Ch. 6 - Parties and Interest Groups
Indirect Lobbying
A form of lobbying in which lobbyists build support for their cause through the media, rallies, and other ways of influencing public opinion, with the ultimate goal of swaying legislators to support their cause.
Polarization
A split among elected officials or an electorate along strictly partisan lines.
Runoff Primary
An election held if no candidate receives a majority of the vote during the regular primary. The two top finishers face off again in a runoff to determine the nominee for the general election. Such elections are held only in some states, primarily in the South.
Nonpartisan Ballots
Ballots that do not list candidates by political party; still often used in local elections.
___________________ is when candidates promote themselves rather than relying on party organizations.
Candidate-centered politics
______________ primaries allow only registered party members to vote in the party's primary.
Closed
The two major parties prevent third parties from achieving electoral success by doing which of the following?
Co-opting their ideas
Party Elections
Elections that determine a party's nominees for offices in general elections against other parties' nominees. Participation in a primary election is sometimes limited to voters registered as members of that particular party.
True or false, in 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court placed a limit on independent expenditures by political parties.
False
True or false, political parties and interest groups are the same thing.
False
Which of the following is something that modern political parties do as effectively as they did in the 1800s?
Fundraising
Independent Expenditures
Funds spent on ad campaigns or other political activities that are run by a party or an outside group without the direct knowledge or approval of a particular candidate for office.
Factional Splits (Faction)
Groups that struggle to control the message within a party; for example, a party may be split into competing regional factions.
Interest Groups
Individuals, corporations, or associations that seek to influence the actions of elected and appointed public officials on behalf of specific companies or causes.
Contract Lobbyists
Lobbyists who work for different causes for different clients, in the same way that a lawyer represents more than one client.
Party Conventions
Meetings of party delegates called to nominate candidates for office and establish party agendas.
Soft Money
Money not subject to federal regulation that can be raised and spent by state political parties. A 2002 law banned the use of soft money in federal elections.
Which state has a nonpartisan legislature?
Nebraska
Political Party
Organization that nominates and supports candidates for elected offices.
Political machines encouraged which of the following?
Patronage, corruption, high turnover
Political parties often are the ones to do which of the following?
Plan for future elections and organize government
Super PACs
Political action committees that can spend unlimited funds on behalf of political candidates but cannot directly coordinate their plans with those candidates.
Minority-Party Members
Politicians or officials associated with the party that is out of power, for instance, Democrats in a chamber where the GOP holds the majority of seats.
Candidate-Centered Politics
Politics in which candidates promote themselves and their own campaigns rather than relying on party organizations.
________________ tend to garner support from small business owners and corporations.
Republicans
The 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law placed limits on which of the following?
Soft money
The modern Republican Party tends to have the most support from which of the following regions?
The South
Dealignment
The lack of nationwide dominance by any one political party.
Establishment
The nexus of people holding power over an extended period of time, including top elected officials, lobbyists, and party strategists.
Patronage
The practice of elected officials' or party leaders' handing out jobs to their friends and supporters rather than hiring people based on merit.
Realignment
The switching of popular support from one party to another.
Responsible Party Model
The theory that political parties offer clear policy choices to voters, try to deliver on those policies when they take office, and are held accountable by voters for the success or failure of those policies.
True or false, as political campaigns have become more professionalized, the role of interest groups has increased.
True
True or false, interest groups tend to support incumbents over new candidates for office.
True
True or false, political parties tend to play a larger role at the state level as compared to the national level.
True
Ticket Splitting
Voters' or districts' voting for different parties' nominees for different offices—for instance, supporting a Republican for president while supporting a Democrat for Congress.
Voter Identification
When a voter identifies strongly with one of the major parties, he or she is considered a Democrat or a Republican; many voters, however, are considered weakly aligned with either major party.
State parties have evolved into _____________ organizations.
consulting
Tea Partiers and traditional Republicans disagree about many things. This is known as a ______________.
factional split
Today, the role of political parties in American life can best be described as:
less dominant than in the past
Government tends to be organized on a nonpartisan basis at the _________level.
local
Indirect lobbying involves each of the following EXCEPT ___________________.
meeting personally with a legislator
National parties are really a consortium of _____________.
party chairs
The practice of elected officials giving jobs to political supporters is called __________________.
patronage
A split among an electorate along party lines is known as _____________.
polarization
An election that determines a party's nominees for office is known as a ___________ election.
primary
Direct Lobbying
A form of lobbying in which lobbyists deal directly with legislators to gain their support.
Closed Primary
A nominating election in which only voters belonging to that party may participate. Only registered Democrats can vote in a closed Democratic primary, for example.
Open Primary
A nominating election that is open to all registered voters regardless of their party affiliations.
Cause Lobbyist
A person who works for an organization that tracks and promotes an issue, for example, environmental issues for the Sierra Club or gun ownership rights for the National Rifle Association.
General Elections
Decisive elections in which all registered voters cast ballots for their preferred candidates for a political office.
Crossover Voting
Members of one party voting in another party's primary. This practice is not allowed in all states.
Political or Party Machines
Political organizations controlled by small numbers of people and run for partisan ends. In the 19th and 20th centuries, these organizations controlled party nominations for public office and rewarded supporters with government jobs and contracts.
________________ are organizations that nominate and support candidates for elected offices.
Political parties