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Campaigns and Voting
Chapter 9
Question | Answer |
---|---|
nomination | the process by which political parties select their candidates for election to public office |
campaign strategy | the master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign |
national party convention | A national meeting of delegates elected in 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. |
Caucus | a private meeting of party leaders to choose candidates for office |
presidential primaries | Elections in which a state's voters go to the polls to express their preference for a party's nominee for president. Most delegates to the national party conventions are chosen this way. |
party platform | A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years, drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen. It is the best formal statement of a party's beliefs. |
direct mail | A method of raising money for a political cause or candidate, in which information and requests for money are sent to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past. |
campaign contributions | donations that are made directly to a candidate or a party and that must be reported to the FEC |
independent expenditures | Expenses on behalf of a political message that are made by groups that are uncoordinated with any candidate's campaign. |
Federal Election Commission | A six-member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. The federal Election Commission administers and enforces campaign finance laws. |
Political Action Committee (PAC) | A committee set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises and spends campaign money from voluntary donations |
Federal Election Campaign Act | A law passed in 1974 to reform campaign finances, created the Federal Election Commission (FEC), provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, limit contributions. |
soft money | Campaign contributions unregulated by federal or state law, usually given to parties and party committees to help fund general party activities. |
hard money | Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed. |
527 groups | Independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly advocate the election of a particular candidate. |
501(c) groups | Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions. Section 501c of the tax code specifies that such groups cannot spend more than half their funds on political activities. |
Citizens United v. FEC | 2010 decision by the U.S. S C holding that independent expenditures are free speech protected by the 1st Amend so cannot be limited by federal law. Lead to SuperPACs & massive rise in amount of third party electioneering (Citizens for a Better Tomorrow) |
Super PACs | a type of independent political action committee which may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, and individuals but is not permitted to contribute to or coordinate directly with parties or candidates. |
voter registration | A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of Election Day. A few states permit Election day registration. |
battleground states | The key states that the presidential campaigns focus on because they are most likely to decide the outcome of the Electoral College vote. |
frontloading primaries | The practice of states moving their presidential primaries or caucuses to take place earlier in the nomination process, often in the hopes of exerting more influence over the outcome. |
national party convention | A national meeting of delegates elected in 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. |
Superdelegates | Democrat party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at Convention. Before 2018 they could sway the vote in favor of a candidate they preferred. 2020 rule change made them less powerful by limiting their vote, they only vote if there is a tie. |
invisible primary | early attempts to raise money, line up campaign consultants, generate media attention, and get commitments for support even before candidates announce they are running |
selective participation | The phenomenon that people's beliefs often guide what they pay the most attention to and how they interpret events. |
political efficacy | The belief that one's political participation really matters - that one's vote can actually make a difference |
civic duty | a belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs |
Motor Voter Act | A 1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for a driver's license. |
policy voting | electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters' policy preferences and on the basis of where the candidates stand on policy issues |
Electoral College | A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president |