Terms : Hide Images
| 5979469963 | Coattails | Effect a popular president or presidential candidate can have in helping down ballot candidates of their party. | 0 | |
| 5979474295 | Open seat / race | An election in which an incumbent is not running. | 1 | |
| 5979477812 | Franking privilege | Free mail that incumbent Senators and Representatives can send their constituents. | 2 | |
| 5979481875 | Buckley v. Valeo | Court case that held that campaign spending was a form of speech and self-financed candidates could spend as much as they wanted on their own campaigns. | 3 | |
| 5979492824 | Citizens United v. FEC | This case struck down part of the McCain Feingold law banning independent spending by outside groups, paving the way for Super PACs. | 4 | |
| 5979501394 | Soft money | Donations that were given to parties to engage in "party building" efforts. This was a loophole closed by the 2002 McCain-Feingold Act. | 5 | |
| 5979506425 | 527's | Outside groups that spend money on behalf of campaigns and issues without directly coordinating with the candidate. | 6 | |
| 5979515004 | Incumbent | The current person who holds an elected position. | 7 | |
| 5979520022 | Challenger | A candidate who is trying to defeat an incumbent in an election. | 8 | |
| 5979525845 | Position issue | A question in which the two parties or two candidates take differing, opposing views (such as gun control v. gun rights, or pro/anti-abortion). | 9 | |
| 5979533132 | Valence issue | A question in which the parties or candidates agree but offer differing plans or approaches (eg. to combat terrorism, reduce unemployment). | 10 | |
| 5979540717 | Prospective voting | Voting based on a candidate's promises regarding what they will do. | 11 | |
| 5979542946 | Retrospective voting | Voting based on what an official accomplished, particularly with regard to Presidents running for re-election, who are often judged on the health of the economy. | 12 | |
| 5979556286 | Caucus | A way of selecting delegates in Presidential nominating conventions that features public voting at party meetings. | 13 | |
| 5979560153 | Primary | A way of selecting nominees for both Presidential races and for all other types of offices, by secret ballot in a manner similar to a general election. | 14 | |
| 5979564442 | Super Tuesday | A day, usually in March, in the Presidential election year on which many states hold primaries or caucuses. This day often determines who will win a party's presidential nomination. | 15 | |
| 5979571827 | Front Loading | The competition among states to set the date of their primary or caucus early in a presidential election year so they have more influence over who each party's nominee will be. | 16 | |
| 5979576284 | New Hampshire | The state that hosts the first presidential primary. | 17 | |
| 5979577797 | Iowa | The state that hosts the first presidential caucus and helps determine which candidates drop out first. | 18 | |
| 5979585103 | Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 | This law placed limits on how much money individuals could donate to parties, candidates and political action committees. | 19 | |
| 5979588350 | Political Action Committees | These groups help to pool campaign donations, usually from executives or shareholders of a company, or members of a labor union. | 20 | |
| 5979593831 | Super PACs | These groups were created by the Citizens United decision and can spend unlimited amounts of money on campaign ads, but can not directly coordinate with candidates or parties. | 21 | |
| 5979640255 | Redistricting | The process of redrawing lines for State Legislatures and the US House of Representatives, which usually happens after each census every ten years. | 22 | |
| 5979646672 | Reapportionment | The process of determining which states gain or lose members of the House, decided by the US Census bureau after every ten year census. | 23 | |
| 5979652172 | Gerrymandering | Redrawing lines to make it easier for one political party to win more seats in the House and in state legislatures. This is usually done by state legislatures. | 24 | |
| 5979670676 | Packing | A gerrymandering technique in which one tries to put all of the other party's voters in one or a few districts. | 25 | |
| 5979673922 | Cracking | A gerrymandering technique in which one tries to divide and dilute the influence of the other party's voters by dividing them into multiple districts in which they are a minority. | 26 | |
| 5979678189 | Kidnapping | A gerrymandering technique involving putting two incumbents of the opposite party in the same district, forcing them to battle each other in a primary. | 27 | |
| 5979685523 | Momentum | Presidential candidates who win early contests often gain this, involving increased media attention and campaign funding. | 28 | |
| 5979696988 | Democratic National Convention | A meeting held every 4 years to determine who the Democratic nominee for President will be. | 29 | |
| 5979699380 | Republican National Convention | A meeting held every 4 years to determine who the Republican nominee for President will be. | 30 |
