 9 | |
| 5419759904 | New Deal coalition | a coalition forged by the Democrats, who dominated American politics from the 1930s to 1960s. Its basic elements were the urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholic and Jews, the poor. Southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals. | 10 | |
| 5419759905 | open primaries | elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contest. | 11 | |
| 5419759906 | party competition | the battle of the parties for control of public offices. Ups and downs of the two major parties are one of the most important elements in American politics. | 12 | |
| 5419759907 | party dealignment | the gradual disengagement of people and politician from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification. | 13 | |
| 5419759908 | party eras | historical periods in which a majority of voters clings to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections. | 14 | |
| 5419759910 | party identification | the self-proclaimed preference for one or the other party. | 15 | |
| 5419759911 | party image | the voter's perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stand for, such as conservatism or liberalism. | 16 | |
| 5419759912 | party machine | a type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern. | 17 | |
| 5419759913 | party realignment | the displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period. | 18 | |
| 5419759914 | patronage | one of the key inducements used by political machines. A patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone. | 19 | |
| 5419759915 | political party | according to Anthony Downs, a "term of men [and women] seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election." | 20 | |
| 5419759916 | proportional representation | an electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election. | 21 | |
| 5419759917 | rational choice theory | a popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives. | 22 | |
| 5419759918 | reapportionment | the process of reallocating scats in the House of Representatives every ten years on the basis of the results of the census. | 23 | |
| 5419759920 | third parties | electoral contenders other than the two major parties. American third parties are not unusual, but they rarely win elections. | 24 | |
| 5419759921 | ticket splitting | voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices. It has become the norm in Americans voting behavior. | 25 | |
| 5419759922 | winner-take-all system | an electoral system in which legislature seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies. In American presidential elections, the system in which the winner of the popular votes in a state receives all the electoral votes of that state. | 26 | |
| 5419759923 | campaign strategy | the way candidates use scarce resources to achieve the nomination or win office. | 27 | |
| 5419759924 | caucus (electoral) | a private meeting of political party members in order to seek agreement on a common course of action, to select delegates for a state or national nominating convention, or to show preference for a presidential candidate. | 28 | |
| 5419759925 | direct mail | the use of targeted mailings to prospective supporters, usually compiled from lists of those who have contributed to candidates and parties in the past. | 29 | |
| 5419759926 | Federal Election Campaign Act: 1974 | legislation designed to regulate campaign contributions and limit campaign expenditures. | 30 | |
| 5419759927 | Federal Election Commission (FEC) | the principal enforcement agency for the Federal Election Campaign act of 1971. The six member commission has the power to prescribe regulations to implement and clarify campaign laws and to issue advisory opinion to guide compliance with federal election law. | 31 | |
| 5419759928 | frontloading | states' decisions to move their presidential primaries and caucuses to earlier in the nomination season in order to capitalize on media attention. | 32 | |
| 5419759929 | general election | an election used to fill an elective office. This generally is a contest between major party members previously selected by the voters in a primary election. | 33 | |
| 5419759930 | matching funds | money provided to qualifying presidential candidates from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, the amount of which is determined by the amount of contributions raised by the candidate. | 34 | |
| 5419759931 | McGovern Fraser Commission | a committee in the Democratic party charged with recommending changes in party rules to promote more representation of women and minorities in the delegate selection process., Democratic nominee in election of 1972, required the delegates of the democratic party need to represent more minorities | 35 | |
| 5419759932 | national party convention | a meeting of the delegates from each state to determine the party's nominee for president. | 36 | |
| 5419759933 | national primary | a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries systems who would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year. | 37 | |
| 5419759934 | nomination | a party's official endorsement of a candidate for office. | 38 | |
| 5419759935 | open primary | a primary election in which voters choose, on election-day, the party primary in which they will vote. They may vote for candidates of either party. | 39 | |
| 5419759936 | party platform | a statement of the general and specific philosophy and policy goals of a political party. This usually occurs at the national convention. | 40 | |
| 5419759937 | Political Action Committee (PAC) | a legal entity formed expressly for the purpose of contributing money to candidates and influencing electoral outcomes. | 41 | |
| 5419759938 | Presidential Election Campaign Fund | money from the $3 federal income tax check-off goes into this fund, which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns. | 42 | |
| 5419759939 | presidential primaries | a state-level election to determine which candidate the state's delegates will support. | 43 | |
| 5419759940 | primary election | an election, prior to the general election, in which the voters select the candidates who will run on each party's ticket. The Presidential Primary is held to select delegates to the national nominating convention of the major parties. | 44 | |
| 5419759941 | regional primaries | a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries to replace these electoral methods with a series of primaries held in each geographic region. | 45 | |
| 5419759942 | selective perception | the act of paying the most attention to things that one already agrees with or has a predisposition towards. | 46 | |
| 5419759943 | soft money | money raised by political parties for voter registration drives and the distribution of campaign material at the grass roots level, now banned at the national level. | 47 | |
| 5419759944 | straight ticket | voting for candidates who are all of the same party. For example, voting for the Republican candidate for President, Senate, & House. | 48 | |
| 5419759945 | superdelegates | delegates to the Democratic Party's national convention | 49 | |
| 5419759946 | 527 groups | independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly advocate the election of a particular candidate. | 50 | |
| 5419759947 | civic duty | a belief in the obligation to vote. | 51 | |
| 5419759948 | electoral college | the system of choosing the President in which representatives of each state cast the final ballots that actually elect the President. | 52 | |
| 5419759949 | electoral dealignment | a lessening of the importance of party loyalties in voting decisions. | 53 | |
| 5419759950 | electoral realignment | the changes in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election. | 54 | |
| 5419759951 | initiative | a procedure allowing voters to submit a proposed law to a popular vote by obtaining a required number of signatures. | 55 | |
| 5419759952 | Initiative petition | a direct democracy technique that allows proposed legislative items to be placed on a statewide ballot when enough signatures are obtained. | 56 | |
| 5419759953 | legitimacy | a widely shared belief that a democratic government was elected fairly and freely. | 57 | |
| 5419759954 | mandate theory of elections | the belief that the election winner has a mandate to implement policy promises. | 58 | |
| 5419759955 | Motor Voter Act | a bill passed by Congress in 1993 making it easier for Americans to register to vote. [The law, which went into effect in 1995, requires states to allow voter registration by mail, when one applies for a driver's license, and at state offices that serve the disabled and poor.] | 59 | |
| 5419759956 | policy voting | occurs when people base their choices on how close a candidate's issues positions are to their own issue preferences. | 60 | |
| 5419759957 | political efficacy | the belief that ordinary people can influence government. | 61 | |
| 5419759958 | referendum | the practice of submitting a law to a popular vote at election time. The law may be proposed by the legislature or a voter's initiative. | 62 | |
| 5419759959 | retrospective voting | voting theory that suggests that individuals who feel that they are better off as a result of certain policies are likely to support candidates who pledge to continue those policies, and those who feel worse off are inclined to support opposition candidates. | 63 | |
| 5419759960 | suffrage (franchise) | the right to vote. [In 1870, the 15th Amendment held that suffrage shall not be denied "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." In 1920, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.] | 64 | |
| 5419759961 | voter registration | a requirement that citizens register to vote before the election is held | 65 | |
| 5419759962 | actual group | a group composed of those in the potential group who are members of the interest group. | 66 | |
| 5419759963 | amicus curiae briefs | "friend of the court" briefs filed by interest groups to inform the court of their position and to state how their welfare would be affected by a ruling. | 67 | |
| 5419759964 | class action lawsuits | a technique used by interest groups which allows groups of people with similar complaints to combine their grievances into a single suit. | 68 | |
| 5419759965 | collective good | something of value which cannot be withheld from individuals in the potential group. | 69 | |
| 5419759966 | direct lobbying | influencing government decision makers through direct contact, argument, or campaign contributions by a lobbyist. | 70 | |
| 5419759967 | electioneering | helping sympathetic candidates get into office. | 71 | |
| 5419759968 | elite theory | argues that because only a few groups have enough power to influence policy, power is concentrated into a few interlocking power centers. | 72 | |
| 5419759969 | free rider problem | a person who doesn't join or work for a group, but benefits from the group's activities or lobbying efforts. | 73 | |
| 5419759970 | grassroots lobbying | influencing government decision makers though indirect pressure (usually in the form of letters, emails, phone calls) from large numbers of constituents. This is also called indirect lobbying. | 74 | |
| 5419759971 | hyperpluralist theory | argues that too many groups are getting what they want at the expense of the unrepresented and that this behavior leads to incoherent public policy. | 75 | |
| 5419759972 | interest group | an organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals. Interest groups purse their goals in many arenas. | 76 | |
| 5419759973 | lobbying | a communication by someone other than a citizen acting on his or her own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her decision. | 77 | |
| 5419759974 | lobbyist | a member of an interest group organized to influence government decisions, especially legislation. | 78 | |
| 5419759975 | Olson's law of large groups | suggests that the larger the group, the more difficult it will be to secure enough of the collective good to encourage participation. | 79 | |
| 5419759976 | pluralist theory | argues that interest group activities provide additional representation and compete against each other to influence political outcomes. | 80 | |
| 5419759977 | political action committee (PAC) | a committee set up by and representing a corporation, labor union, or other special interest group that raises and spends campaign contributions on behalf of one or more candidates or causes. | 81 | |
| 5419759978 | potential group | a group composed of all people who share some common interest. | 82 | |
| 5419759979 | public interest group | an organization that seeks a collective good that will not selectively and materially benefit the members of the group. | 83 | |
| 5419759980 | public interest lobbies | organizations that seek a collective good which does not only benefit their membership. | 84 | |
| 5419759981 | right-to-work law | a state law that forbids the requirement of union membership as a condition of employment. | 85 | |
| 5419759982 | selective benefits | these benefits are goods that a group can restrict to those who are members | 86 | |
| 5419759983 | single issue groups | groups which have very narrow interests, shun compromise, and single-mindedly pursue goals. | 87 | |
| 5419759984 | subgovernments (Iron Triangle) | exclusive relationships composed of interest groups leaders, government agency personnel, and members of congressional committees who perform mutually beneficial services for each other at the public's expense. | 88 |
