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