Chapter 4 Lesson #20

Office Block Ballot

A ballot on which the candidates are listed alphabetically, with or without their party designations, in columns under the office for which they were nominated.

Media Markets

A broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content. Such markets are normally associated with major urban areas; California has 13 such markets.

Ballot Initiative

A means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can bring about a public vote on a proposed statute or constitutional amendment. Ballot initiatives are also called, depending on the state, popular initiative, voter initiative, citizen initiative or, simply, initiative. Twenty-four states allow ballot initiatives, which are a form of direct democracy.

Closed Primary System

A type of primary election in which a voter must affiliate formally with a political party in advance of the election date in order to participate in that party's primary.

Modified Closed Primary System

Adopted by California in 2002, a primary system in which political parties still have their own ballots but now have the option of adopting a party rule that would allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their party primary.

Winner-Take-All System

An electoral system in which a single political party or group can elect every office within a given district or jurisdiction. This system is contrasted with proportional representation, in which more than one political party or group can elect offices in proportion to their voting power.

Open Primary System

Any primary election in which a voter either does not have to formally affiliate with a political party in order to vote in its primary or can declare his or her affiliation with a party at the polls on the day of the primary even if the voter was previously affiliated with a different party.

Vote-By-Mail Ballots

Ballots that voters can mail into their county election officials.

Political Consultants

Election consultants who act as public relations specialists, salespeople and managers; by using many forms of marketing-suitable media, including advertising and press releases, their goal is to make voters aware of their candidates' party platform.

Primary Elections

Elections by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election.

Motor Voter

In 1993 and which went into effect in 1995, Congress enacted the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the "NVRA" and the "Motor Voter Act" to enhance voting opportunities for Americans by making it easier to register t vote and to maintain registration by providing uniform registration services through driver's license registration centers, disability centers, schools, libraries and mail-in registration.

Blanket Primary System

In this type of primary, voters choose one candidate per office regardless of the candidate's party affiliation. The top vote-getters from each party participating in the primary then advance to the general election. In a traditional primary, a voter can only vote for the candidates of one political party.

Weak Political Parties

Parties with weak popular support and which are only minimally involved in organizing and conducting the campaigns of candidates running for office.

Media-Dominated Campaigns

Political campaigns focused on spending enormous amounts of money producing political ads, and buying the broadcast time to air them.

Campaign-Finance Reform

Refers to attempts to regulate the ways in which political campaigns are funded. This includes all spending done to promote or support the promotion of candidates, ballot measures, political parties and more. Regulations can be applied to natural persons, corporations, political action committees, political parties and other organizations. They can come in the form of incentives, such as providing public financing to candidates who abide by spending limits, as well as restrictions, such as contribution limits on donors. Legislative efforts, judicial rulings and citizen initiatives have all played roles in shaping the regulation of political contributions.

Political Party Affiliation

The party that citizens choose to identify with when registering to vote.

Political Culture

The set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments, which give order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying assumptions and rules that govern behavior in the political system.

No Party Preference (NPP)

Voters who registered to vote without stating a political party preference.

5. Which of the following is not true about Proposition 34, which deals with campaign finance? a) The League of Women Voters and Common Cause supported Proposition 34. b) Proposition 34 increased allowable individual contributions to candidates to $21,200. c) Proposition 34 has resulted in less control of campaign financing. d) Proposition 34 replaced the stricter campaign-finance law enacted through Proposition 208.

a) The League of Women Voters and Common Cause supported Proposition 34.

1. In the 2016 general election, 18- to 29-year-olds voted at a lower rate than they did in 2012. a) true b) false

a) true

4. Special-interest groups often use the initiative process to achieve their policy objectives. a) true b) false

a) true

7. Democrats are the plurality party in California. a) true b) false

a) true

9. Most of the Democratic counties encompass major urban areas, whereas most of the Republican counties are more rural in nature. a) true b) false

a) true

General Election

an election in which candidates are elected to offices. This is in contrast to a primary election, which is used either to narrow the field of candidates for a given elective office or to determine the nominees for political parties in advance of a general election. Such elections occur at local, state, and federal levels, and typically occur at regular intervals. In some cases, such elections may occur at irregular times, such as to elect a replacement for a seat vacated due to death, resignation, or removal from office.

10. California presently operates under which of the following primary election systems? a) open primary b) blanket primary c) modified closed primary d) fully closed primary

b) blanket primary

2. In running for the state legislature, incumbents and challengers spend nearly the same amount of money on their political campaigns. a) true b) false

b) false

8. The number of voters who decline to state a party affiliation at the time they register is declining. a) true b) false

b) false

6. Of California's 39 million people, approximately how many are registered to vote? a) 30 million b) 25 million c) 5 million d) 20 million

d) 20 million

3. Political campaigns are so expensive in California because a) campaigns need to hire political consultants. b) campaigns need to spend a substantial amount of money on media advertising. c) political parties are not very involved in the planning and running of campaigns. d) all of the above

d) all of the above