AP Government Chapter 8 Flashcards

5323557806	Party Competition	The battle of the parties for the control of public offices.	0
5323557807	Political Party	A team of men and women seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.	1
5323557808	Linkage Institutions	The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the governments policy agenda.	2
5323557809	Rational-Choice Theory	A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians.	3
5323557810	Party Image	The voter's perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stands for.	4
5323557811	Party Identification	A citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other.	5
5323557812	Ticket Splitting	Voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices.	6
5323557813	Party Machines	A type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern.	7
5323557814	Patronage	One of the key inducements used by party machines: a patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.	8
5323557815	Closed Primaries	Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party's candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty.	9
5323557816	Open Primaries	Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests.	10
5323557817	National Convention	The meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform.	11
5323557818	National Committee	One of the institutions that keeps the party operating between the conventions. Composed of representatives from the states and territories.	12
5323602783	National Chairperson	Responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party and is usually handpicked by the presidential nominee.	13
5323616046	Coalition	A group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends.	14
5323627448	Party Eras	Historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections.	15
5323630848	Critical Election	An electoral earthquake where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party, Sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era.	16
5323640492	Party Realignment	The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period.	17
5323643481	New Deal Coalition	A coalition forged by the Democrats, who dominated American politics from the 1930's to the 1960's. Basic elements were the urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholics and Jews, the poor, Southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals.	18
5323652066	Party Dealignment	The gradual disengagement of people from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification.	19
5323656740	Third Parties	Electoral contenders other than the two major parties. Not unusual, but they rarely win elections.	20
5323661719	Winner-take-all System	An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies.	21
5323667461	Proportional Representation	An electoral system used throughout, most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election.	22
5323678179	Coalition Government	When two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. Quite common in the multiparty systems of Europe.	23
5323682446	Responsible Party Model	A view about how parties should work, held by some political scientists. According to the model, parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates. Once in office, parties would carry out their campaign promises.	24
5323693209	Blue Dog Democrats	Fiscally conservative democrats who are mostly from the South and/or rural parts of the United States.	25