Dudley AP Government 5 Flashcards

5999041673	Winner-take-all system	An election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.	0
5999041674	Single-member district	An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.	1
5999041675	Proportional representation	Election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.	2
5999041676	Electoral College	Electoral system used in electing the president and vice president, in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for particular party's candidates.	3
5999041677	Safe seat	Elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other, so the success of the party's candidate is almost taken for granted.	4
5999041678	Coattail effect	The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot, especially the president.	5
5999041679	Candidate appeal	How voters feel about a candidate's background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities.	6
5999041680	Name recognition	Incumbents have an advantage over challengers in election campaigns because voters are more familiar with them, and incumbents are more recognizable.	7
5999041681	Caucus	A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.	8
5999041682	National party convention	A national meeting of delegates elected at primaries, caucuses, or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president, ratify the party platform, elect officers, and adopt rules.	9
5999041683	Federal Election Commission (FEC)	A commission created by the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act to administer election reform laws. It consists of six commissioners appointed by president and confirmed by the Senate. Its duties include overseeing disclosure of campaign finance information and public funding of presidential elections, and enforcing contribution limits.	10
5999041684	Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act	Largely banned party soft money, restored a long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes, and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy.	11
5999041685	Soft money	Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state and local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.	12
5999041686	Issue advocacy	Promoting a particular position or an issue paid for by interest groups or individuals but not candidates. Much issue advocacy is often electioneering for or against a candidate, and until 2004 had not been subject to any regulation.	13
5999041687	Independent expenditures	Money spent by individuals or groups not associated with candidates to elect or defeat candidates for office.	14
5999041688	Super PACs	An independent expenditure only committee first allowed in 2010 after court decisions allowing unlimited contributions to such PACs.	15