Key Terms - Political Beliefs/Political Behaviors Flashcards

161411701	Attentive public	Those who follow politics and public affairs carefully.
161411702	Australian ballot	Secret ballot printed at the expense of the state.
161411703	Balancing the ticket	Occurs when a presidential nominee chooses a vice presidential running mate who has different qualities in order to attract more votes for the ticket.
161411704	Blanket primary	Election to choose candidate that is open to independent and that allows voters to choose candidates from all the parties.
161411705	Caucus	Local party meetings.
161411706	Closed primary	Party election to choose candidates that is closed to independents. Voters may not cross party lines.
161411707	Coattail effect	The influence of a popular presidential candidate on the election on congressional candidates of the same party.
161411708	Demographics	Characteristics of populations, e.g. race, sex, income.
161411709	Direct election	Election of an official directly by the people rather than by an intermediary group such as the Electoral College.
161411710	Direct primary	Election in which the people choose candidates for office.
161411711	Fixed terms	Terms of office that have a definite length of time, e.g., two years for a member of the House.
161411712	Front loading	Scheduling presidential primary elections early (e.g., February or March) in an election year.
161411713	Gender gap	Difference in voting patterns for men and women, particularly in the greater tendency of the latter to vote for Democratic presidential candidates.
161411714	General election	Election in which the officeholders are chosen. Contrast with the primary election in which only the candidates are chosen.
161411715	Hard money	Campaign contributions donated directly to candidates.
161411716	Ideology	Set of beliefs about political values and the role of government.
161411717	Incumbent	An officeholder who is seeking reelection.
161411718	Independent	One who is not registered with a political party. INDEPENDENT LEANERS tend to vote for candidates of one political party, whereas PURE INDEPENDENTS have no consistent pattern of party voting.
161411719	Issue advocacy ads	Ads that focus on issues and do not explicitly encourage citizens to vote for a certain candidate.
161411720	Open primary	Election to choose candidates that is open to independents, and in which voters may choose candidates from any one party.
161411721	Party identification	A sense of affiliation that a person has with a particular political party.
161411722	Party platform	A list of positions and programs that the party adopts at the national convention. Each position is called a plank.
161411723	Political culture	The widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that citizens share about their government.
161411724	Plurality	More votes that anyone else, but less than half, e.g. Clinton won a plurality (43%) of popular votes in 1992, but not the majority. PLURALITY ELECTIONS such as those for Congress are won by the person with the most votes, regardless if he/she has a majority.
161411725	Political efficacy	Capacity to understand and influence political events.
161411726	Political socialization	Process in which one acquires his/her political beliefs.
161411727	Realigning "critical" election	An election in which there is a long term change in party alignment, e.g., 1932
161411728	Safe seat	An office that is extremely likely to be won by a particular candidate or political party.
161411729	Single member district system	System in which the people elect one representative per district. With a winner-take-all rule, this system strengthens the two major parties and weakens minor parties.
161411730	Soft money	Campaign contributions that are not donated directly to candidates, but are instead donated to parties.
161411731	Solid South	Historically, the South voted solidly Democratic. However, the South is now strongly Republican: Bush carried every Southern state in 2000.
161411732	Split ticket voting	Casting votes for candidates of one's own party and for candidates of opposing parties, e.g., voting Republican presidential candidate and a Democratic congressional candidate.
161411733	Straight ticket voting	Casting votes only for candidates of one's party.
161411734	Suffrage	The right to vote.
161411735	Superdelegate	A delegate to the Democratic national convention who is there by virtue of holding an office.
161411736	Super Tuesday	A Tuesday in early March in which many presidential primaries, particularly in the South, are held.
161411737	Swing state	A state that does not consistently vote either Democratic or Republican in presidential elections.