poll tax

voting rights act

aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment Lyndon B Johnson

political socialization

aspects of life that influence your political views

soft money

campaign contributions not regulated by federal law EX: contributions made to political parties not directly to candidates

unitary system

central government has all the power and delegates power to the states ex: education, police, welfare, funding

who votes?

educated, older. wealthy, able, mobilized

margin of error

every sample must account for the margin of error that could develop from question bias, response bias, error in sample group... usually a +/_ percentage

caucus

a meeting at which local members of a political party register their preference among candidates running for office or select delegates to attend a convention **not actual governmental voting**

Representative sample

a sample that was chosen specifically to be representative of a specific population sig: we can make generalizations

poll tax

fixed amount thats charged in order to register to vote sig: whites used this to prevent lower class/black citizens from participating in elections

framing effect

framing a polling question in order to get a certain response. creating a bias and skewing data

incumbency advantage

getting re-elected because people like the familiarity and are used to you. incumbents have money for next elections to intimidate opponents sig: advances LAW TURNOVER

categorical grants

grants given to the state government by the federal government used to finance specific policies DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT

block grants

grants that are given to the state governments by the federal government. they finance an array of policies REPUBLICANS SUPPORT

plurality

have the most out of the candidates, dont need majority just more than your opponents

unit rule

"winner takes all" if you get the majority of electoral votes from a state you get ALL the votes sig: how our president is decided would change with out it

PROs to Federalism

-The US is really BIG -we can experiment with diff laws -enables greater participation -allows for there to be regional, cultural differences

CONs to Federalism

-slower and harder to make decisons -conflict because each state is different -state laws can conflict with federal gov -lack of uniformity -more political domination at lower levels

dual federalism

1790s-1930s no overlap, clearly defined powers of state and federal governments

cooperative federalism

1930s-1950s overlap, shared powers, state and national government works together

r=p(b)-c

Reward, Probability, Benefit, Cost basically says you have little to no benefit to voting

why is voter turn out low?

legal reasons: registration requirement, not required, on Tuesday, more elections in US Political Reasons: only 2 major parties, there are many other ways to participate in US government

majority

over 50% needed in congress to be elected

concurrent powers

shared powers between Federal and State government ex; ability to tax sig: allows sub-national powers to function, helps with checks and balances

confederal system

states have control over the central government

House Effects

systematic tendencies for polling firms to favor either the Democratic or Republican candidate.

literary digest fiasco

the magazine published poling results that strongly suggest Landon winning the presidency and as a result FDR won by a landslide.

heuristic

the mental short-cut I respect someone, I hear their opinion on an issue, I agree with them (without fully informing myself)

primaries

vote on a ballot a preliminary election to appoint delegates to a party conference or to select the candidates for a principal, especially presidential, election.

political participation

voting, protests, donating

special election

when there is a vacancy in office, depending on the position, local/state government choose to have a special election sig: we always have someone representing us

closed primary

you can only vote for the party you are registered for

open primary

you can vote for what ever party you choose sig: i impacts how presidents campaign and how how voters vote