chapter 12 POLS1101

The ability of an office holder to fend off challenges from quality challengers is known as the __________ effect.

"scare off" effect

The __________ scandal in the 1970s prompted Congress to enact serious campaign finance regulation.

Watergate Scandal

Nonprofit, tax-exempt groups that can expressly advocate for candidates and are not required to disclose the names of contributors are called __________.

501 (c) group

__________ are tax-exempt organizations created to influence the nomination, election, or appointment of political candidates, which are not subject to FEC disclosure rules.

527s

What are the differences between the primary and general election campaigns?

A primary is a state-level election where party members vote to choose a candidate affiliated with their political party. Party candidates selected in a primary then run against each other in a general election.

Prospective judgment is voting based upon what?

Campaign promises

If you wanted to have the most informed voters during a party nomination, you would use which nomination system?

Caucus

What is front-loading?

Decision to move a primary date to the beginning (front) of the presidential nomination season

Towards where on the left-right ideological spectrum do most candidates running in a general election tend to move their campaigns?

Democrat is closer to the left and epublican is closer to the right.

Be familiar with the caucus system. What are the advantages of this system? What are the disadvantages?

Disadvantages: It's very time consuming, you dont have a secret ballot, and it hasa low voter turn out. Advantages: It allows more communication between the party, the mediator can understand the party's views more fully, and it's less tense and hostile without the other party being there.

What institution is responsible for electing the president of the United States?

Electoral College

Why are some people concerned about electronic voting?

Electronic voting could increase election fraud

The __________ is the name of the bureaucratic agency in charge of monitoring campaign activity.

Federal Election Commission

What does "horse race" journalism mean?

Horse race journalism is political journalism of elections that resembles coverage of horse races because of the focus on polling data, public perception instead of candidate policy, and almost exclusive reporting on candidate differences rather than similarities.

What is a midterm election? What effect can midterm elections have on the president's party?

People can elect their representatives in the middle of the term of the executive. The results serve as a measuring stick to the popularity of the executive which can make the ruling party suffer election defeats.

The brief, clever quotes that candidates hope will be replayed after media events are known as __________.

Sound bites

What does "spin" mean in the context of political campaigns?

Spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing a biased interpretation of an event or compaigning to persuade public opinion in favor or against some organization or public figure.

What is the coattail effect?

coatail effect is the power of a popular candidate to gather support for other candidates running on the same party ticket.

Be able to define and explain the incumbency advantage.

incumbent is the existing holder of a political office who normally has a structural advantage over challengers during an election for multiple reasons. advantages: campain financing , recognition, PACs prefer incumbents &etc.

If a person wanted to predict your vote, the most powerful piece of information would be your __________.

party identifaction

Why is voter turnout so low in the U.S.? What are ways to improve voter turnout?

reasons: effort to register, rational abstention thesis=some individuals decide the costs of voting > benefits, "my vote doesnt count" (electoral college). solutions: automatic registraion, encourage voting, the people have more of a direct vote & etc

Why have some people criticized early voting?

some critics have condemned the process as damaging to the democratic process

What does gender gap mean?

the discrepancy in opportunities, status, attitudes, etc., between men and women.

What is reapportionment, and how does it affect presidential politics?

the reallocation of the number of seats in the House of Representatives after each decennial census. The number of seats in the House of Representatives could go up meaning more votes for the electoral college.

What are advantages and disadvantages of the winner-take-all primary? Which party allows winner-take-all primaries?

winner-take-all primary as a state primary election in which the candidate who wins the most votes secures all of that state's delegates to the convention. / this form of primary enables a candidate to quickly amass the required majority of delegates, avoiding divisive primary battles. This form of primary is considerably less representative, however. The Republican Party favors this form of primary while the Democratic Party no longer permits it.

Can candidates give as much money as they wish toward their own campaigns?

yes the can because of the Buckely v. Valeo case

Roughly what percentage of Americans rarely or never vote?

35%

Which Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowered the voting age to eighteen?

26th amendment

Why is redistricting an issue for incumbents?

It can put an incumbent against another incumbent in the next election cycle

What are the two main ideologies competing in the United States? Be able to distinguish between the two.

Liberalism or Conservative

What did the Twelfth Amendment accomplish? What old practice did it replace?

The Twelfth Amendment (Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure for electing the President and Vice President. It replaced the procedure provided in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3,

If political scientists are correct, what are the effects of a college education on a citizen's voting choices?

The most educated voters and the least educated voters tend to vote Democratic while those in the middle tend to vote Republican.

What was the problem with the original design of the Electoral College? How was this problem corrected?

The orignal idea of the Electoral college was to chose the president and the vice president from the same pool of candidates, which mean whoever is going to get the most vote will be the President and who ever gets the second most half vote will be the Vice Presiden.They corrected this problem by providing 12th Amendment to separate elections for both offices.