Chapter 6: Political Parties

nonpartisan election

A local or judicial election in which candidates are not selected or endorsed by political parties and party affiliation is not listed on ballots.

Caucus

A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.

party identification

An affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood. The best predictor of voting behavior in partisan candidate elections.

honeymoon

Period at the beginning of the new president's term during which the president enjoys generally positive relations with the press and Congress, usually lasting about six months.

Hard money

Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed.

party convention

a meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy and in some cases to select party candidates for public office.

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.

minor party

A small political party that rises and falls with a charismatic candidate or, if composed of ideologies on the right or left, usually persists over time; also called a third party.

realigning election

An election during periods of expanded suffrage and change in the economy and society that proves to be a turning point, redefining the agenda of politics and the alignment of voters within parties.

proportional representation

An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.

political party

An organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy.

Direct primary

Election in which voters choose party nominees.

winner-take-all system

Election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.

platform

Every four years the political parties draft a document stating the policy positions of the party. This party platform details general party-wide issue stances. The process sometimes engenders disputes among fellow partisans but is rarely an election issue and often is written to avoid controversy.

divided government

Governance divided between the parties, as when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.

soft money

Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.

open primary

Primary election in which any voter, regardless of party, may vote.

closed primary

Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote.

party-independent expenditure

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an independent expenditure.

party registration

The act of declaring party affiliation; required by some states when one registers to vote.

Patronage

The dispensing of government jobs to persons who belong to the wining political party.

crossover voting

Voting by member of one party for a candidate of another party.

Dealignment

Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.