AP Government & Politics Unit III

Lobbyist Gift Ban

Definition: Lobbyists may not give money, dinner, or other items of value to members of Congress Extension: Without the lobbyist gift ban, lobbyists would be able to shower congressmen with gifts that would increase the pressure on the congressman's shoulders to do the lobbyist a solid when the time came for it; further preventive method against corruption.

Earmark

Definition: a congressional directive written into a bill or committee notes that funds should be spent on a specific project in a specific state Extension: A synonym for earmarks is pork-barrel spending. An example was how in class we discussed how the current senator earmarked the creation of the youth resources building that was constructed right by Westminster High School.

Divided Government

Definition: a government in which one party controls the presidency while another party controls at least one house in congress; has been the trend since the early 1970s Extension: Currently, we have a democratic president (Obama) and a republican dominated congress. This often leads in stalemates where legislation has a hard time gaining the approval of both opposing political parties.

Caucus

Definition: a meeting of party members to discuss and choose their party's candidate for a general election Extension: Imagine candidates for a party standing four corners of the room, and everyone in attendance goes to a corner in support of that candidate. The corner with the lowest number of people eliminates the corresponding candidate and those remaining in their corner move onto someone else until only one candidate remains.

Lobbyist

Definition: a paid professional who tries to influence government officials on behalf of a corporation or other interest group Extension: It is essential that lobbyists provide members of congress accurate information to keep the relationship in good spirits to have a chance at getting congress to pass legislature favoring the interest group the lobbyist represents. Other important factors include political cues and ratings.

Split Ticket Voting (Ticket Splitting)

Definition: a person selecting candidates from both political parties, not just one; a cause of divided government. Extension: Allowing the people to choose freely among the candidates of different political parties increases the chances of a big mix of party affiliation in those elected into office. This mix or diversity causes divided government since those with opposing opinions argue about who is right and who is wrong.

Amicus Curiae Brief

Definition: a recommendation about how the supreme court should rule on a case; filed by an interest group, president, state government, or anyone who takes an interest in the case Extension: Amicus Curiae Briefs relates to litigation, the process of taking legal action in the courts, since it is in their nature to be filed in order to challenge existing practices and put pressure on the courts to acknowledge their viewpoint and their arguments.

Linkage Institution

Definition: a structure within a society that connects the people to the government Extension: Examples of Linkage Institutions include political parties, elections, interest groups, and the mass media.

Trial Balloon

Definition: a tentative statement made by the president or white house staff to see how a new policy will be revealed Extension: Often times it will appear as a leaked story to the public, and depending on the reaction of the citizens the president or white house staff will either carry through with the policy or pretend that it was just a bad rumor and that they would never enact such a thing.

Media Conglomerate

Definition: a trend that the newspapers, TV and radio stations, and other media outlets are increasingly owned by just a few companies Extension: The example that was given in class was how even though it might sound odd, the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, and Carroll County Times all fall under the same ownership.

Independent Commission

Definition: alternative method of redrawing the lines of congressional districts in a non-partisan way in order to eliminate gerrymandering Extension: For example, independent commission would even out the playing field by putting a roughly equal amount of republicans and democrats per district while also taking into consideration population and evening that out among the districts.

Independent Expenditures

Definition: amount of money spent by outside groups (non-candidates) to influence an election Extension: I'm not exactly sure, but I think independent expenditures would apply to Super PACs since they are, for example, allowed to pay for TV commercials to help influence the election as long as they have absolutely no coordination with the candidates.

Closed Primary

Definition: an election to choose a political party's candidate for the general election; only party members may vote Extension: For example, only republican party members may vote in the republican primary. The same goes for the democratic primaries.

Open Primary

Definition: an election to choose a political party's candidate for the general elections; any registered voter may vote Extension: For example, when Obama was on the ballad for the primary election, states that held open primaries would allow registered republicans to vote for him despite the fact that Obama was/is a democrat.

Critical Election/Party Realignment

Definition: an election when significant groups of voters change their traditional patterns of party loyalty; the majority party is displaced by the minority party, thus ushering in a new party era for decades Extension: With the onslaught of the Great Depression, the liberal FDR established the New Deal Coalition in order to give the government a more active role in helping out poor and depraved citizens. Many people switched their loyalty to the democratic party who were interested in helping the people out of hardship.

Political Action Committee (PAC)

Definition: an organization formed by business, labor or other interest groups to raise money and make contributions (up to $5000) to the campaigns of political candidates whom they support Extension: Examples of well-known Political Action Committees are the National Association of Realtors, the National Auto Dealers Association, and the American Bankers Association.

Political Party

Definition: an organization of people that seek to win elections and control the government Extension: Examples of political parties include the republican, democratic, even whig political parties.

Interest Groups

Definition: an organization of people whose members have views on specific issues and attempt to influence public policy to their benefit; unlike political parties, they do not elect people to office Extension: Examples of prominent interest groups include the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Minor Party (Third Party)

Definition: any political party other than Democratic or Republican; they can make a difference but rarely win elections Extension: Examples of third parties include the libertarian, green, and socialist parties.

Civil Disobedience

Definition: breaking an unjust law (and willingly accepting the consequences) in order to call attention to a cause Extension: Because I just watched the movie I have to reference Mockingjay (third movie to the Hunger Games) with the scene where some of the oppressed people from the districts march to the water dam which supplied hydro power to the capitol and use explosives to take it out. Their sacrifice allowed district thirteen to go on the offensive against the capitol.

Soft Money

Definition: campaign contributions to political parties (not candidates); used to circumvent contribution limits to candidates Extension: The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Law) banned soft money, and was taken to the supreme court since it was questioned that it violated Citizen's United first amendment right to play ads for their Hillary Clinton movie prior to an election. The court, along with several other decisions regarding the law, decided to uphold the ban on soft money.

Campaign Disclosure Rules

Definition: candidates must publicly announce who is contributing to their campaign, and how much; keeps them honest Extension: Going hand in hand with the part about campaign disclosure rules keeping candidates honest, it also helps prevent corruption once they are in office, taking contributions under the table without publicizing it and then giving the contributor special treatment.

Incumbent Advantage

Definition: candidates running for reelection have a distinct advantage over other challengers Extension: I believe the book also referred to this as the sophomore advantage, those who were previously in office have an upper hand when running for reelection against outside challengers. It can be explained through some "perks" of the job like having money to hire personal staff, ability to send mail without paying for the postage, opportunity to have paid for travel back to districts to make appearances, etc.

Bundling

Definition: combining campaign contributions from many individuals who have similar interests; used to maximize the impact of the donation Extension: The impact is maximized because instead of the organization donating an unnoticeable two thousand some dollars, each member can write a personal check for the $2,000 and combine them into one envelope, increasing their chances that their donation is noticed and works in their favor when certain legislature pops up.

Malapportionment

Definition: creating congressional districts that are unequal in population; it is unconstitutional Extension: Malapportionment tarnishes the american principle of "one person, one vote" because of congressional districts with higher populations than others have a decreased value in their vote. The ratio of one person compared to everyone else in the area is too large.

Superdelegate

Definition: democratic party elder who casts a vote at the national convention, but not from any particular state; for the purpose of avoiding close nominating conventions Extension: To expand on the definition, superdelegates mainly exist to offer the tiebreaker if it comes down to it during the national convention.

Proportional Representation

Definition: each political party receives seats in the legislature based on the percentage of the vote they got in the election; does not exist in the USA; results in a multi-party system Extension: The opposite of the proportional representation that causes the multi-party system is the single-member district electoral system that causes the two-party system. Instead of a plurality vote, the proportional representation allows third parties to have a small portion of representation right up there along with the republicans and democrats.

Single-Member District Electoral System

Definition: each state is divided into congressional districts, and one representative is chosen from each district by plurality vote; cause of the two-party system in the USA Extension: The single-member district electoral system causes the two-party system that exists in the USA because it makes it virtually impossible for third parties to gain a representative since the republicans and democrats out populate the third party members, dominating the plurality vote.

General Election

Definition: final stage of the election process where all voters choose between the candidates of all political parties Extension: For example, the last general election for the presidency was in 2012 when Barack Obama was reelected for his second term.

Investigative Journalism

Definition: form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate political corruption, crimes, etc. Extension: A prime example of investigative reporting was the coverage on the alleged affair Bill Clinton was having within the White House. Reporters really had to dig in order to get the story that they could release as a big time scandal.

Direct Primaries

Definition: general term for an election to choose a political party's candidate for the general election Extension: For example, the first primary of the election year is in New Hampshire which follows the Iowa caucus.

Patronage

Definition: government officials (or a party boss) awarding government jobs in exchange for political support in the form of votes, campaigning, contributions, etc. Extension: This was common when America was booming with immigrants; party bosses would sweep them off the boats and offer food, shelter, and even job opportunities in exchange for their loyalty when it came to election time.

Merit System

Definition: hiring people for government jobs on the basis of their skill, talent, education, job experience, etc. (also known ad the Civil Service System); began with the Pendleton Act (1883) Extension: The opposite of the merit system was the spoils system first used by Andrew Jackson who fired many government jobs in order to fill the positions with his own supporters as a reward for their loyalty. "To the victor belongs the spoils."

Grassroots Lobbying (Grassroots Mobilization)

Definition: interest group's method of informing their members so that they call or write to members of congress in significant numbers; puts pressure on congress because they want to be reelected by voters Extension: Imagining the roots as the people making the phone calls to the members of congress aka bringing the nutrients out of the soil and to the tips of the blades of grass, and congress often follows what the people want because they want to get reelected; just like how the tips of the grass will die if it's roots are ripped out from underneath them.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Law)

Definition: law that banned soft money Extension: Was challenged by the supreme court case Citizen's United v. FEC. which resulted in keeping the ban on soft money, once and for all closing one of the loopholes wealthy contributors found in order to give lots of money to candidates they strongly supported and wanted to get on good terms with to be able to expect political favors.

Travel Ban

Definition: lobbyists may not pay for the travel expenses of lawmakers (too much like bribery) Extension: Just like the gift ban, providing luxury travel to congressman would result in the assumption that the congressman would have to do them a favor when it came to the legislation.

Lobbyist Disclosure Requirement

Definition: lobbyists must register themselves and publicly announce the issues they are working on, who they are meeting with and how much money they are spending; meant to keep them honest Extension: The Lobbyist Disclosure Requirement allows both officials and the public to monitor their activities in order to ensure that they aren't overstepping their boundaries and trying to pull a member of congress's strings like a puppeteer.

Party Dealignment

Definition: long period of time (decades) where Americans abandon their previous partisan loyalties without taking on an allegiance to a new party; often results in divided government Extension: The consequences of Party Dealignments include split-ticket voting and lower voter turnout. Breaking ties with a party affiliation makes straight-ticket voting less attractive, and as new independents, who have to put forth more energy since they can't fall back on party cues to make their decisions, they are less likely to vote.

Wesberry v. Sanders

Definition: malapportionment violates the constitution's implied right of "one person one vote" Extension: Previously, malapportionment could be used to decrease the value of a person's vote if that person resided in a highly populated congressional district in comparison to less populated congressional districts. This court case made it illegal to carry out such a practice.

Individual Contribution Limits

Definition: maximum amount of money that a person may donate to a political candidate Extension: Intended to decrease governmental corruption since candidates won't have such a strong compelling urge to vote in favor of those who contributed money to their campaigns.

New Media

Definition: means of mass communication using digital technologies such as the internet Extension: New media really highlights the social media movement like twitter, facebook, instagram, tumblr, etc.

Campaign Contribution

Definition: money given to a political candidate from individuals or a PAC Extension: Campaign Contributions have gradually been more strictly regulated to decrease governmental corruption like the McCain-Feingold Law and the Federal Elections Campaign Act.

Revolving Door

Definition: movement of personnel (and cozy relationship) between the legislative branch (and staff), the executive branch (and staff), the regulatory agencies, the industries that they regulate, and the interest groups that they are affiliated with Extension: The example we discussed in class was someone who works on a candidate's staff doing entry level work for several years and accumulating knowledge and sources that interest groups want badly and are willing to pay big money for. But once someone gets elected into a higher position and invite them to work for them in the bureaucracy, the lobbyist will take the slight pay cut to rise to the occasion of helping their associate make the big decisions.

SuperPAC

Definition: organization created in the aftermath of Citizens United v. FEC for the purpose of spending unlimited amounts of money to influence an election (may not contribute to or coordinate with candidates) Extension: For example, superPACs may spend an unlimited amount of money on their own television commercials supporting or even denouncing candidates as long as they have absolutely no coordination with the candidates with regard to the commercials.

Labor Union

Definition: organization of workers for better pay, etc.; dominant force in the Democratic Party Extension: Examples of current Labor Unions include The American Federation for Teachers, The United Steelworkers, and The International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Candidate-Centered Campaigns

Definition: recent trend where candidates for office must build a personal following through the use of advertising rather than relying on the endorsement and support of their political party Extension: Mainly, personal following and advertising is needed to rally enough attention to receive sufficient endorsement and support from their political parties. Looks more impressive to the political parties when a candidate has already gained a significant personal following.

Gerrymandering

Definition: redrawing the lines of congressional districts in a way that favors one political party over another Extension: Gerrymandering was first used by the Massachusetts state governor Elbridge Gerry who redrew senate election districts in order to favor his reelection.

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

Definition: ruling on the Federal Elections Campaign Act that 1) upheld individual and PAC campaign contribution limits 2) upheld disclosure requirements for candidates 3) upheld system of presidential matching funds and 4) struck down spending limits for candidates on 1st amendment grounds Extension: In the outcome of this case, it is evident that the supreme court carefully balanced the burden put on the citizens with the burden of the state, because the decision favored both the state and citizens. The courts figured there should a limit on individual and PAC campaign contributions (limits the citizens), but abolished spending limits for candidates (favors citizens).

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Definition: the First Amendment's free speech clause protects the rights of corporations, unions, and other interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence the outcome of an election; upheld disclosure requirements and contribution limits by individuals and PACs. Extension: In an attempt to balance the interests of the state and of the people, the court acknowledged the first amendment right for people to spend as much of their own money as they desire while all keeping some of the regulations keeping individuals and PACs honest about how much they are contributing.

Plurality Election

Definition: the candidate with the most votes wins, even if that candidate gets less than half of the votes Extension: The opposite of plurality elections would be majority elections because the latter requires the winner to receive the majority of the votes.

Censorship

Definition: the government's suppression of speech or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient Extension: Censorship was attempted when president Nixon tried to halt the publication of the pentagon papers into the New York Times. However, the supreme court ruled in favor of the freedom of the press. Censorship was unsuccessful.

Agenda Setting

Definition: the media has the power to choose newsworthy stories that get the attention of policy makers Extension: Agenda Setting is closely related to the sensationalism of the news broadcast; images of violence and drugs and sex is what attracts viewers to the station. The media holds so much power when it decides what they want the american people to be informed about and what they want us to be reacting to.

Congressional Distrcit

Definition: the portion of a state that a member of the House of Representatives represents Extension: An example of how congressional districts can be manipulated to favor politicians is gerrymandering, drawing the districts to pack and/or bundle citizens of identical party identification together.

Presidential Media Advantage

Definition: the president has an easier time getting his/her message onto the news because he/she is just one person, rather than 535 members of congress Extension: An example I saw today just after I got home were several soundbites of him addressing I think it was Virginia Tech students and about his plans to ease some of the burden created by student loans. The president didn't have to do anything other then deliver the speech in order to get his face plastered on the news because he without a second thought is considered highly newsworthy.

Congressional Reapportionment

Definition: the process of determining how many representatives each state should receive in the House of Representatives; happens every ten years after the census Extension: Congressional Reapportionment allows the bicameral legislature compromised by the founding fathers to function. It is the determining factor of how the states are represented in congress on the terms of population.

Congressional Redistricting

Definition: the process of drawing new lines for congressional districts within a state in order to accommodate for population changes; happens every ten years after the census Extension: For example, at one point in the nation's history there was an increase of people moving to urban cities. This shift in population would cause the need for congressional redistricting.

Litigation

Definition: the process of taking legal action in the courts, such as law suits Extension: Another example of litigation are amicus curiae briefs, which are recommendations about how the supreme court should rule on a case; they are filed by an interest group, president, state government, or anyone else who takes an interest in the case.

Lobbying

Definition: the process of trying to influence a government official on a particular issue Extension: Another description of lobbying is personal persuasion; lobbyists have to establish a close relationship with their targeted congressman and do a little smooshing and offer up credible information if they expect to get the congressman to lean in their direction as far as legislation goes.

Winner-Take-All Primary

Definition: the winner of a state's presidential primary receives all of that state's delegates to the national convention; has the effect of speeding up the presidential nomination process Extension: So instead of taking a percentage of representatives for both candidates out of the same state, it's all or nothing. You must have the majority over your opponent to receive any representatives from that state.

Majority Election

Definition: the winning candidate must get more than 50% of the vote Extension: The opposite of majority elections would be plurality elections where the candidate wins if they receive the most votes, however the "most" doesn't necessarily mean the majority.

Old Media

Definition: traditional means of mass communication that existed until the advent of the internet Extension: Old media really consisted of two things; the newspaper, which was originally affiliated with political parties until self-supported mass-readership newspapers arose, and radio, which were made very popular thanks to president FDR's fireside chats.

Two Party System

Definition: two major political parties dominate the political system; third parties can exist, but they rarely stand a chance of winning elections Extension: The two major political parties that dominate the United States' political system are the republicans and the democrats; often votes for third parties are viewed as wasteful since it's so unlikely their candidate will win the election.

Horse-Race Journalism

Definition: when reporting on elections, the media focuses more on polling data (who's winning) and the daily operations of each campaign, rather than the beliefs and policy differences of the candidates Extension: The comparison here is that it can get kind of aggressive like sports where you line up all the stats to decide who's pulling ahead instead of analyzing the issues at hand and what positions the candidates take on those issues. It focuses on how they sit with the american people and the approval rating rather then answering the question of what exactly can this candidate do to elicit change or to keep things going at a good steady pace.

Primary Election

Defintion: broad term for an election to choose a party's nominee for the general election Extension: The opposite of the primary election would be the caucus, which is a meeting of party members to discuss and choose their party's candidate for a general election. The primaries are less of a choosing ceremony and more of your average election.