AP US Gov. Ch. 11-12

229052378	soft money	virtually unregulated money funneled through parties, banned in 2002
229052379	proportional representation	voting system that apportions legislative seats according to the percentage of the vote won by a party
229052380	stratified sampling	variation of random sampling, country is split into 4 regions
229052381	tracking polls	continuous surveys that enable a campaign to chart its daily rise or fall in support
229052382	national party platform	statement of the general and specific philosophy and policy goals of a party
229052383	secular realignment	gradual rearrangement of party coalitions, based on demographic shifts
229052384	party realignment	shifting of party coalition groupings in the electorate that remains for several elections
229052385	ticket-split	vote for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election
229052386	civil service laws	acts removed the staffing of the bureaucracy from political parties and created a professional, competitive bureaucracy
229052387	party identification	citizen's personal affinity for a party
229052388	public opinion polls	interviews or surveys with samples of citizens that are used to estimate the beliefs of the general population
229052389	political socialization	process through which individuals acquire their political beliefs
229052390	margin of error	measure of the accuracy of a public opinion polls
229052391	winner-take-all system	electoral system in which the party that receives at least one more vote than any other, wins
229052392	random sampling	method of selection that gives each person in a group the same chance for selection
229052393	organizational party	activists who make up the party's formal organizational structure
229052394	political party	organized effort by office holders and voters to pursue common interests
229052395	sample	subset of the whole population selected for gauging opinion
229052396	straw polls	unscientific surveys used to predict public opinion on issues
229052397	push polls	polls taken for the purpose of providing info on an opponent that would lead respondents to vote against said candidate
229052398	dealignment	general decline in party identification and loyalty
229052399	coalition	group made up of organizations that join forces for the purpose of electing public officials
229052400	critical election	election that signals a party realignment through voter polarization
229052401	candidate-centered politics	politics focused on candidates rather than party affiliation
229052402	political machine	party that recruits voter loyalty with tangible incentives, very controlling
229052403	think tank	collection of policy-oriented researchers and academics
229052404	hard money	funds that can be used for direct electioneering but is regulated by the Federal Elections Commission
229052405	direct primary	selection of party candidates through ballots of voters rather than at nominating conventions
229052406	party in the electorate	voters who consider themselves allied with a party
229052407	national convention	party meeting held for purposes of nominating a president and vice president for the ticket
229052408	public opinion	what the public thinks about a particular issue at any point in time
229052409	governmental party	office holders who organize themselves and pursue policy objectives under a party label
229052410	political ideology	set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government
229052411	exit polls	polls conducted as voters leave selected polling places on Election Day
229052412	issue-oriented politics	politics that focus on specific issues rather than on parties