AP Gov Unit 4 and 5

1932 Realignment

Black voters felt alienated by republicans refusal to pursue civil rights. Northern Democrats opened opportunities for African Americans that made black voters decision to switch parties.

Electoral College

The group of electors chosen by each state to formally vote for the next U.S. president based on the results of voting in the state.

What is the political parties role in committee and party leadership systems in legislatures?

The majority/minority party leaders taking the party platform and trying to bring gov't officials (of their party) in line with the party's platform.

Conservatism

a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization

Individualism

valuing individual rights over those of the gov't with a strong emphasis on individual initiative.

Divided governemnt

when control of the executive branch and the legislative branch is split between two parties.

Liberalism

A political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed, and equality before the law.

Opinion Polls

A poll given to a small sample size of the public in effort to see/predict public attitudes on issues or election results.

Closed Primary

A primary election limited to registered members of a political party.

Open Primary

A primary election that is not limited to registered members of a specific party.

Focus Group

A small/diverse group of people that get together for an in-depth group discussion. The groups reaction to an idea or candidate help gauge how the broader public will react.

Interest groups examples

AFL-CIO an economic interest group that works to improve the lives of working people, Christian Coalition- religious interest group, Families USA seek affordable health-care, AARP fight for issues affecting the elderly.

Electorate

All of the people entitled to vote in a given election

What is the political parties role in party platfroms?

Allow each party to state what they believe in and what issues they want to focus on which can influence the members of the party and politicians of the party.

supply-side economics

An economic policy that encourages tax cuts a deregulation in order to promote economic growth.

Popular Election (general election)

An election that decides which candidate will fill an elective office. Opposing parties against each other.

critical election

An election that leads to a major party realignment. After a critical election, a number of key supporters of one party switch to another party.

Midterm election

An election that takes place in the middle of a presidential term, less voter turnout.

Keynesian Economics

An independent federal agency that determines U.S. monetary policy with the goal of stabilizing the banking system and promoting economic growth.

Single Issue Group

An interest group devoted to one specific issue rather than a larger category of interest (ex: NRA focusing on opposing gun regulations or the National Right to Life focusing on getting rid of abortions).

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

Banned soft money and reduced attack ads

States' Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrats)

This party opposed racial integration and wanted to retain jim crow laws and white supremacy.

monetary policy

Gov't decision about how to influence the economy using control of the money supply and interest rates.

Rule of Law

Gov't is based on a body of law applied equally and fairly to every citizen, no one is above the law.

Linkage Institutes

Groups in society that connect people to the gov't and facilitate turning the people's concerns into political issues on the gov't policy agenda.

Ideological/Social movements (interest group)

Groups that work to bring about change in society such as the civil rights movement (ex: The NAACP or LULAC)

Identification of Respondents

Identifying and making sure the respondents the pollster is surveying are credible people.

How does party Identification influence voter choice?

If someone always affiliated themselves with a specific party then they will most likely keep voting for that party's candidates.

Rising campaign costs

Increased campaign costs helps a candidate be seen and advertised more, but it can have its setbacks as the wealthy would be the ones who have more of a voice than those who can not donate money to campaigns.

Super PACs

Independent expenditure-only PACs are known as Super PACs because they may accept donations of any size and can endorse candidates. Their contributions and expenditures must be periodically reported to the FEC.

"horse race" journalism

Journalism that focuses on who is winning or ahead in the polls rather than on candidates policies or agenda.

How does candidate characteristics influence voter choice?

Looking at a candidates strengths and weaknesses, background, and experiences to determine which is the better candidate to vote for.

26th Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

Duration of election cycles

Most candidates take 9-10 months or even two years trying to get their name out there, this ends up costing them a lot of money.

Mass Survey

Most common type of survey; a way to measure public opinion by interviewing a large sample of the population.

Two states that do not have winner-take-all?

Nebraska and Maine

How does Ideological Orientation influence voter choice?

One's basic beliefs over certain political, economical, or social affairs (say BLM) that makes one vote for the candidate who supports/protects those beliefs.

PAC

Political Action Committee - group collecting money and giving it to favorable candidates. They have limitations on how much they can donate.

hard money

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

Professional consultants

Professional consultants make campaign strategies, conduct polls, and advertise which helps a candidate be seen more.

What is the political parties role in campaign management?

Professional political operatives who help the candidate recruitments win.

Green Party

Promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism, non-violence, social justice, anti-racism, LGBTQ rights, etc. Howie Hawkins was a pretty well known green party candidate in this current election.

Limited Government

Restrictions placed on the gov't to protect individual rights and liberties.

Citizens United v. FEC

Ruled that political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the first amendment.

Lobbying

Seeking to influence a public official on an issue. An interest group with a specific agenda may be known as its "lobby"- such as the tobacco lobby.

Professional Organization (interest group)

Seeks to further a particular profession, the interest group of ppl in that profession, and the public interest (ex: American Bar association (ABA)- association for lawyers).

Reliance on social media for campaign communication

Social media can help cater a message to specific groups and can amplify a politicians message more, which will help the candidate be seen more and allow people to donate more to their campaign if they like what they see on social media about said politician.

Party-Line Voting

Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices at the same level of government.

ideologically oriented programming

TV and Radio news programs that cater to audiences with a particular ideological perspective (ex: fox news catering to republicans).

Increased media choices

Technology has evolved giving us new forms to communicate with one another through the media. Went from newspapers to radio to tv to twitter.

American Party (Know-Nothings)

The aim of this party was to combat foreign influences and uphold/promote traditional American ways. They supported labor rights and opposed slavery, but were very xenophobic.

Equality of Opportunity

The belief that each person should have the same opportunities to advance in society.

Type/format of questions

The format of questions for a poll should have proper phrasing. Biased question wording will automatically make the poll not credible.

Interest Group Potential Problems

1) Lack of resources for smaller/lesser known groups results in some interest groups being more powerful. 2) Free-rider problem where individuals benefit from interest groups without directly supporting them.

Interest Groups Benefits

1) creates competition so that not all power rest with elites 2) Engage in lobbying to apply pressure to gov't officials 3) can represent very broad issues 4) prevents the dominance of factions

Political Efficacy

A citizens belief that their vote matters and can influence gov't policies.

Protest Movements (interest group)

A group that brings attention to a social problem through public demonstrations or other direct action (ex: NOW or ACLU (American civil liberties union- fights for preserving individuals rights).

Iron Triangle/Issue Network

A longstanding, mutually beneficial relationship b/ween an interest group, congressional committee, and bureaucratic agency devoted to similar issues.

realignment

A major change in the composition of party coalitions, often brought on by a new or pressing issue.

Caucus

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

Party Convention

A meeting of party delegates from one political party to vote on policy and select party candidates.

How does demographic characteristics influence voter choice?

A minority group will tend to vote for the candidate who keeps them in mind and has an agenda to protect/support women's rights, LGBTQ rights, or racial rights.

marketplace

A place where buyers and sellers can meet to facilitate the exchange or transaction of goods and services.

soft money

Campaign contributions unregulated by federal or state law, usually given to parties and party committees to help fund general party activities. Money spent in support of a candidate without directly donating to their campaign, such as paying for ads or campaign events.

Political Commentary

Criticism/opinions that is specific of or relevant to politics including policies, politicians, political parties, etc...

1860 party realignment

Democratic party split into northern democrats (anti-slavery), who eventually formed the republican party, and southern democrats (pro-slavery) formed the southern democratic party.

Retrospective Voting

Determining whether a party/candidate in power should be re-elected based on the past.

How the # of each states electoral votes is determined

Each state gets 2 votes (for its two senators) and then one more vote for each member it has in the house of reps.

17th Amendment

Established the popular election of senators. Established 2 senators per state.

15th amendment

Extended suffrage to African Americans. Can not deny voting rights based on race/color.

19th Amendment (1920)

Extended suffrage to white women. One can not deny voting rights based on sex.

Entrance and Exit Polls

Giving voters, as they enter/exit their polling locations, survey questions. This helps the media/news outlets predict election results, before ballots have been counted.

What is the political parties role in mobilization and voter education?

Going to people who are already members of their party and educating them on the big issues at stake and what they believe is best to handle those issues.

Fiscal Policy

Gov't decision about how to influence the economy by taxing and spending.

What is the political parties role in candidate recruitment?

The party's need to field candidates that represents the party's agenda well and is capable of winning.

Sampling Error

The predicted difference between the average opinion expressed by survey respondents and the average opinion in the population, sometimes called the margin of error. Increasing the number of respondents lowers the sampling error.

Political Socialization

The process by which a person develops personal values/beliefs through interactions with family, friends, religion, school, and the media.

Sampling Techniques

The process by which pollsters select respondents to a survey or the sample population for a poll.

Free Enterprise

The right to compete freely in a market gov't by supply and demand with limited gov't involvement.

Incumbency advantage phenomenon

The tendency of incumbents (those already holding office) to win re-election; incumbents have advantages in media exposure, staff, and fundraising.

Benchmark/Tracking polls

These are polls ran by a campaign when the race for office begins. They provide the campaign with a strong basis of comparison for later polls. This way candidates can see their chances of winning.

How does contemporary political issues influence voter choice?

These involve things such as abortions, same-sex marriage, and immigration. So someone who is pro-choice might lean towards the candidate who supports that.

Populist Party

They called for a graduated income tax, direct election of senators, and a shorter work week. They supported the idea of more empowerment for small farmers/laborers. James B Weaver and William J Bryan were popular candidates.

Socialist Party

They opposed all forms of oppression- mainly capitalism and authoritarian communism. They also advocated for a "radical democracy" in which the people control their own lives.

Libertarian Party

They seek a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and are not forced to sacrifice their values for the benefit of others. They support minimum government control.

Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party)

They wanted to address problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption. They supported women's suffrage and an eight hour workday. I believe a famous candidate was Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Free-soilers

They were against the expansion of slavery and had the slogan "free soil, free speech, and free men." Martin Van Buren was a free-soiler presidential candidate.

1896 Realignment

Took place during the panic of 1893 and was known as a political realignment b/c it ended the old third party system and began the fourth party system.

Prospective Voting

Voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future.

Rational-Choice Voting

Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen's individual interest

Reform Party

Want to maintain a balanced budget and paying down the federal debt. They support fair taxation policies and fiscal responsibility/accountability.

Regional realignment

When a certain region that is known to vote a specific party switches to another party (ex: south voting democrat).

free rider problem

When an individual can receive a public benefit without making a personal contribution of money or effort.

issue ads

ads that focus on issues and do not explicitly encourage citizens to vote for a certain candidate.

winner-take-all system

an election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins. This can be bad for third parties since a huge majority of people in the U.S. affiliate themselves with the two party system (demo and rep).

24th Amendment

declared poll taxes void in federal elections

linkage institutions list

elections: people allowed to vote gov't officials in or out of office if they like or dislike what they're doing. media: allows peoples views to be heard and amplified interest groups: can lobby the gov't and try to influence elections. political parties: have the party platforms that allow them to express what they believe in, which then common citizens get affiliated with the party they best believe fits their own beliefs.

Election Coverage

similar to horse race journalism, election coverage focuses on which candidate is ahead rather than on national issues.

demographics

statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it (age, race, and education).

investigative journalism

the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders (conducted over a long period of time).