political party
an organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization's name
nomination
designation as an official candidate of a political party
political system
a set of interrelated institutions that links people with gov't
caucus
a closed meeting of the members of a political party to decide questions of policy and the selection of candidates for office
electoral college
a body of electors chosen by voters to cast ballots for president and vice president
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
party platform
the statement of policies of a national political party
critical election
an election that produces a sharp change in the existing pattern of party loyalties among groups of voters
electoral realignment
the change in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election
two-party system
a political system in which two major political parties compete for control of the gov't (candidates from a third party have little chance of winning office)
electoral dealignment
a lessening of the importance of party loyalties in voting decisions
majority representation
the system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes
proportional representation
the system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election
party identification
a voter's sense of psychological attachment to a party
national committee
a committee of a political party composed of party chairpersons and party officials from every state
party conference
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
congressional campaign committee
an organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to support its own candidates in congressional elections
party machine
a centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections
responsible party government
a set of principles formalizing the ideal role of parties in a majoritarian democracy
election campaign
an organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate over others competing for the same office
primary election
a preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election
closed primary
a primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party's potential nominees
open primary
a primary election in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose one party's primary ballot to take into the voting booth
modified closed primary
a primary election that allows individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and for which offices
modified open primary
a primary election that entitles independent voters to vote in party's primary
presidential primary
a special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party's national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate
caucus/convention
a method used to select delegates to attend a party's national convention: a local meeting selects delegates for a county-level meeting, which in turn selects delegates for a higher-level meeting, culminating in a state convention that selects delegates for national convention
front-loading
states' practice of moving delegate selection primaries and caucuses earlier in the calendar year to gain media and candidate attention (i.e. Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary)
general election
a national election held by law in November of every even-numbered year
straight ticket
voting for a single party's candidates for all the offices
split ticket
voting for candidates from different parties for different offices
first-past-the-post elections
a British term for elections conducted in single-member districts that award victory to the candidate wiht the most votes
open election
an election that lacks an incumbent
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
a bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns
hard money
financial contributions given directly to a candidate running for congressional office or the presidency
soft money
financial contributions to party committees for capitol and operational expenses
527 committees
committees, with tax-exempt status, that can spend unlimited amounts of soft money for media advertising, as long as they do not expressly advocate a candidate (concerned with issues, not parties)
interest group
an organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy (aka. a lobby)
lobbyist
a representative of an interest group
agenda building
the process by which new issues are brought into the political limelight
program monitoring
keeping track of govt programs; usually done by interest groups
interest group entrepreneur
an interest group organizer or leader
free-rider problem
the situation in which people benefit from the activities of an organization but do not contribute to those activities
trade association
an organization that represents firms within a particular industry
political action committee (PAC)
an organization that pools campaign contributions from group members and donates those funds to candidates for political office
direct lobbying
attempts to influence a legislator's vote through personal contact with the legislator
grassroots lobbying
lobbying activities by rank-and-file interest group members and would-be members
information campaign
an organized effort to gain public backing by bringing a group's views to public attention
coalition building
the banding together of several interest groups for the purpose of lobbying
citizen group
lobbying organization built around policy concerns unrelated to members' vocational interests