Chapter 12

188286673	political party	an organized effort by office holders, candidates, activists, and voters to pursue their common interests by gaining and exercising power through the electoral process
188286674	governmental party	the office holders who organize themselves and pursue policy objectives under a party label
188286675	organizational party	the workers and activists who make up the party's formal organization structure
188286676	party in the electorate	the voters who consider themselves allied or associated with the party
188286677	machine	a party organization that recruits voter loyalty with tangible incentives and is characterized by a high degree of control over member activity
188286678	direct primary	the selection of party candidates through the ballots of qualified voters rather than at party nomination conventions
188286679	civil service laws	these acts removed the staffing of the bureaucracy from political parties and created a professional bureaucracy filled through competition
188286680	issue-oriented politics	politics that focuses on specific issues rather than on party, candidate, or other loyalties
188286681	ticket-split	to vote for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election
188286682	candidate-centered politics	politics that focuses directly on the candidates, their particular issues, and character, rather than on party affiliation
188286683	party realignment	a shifting of party coalition groupings in the electorate that remains in place for several elections
188286684	critical elections	an election that signals a party realignment through voter polarization around new issues
188286685	secular realignment	the gradual rearrangement of party coalitions, based more on demographic shifts than on shocks to the political system
188286686	coalition	a group made up of interests or organizations that join forces for the purpose of electing public officials
188286687	national party platform	a statement of the general and specific philosophy and policy goals of a political party, usually promulgated at the national convention
188286688	proportional representation	a voting system that apportions legislative seats according to the percentage of the vote won by a particular political party
188286689	winner-take-all system	an electoral system in which the party that receives at least one more vote than any other party wins the election
188286690	national convention	a party conclave (meeting) held in the presidential election year for the purposes of nominating a presidential or vice presidential ticket and adopting a platform
188286691	think tank	institutional collection of policy-oriented researchers and academics who are sources of policy ideas
188286692	soft money	the virtually unregulated money funneled through political parties under the auspice of party building
188286693	hard money	funds that can be used for direct electioneering but that are limited and regulated by the Federal Elections Commission
188286694	party identification	a citizen's personal affinity for a political party, usually expressed by his or her tendency to vote for the candidates of that party
188286695	dealignment	a general decline in partisan identification and loyalty in the electorate