Test Review Unit 3: Political Parties, Interest Groups, Mass Media

What is a caucus?

A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement in which they select candidates for election or promote a policy. The main purpose is to meet as members of the same group to choose a candidate to represent them.

What are the various types of elections?

A country's electoral system is the method used to calculate the number of elected positions in government that individuals and parties are awarded after elections. Plurality systems (or "winner takes all") simply award a seat to the individual candidate who receives the most votes in an election. Majority electoral systems ("second ballet") attempt to provide for a greater degree of representativeness by requiring that candidates achieve a majority of votes in order to win. Proportional representation is the general name for a class of voting systems that attempt to make the percentage of offices awarded to candidates reflect as closely as possible the percentage of votes that they received in the election.

What is Party realignment?

A party realignment in the United States is when the balance of power between a country's political parties changes greatly. Their electoral coalitions (the groups of people who vote for them) change dramatically. Sometimes, this happens when political parties die out or are created.

What is the difference between pledged delegates and super delegates(D) and unpledged delegates (R ) ?

A pledged delegates is elected on the state or local level to support a particular candidate at the convention. Super delegates (D) is a term used for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention (the presidential nomination convention of the United States Democratic Party) Unpledged delegates (R ) refers to the unpledged status of a delegates ballot, the ballot being selected or elected by the state party of each party to attend the national convention of that party.

What is gerrymandering?

A practice intended to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries. The term has negative connotations.

direct primary

A preliminary election in which a party's candidates for public office are nominated by direct vote of the people.

What is a critical election?

A realigning election (often called a critical election or political realignment) is a term from political science and political history describing a dramatic change in the political system. Scholars frequently apply the term to American elections and occasionally to other countries.

Federal Election Commission (federal government body that regulates campaign finance)

A six-member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. The federal Election Commission administers and enforces campaign finance laws. They also oversee funding during elections.

How has the media altered the campaign process?

Although commercials are expensive (thus you need money to advertise), other social media through desktop, phones, ipads are being impacted through other ways to interact and influence voters: News you can choose, Share this, Like it, Connect with others, and Donate Now.

What influences states decisions on when they hold primaries?

Control or more perceived control/importance over the primary. States have to use their own tax to hold the primaries. Many states hold it on "Super Tuesday" - as those States become more important in the election versus States that hold it later.

Factors that influence voter turnout

Electoral (Candidate) Competitiveness, Election Type, Voting Laws, Demographics (age, race, gender, socioeconomic, education level)

What does front loading in primaries mean?

Frontloading is a decision to move a primary date to the beginning ("front") of the presidential nomination season. State party leaders have moved their primary dates to the front so that their partisans may have more influence in the selection process (e.g, Iowa).

hard money

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

How does horse-race and yellow journalism impact the election process?

Horse-race journalism is election coverage by the mass media that focuses on which candidate is ahead rather than on national issues. Yellow journalism is journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers.

If no candidate receives the majority in a presidential election who then elects the president?

If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most Electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote.

What are advantages of incumbency?

Members of congress receive many perks that can be used to cultivate their constituencies--have an ability to appeal to voters who wouldn't typically vote for your party, expand your base beyond your party. o Travel, district offices, staff, franking privilege o Committee assignments can help members to cultivate their state or district--placement is really important, dictates the legislation they can impac o Party leaders and organizations help members win reelection • Committee assignments, campaign funds, Tolerate votes against party on issues critical to the constituency although that has become less true as parties have become more polarized

political action committee (PAC)

Officially recognized fund-raising organizations that represent interest groups and are allowed by federal law to make contributions directly to candidates' campaigns

What is the difference between an Open primary and closed primary?

Open primary: anyone can vote for any candidate in either party regardless of whether they are registered democrat or republican Closed primary: you can only vote for someone in your registered party

What role do PACs play in the campaign process?

Organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates. Most PACs represent business, labor or ideological interests.

Who do PACs typically give money to?

PACs can give $5,000 to a candidate committee per election (primary, general or special). They can also give up to $15,000 annually to any national party committee, and $5,000 annually to any other PAC. PACs may receive up to $5,000 from any one individual, PAC or party committee per calendar year.

Super Pacs

Super PACs arose after the 2010 Supreme Court decisions in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Committee, which said that corporations could donate to political candidates because of free speech, and Speechnow.org vs. Federal Election Committee, which states that individuals cannot be limited in how much they donate to corporations because of free speech. Officially known as "independent-expenditure only committees," which can raise unlimited sums from corporations, unions and other groups, as well as individuals, may not coordinate its activities with campaigns or candidates, have to tell where they got their money

What is the electoral college system?

The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The founding fathers established it in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state's entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators.

political efficacy

The belief that one's political participation really matters - that one's vote can actually make a difference

What is equal-time rule?

The equal-time rule specifies that U.S. radio and television broadcast stations must provide an equivalent opportunity to any opposing political candidates who request it. ... Since 1983, political debates not hosted by the media station are considered "news events," and as a result, are not subject to the rule.

What are the roles of media? Does the media influence public opinion?

The media has immense power within the American democracy because just about all Americans get their news from the media rather than from other people or other sources. Media coverage shapes how Americans perceive the world and what they consider to be important. Voters and politicians alike must pay attention to the media. In the American political system, the media perform a number of functions important to the democratic process. The media reports the news, serves as an intermediary between the government and the people, helps determine which issues should be discussed, and keeps people actively involved in society and politics. Some say there is media bias; and there are different types of journalism which influence the voter; but there are various views that anyone can research/educate them on if they choose to do so (versus being limited). This supports a democratic society of free speech and opportunity to view/learn about different opinions/facts/etc.

Federal Campaign Reform Law of 1974

United States federal law which increased disclosure of contributions for federal campaigns. It was amended in 1974 to place legal limits on the campaign contributions. The amendment also created the Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Is there a lack of limits on independent expenditures (for example from Super PACs)?

Yes

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

a case that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, candidates can give unlimited amounts of money to their own campaigns; It reshaped campaign finance laws entirely the court ruled there could be no restrictions on contributions from individuals and groups as long as they were independent of any official election campaigns. This gave rise to PACs.

McCain-Feingold Law of 2002

aka Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002, banned unregulated "soft-money" donations to political parties, restricted the use of political ads, and increases political contribution limits for private individuals. Supporters heralded its passage as a major victory in lessening the influence of big money on politics.

mid term elections

an election that take place in the middle of a presidential term

What ways does the federal government regulate campaigns?

establish finance laws, voting decisions in elections

soft money

general funds obtainded by political parties that are spent on party activities, such as get-out-the-vote drives, but not on behalf of a specific candidate

Electoral College

group of persons chosen in each state and the district of columbia every four years who make a formal selection of the president and vice president

527 organizations

organizations that, under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, raise and spend money to advance political causes, tax exempt

What are the positive and negative effects of PACs?

positive- raise public awareness, increase representation, frame public agenda, and monitor programs; 1. PAC contributions make up majority of a campaign's total fund 2. PAC contributions can be effectively used to punish legislators and affect policy 3. PAC contributions allow candidates to bear the incredible cost of television time and all other types of media coverage. negative- can increase the cost of public policies; can contribute to negative campaigning (can run negative ads on the opponent that do not come directly from the candidate); PACs can be seen as tarnishing the democratic process because while they can give representation and a voice to organizations like labor unions, they can also allow fund-saturated groups like the NRA or Koch Industries to contribute massive amounts of money to a candidate.

independent expenditures

spending by political action committees, corporations, or labor unions that is done to help a party or candidate but is done independently of them, spend money on behalf of the candidate