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Exam iii
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Caucus | closed meeting of the members of a political party to decide questions of policy and the selection of candidates for office |
| Congressional campaign committee | an organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to support its own candidates in congressional elections |
| Critical election | an election that produces a sharp change in the existing pattern of party loyalties among groups of voters |
| Electoral dealignment | a lessening of the importances of party loyalties in voting decisions |
| Electoral realignment | the change in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election |
| Majority representation | the system by which one office, contested by tow or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes |
| National committee | a committee of a political party composed of party chairperson and party officials from every state |
| National convention | a gathering of delegates of a single political party from across the country to choose candidates for president and vice president and to adopt a party platform |
| Nomination | designation as an official candidate of a political party |
| Party conferences | a meeting to select party leaders and decide committee assignments, held at the beginning of a session of Congress by Republicans or Democrats in each chamber |
| Party identification | a voter’s sense of psychological attachment to a party |
| Party machine | a centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections |
| Party platform | the statement of policies of a national political party |
| Political party | an organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization’s name |
| Political system | a set of interrelated institutions that links people with government |
| Proportional representation | the system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election |
| Responsible party government | a set of principles formalizing the ideal role of parties in a majoritarian democracy |
| Two-party system | a political system in which two major political parties compete for control of the government. Candidates from a third party have little chance of winning office |
| 501(c)4 social welfare organizations | Groups named after Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code that operate for promotion of social welfare; they are exempt from reporting donors if they spend most of their funds on issues, not candidates. |
| 527 committees Committees | named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code; they enjoy tax-exempt status in election campaigns if they are unaffiliated with political parties and take positions on issues, not specific candidates. |
| caucus/convention | A method used to select delegates to attend a party's national convention. |
| closed primaries | Primary elections in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party's potential nominees. |
| election campaign | An organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate over others competing for the same office. |
| Federal Election Commission (FEC) | A bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns. |
| First-past-the-post elections | A British term for elections conducted in single-member districts that award victory to the candidate with the most votes. |
| front-loading | States' practice of moving delegate selection primaries and caucuses earlier in the calendar year to gain media and candidate attention. |
| general election | A national election held by law in November of every even-numbered year. |
| modified closed primaries | Primary elections that allow individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and, if so, for which offices. |
| modified open primaries | Primary elections that entitle independent voters to vote in a party's primary. |
| open election | An election that lacks an incumbent. |
| open primaries | Primary elections in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose one |
| party's primary | ballot to take into the voting booth. |
| political action committee (PAC) | An organization that collects campaign contributions from group members and donates them to candidates for political office. |
| Presidential primary | A special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party's national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate. |
| primary election | A preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election. |
| split ticket | Voting for candidates from different parties for different offices. |
| straight ticket | Voting for a single party's candidates for all the offices. |
| Agenda building | The process by which new issues are brought into the political limelight. |
| citizen group | Lobbying organization built around policy concerns unrelated to members' vocational interests. |
| Coalition building | The banding together of several interest groups for the purpose of lobbying. |
| Direct lobbying | Attempts to influence a legislator's vote through personal contact with the policymaker. |
| Free-rider Problem | The situation in which people benefit from the activities of an organization (such as an interest group) but do not contribute to those activities. |
| Grassroots lobbying | Lobbying activities performed by rank-and-file interest group members and other supporters. |
| Information campaign | An organized effort to gain public backing by bringing a group's views to public attention. |
| interest group | An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy; also called a lobby. |
| interest group entrepreneur | An interest group organizer or leader. |
| lobby | See interest group. |
| lobbyist | A representative of an interest group. |
| Program monitoring | Keeping track of government programs; usually done by interest groups. |
| Trade association | An organization that represents firms within a particular industry. |
| Casework | Solving problems for constituents, especially problems involving government agencies. |
| Cloture | The mechanism by which a filibuster is cut off in the Senate. |
| Conference Committee | A temporary committee created to work out differences between the House and Senate versions of a specific piece of legislation. |
| Constituents | People who live and vote in a government official’s district or state. |
| Delegate | A legislator whose primary responsibility is to represent the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of his or her own view. |
| Descriptive Representation | A belief that constituents are most effectively represented bylegislators who are similar to them in such key demographic characteristics as race, ethnicity, |
| Earmark | Federal funds appropriated by Congress for use on local projects. |
| Filibuster | A delaying tactic, used in the Senate, that allows any senator to prevent a bill from coming to vote. |
| Gerrymandering | Redrawing a congressional district to intentionally benefit one political party. |
| Hold | A letter requesting that a bill be held from floor debate. |
| Impeachment | The formal charging of a government official with “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” |
| Incumbent | A current officeholder. |
| Joint Committee | A committee made up of members of both the House and the Senate. |
| Majority Leader | The head of the majority party in the Senate; the second-highest ranking member of the majority party in the House. |
| Oversight | The process of reviewing the operations of an agency to determine whether it is carrying out policies as Congress intended. |
| Parliamentary System | A system of government in which the chief executive is the leader whose party holds the most seats in the legislature after an election or whose party forms a major part of the ruling coalition. |
| Racial Gerrymandering | The drawing of a legislative district to maximize the chance that a minority candidate will win election. |
| Reapportionment | Redistribution of representatives among the states, based on population change. The House is reapportioned after each census. |
| Select Committee | A temporary congressional committee created for a specific purpose and disbanded after that purpose is fulfilled. |
| Seniority | Years of consecutive service on a particular congressional committee. |
| Speaker of the House | The presiding officer of the House of Representatives. |
| Standing Committee | A permanent congressional committee that specializes in a particular policy area. |
| Trustee | A representative who is obligated to consider the views of constituents but is not obligated to vote according to those views if he or she believes they are misguided. |
| Veto | The president’s disapproval of a bill that has been passed by both houses of Congress. Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in each house |
Created by:
rath23
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