AP Gov Ch 12 IDs

Governing Activities

Directed towards controlling the distribution of political resources by providing executive and legislative leadership, enacting agendas, mobilizing support, and building coalitions. It controls government by organizing and providing leadership for the legislative and/or executive branches, as well as enacting the party's policy agendas. It also provides a way for voters to hold officeholders accountable for failed and successful governing policies.

Political Party

A group of citizens united by ideology and seeking control of government in order to promote their ideas and policies. They are united under a label and recruit, nominate, and elect candidates for office. Parties are crucial to maintaining our democracy as they provide political linkage, unification of a fragmented government, and a voice for the opposition.

Party Platform

A list of policy positions a party endorses and pledges its elected officials to enact. It states the party's policy positions, campaign promises, and ideologies. It's typically only created in a presidential election year.

Realignment

A substantial and long-term shift in party allegiance by individuals and groups, usually resulting in a change in policy direction. When these shifts happen, coalitions change support of groups or parties. They are often caused by major critical events such as the Civil War and the Great Depression, but not always, nor are they immediately apparent.

Dealignment

A trend among voters to identify themselves as independents rather than as members of a major party. These happen when party eras break down and form a new and different party era. For example, the 1824 elections caused a split in the Democratic-Republican party, later to form the Democrats, supported by the Jacksonians and the Republicans, supported by John Quincy Adams.

Critical Election

An election signaling a significant change in popular allegiance from one party to another. This occurs when a majority of people shift their political allegiance. They mark the end of one party era and the start of another.

Party Eras

Extended periods of relative political stability in which one party tends to control both the presidency and Congress. There have been six in the history of the United States, each lasting twenty-five to forty years, with one party tending to maintain a majority of congressional seats and controlling the presidency. They occur after a large change, or realignment.

Nominating Convention

Formal party gathering to choose candidates. It's a political convention held every four years by the political parties who will be nominating candidates for the presidential election. They introduce vice president for the candidate and introduce the party platform.

Partisanship

Loyalty to a political cause or party - having a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, person. Taking these political sides is motivated by possible party gain and/or public interest. It can also be the relationship that keeps politicians honest, allowing the best political ideas and policies to emerge.

Party Machines

Mass-based party systems in which parties provided services and resources to voters in exchange for votes. They organized party systems at the state, city, and county levels that kept control of voters by getting them jobs, helping them out financially when necessary, and by becoming part of their lives and community. The main goal of these systems were to take advantage of the expansion of voting rights to all white men (even those who didn't own property) to elect more Democratic candidates.

Party Bases

Members of a political party who consistently vote for that party's candidates. They are the most loyal to the party, and candidates try to please this group, although sometimes it becomes difficult to please them and the moderate "swing voters". They are pulled between the two groups' ideological preferences.

Party-in-government

Members of the party who have been elected to serve in government. They are all the elected officials: comprised of all the candidate for national, state, and local office who have been elected. They organize the government and carry out the wishes of the people.

Party Primary

Nomination of party candidates by registered party members rather than party bosses. This was a political reform which let the party-in-the-electorate, or the citizens, nominate candidates, rather than the party bosses. These made the election system a lot fairer, and consequently, got rid of party machines.

Political Gridlock

The stalemate that occurs when political rivals, especially parties, refuse to budge from their positions to achieve a compromise in the public interest. Right now, we are at a political gridlock in Congress with neither side compromising to end the government shutdown. This is due to our divided congress - 54% democrats, 46% republicans.

Responsible Party Model

Party government when four conditions are met: clear choice of ideologies, candidates pledged to implement ideas, party held accountable by voters, and party control over members. Each party should present a program, or a party platform, to its voters, have honest candidates, voters should chose candidates that reflect their own ideas and hold parties responsible, and while governing, elected officials are promoting and voting for its programs. Basically, candidates should do what they promised they would, or voters will hold them accountable.

Party Bosses

Party leaders, usually in an urban district, who exercised tight control over electioneering and patronage. They had power over candidates, officeholders, and the campaigns. They would choose the party's candidates for the elections at party caucuses, and candidates seeking elective office would have to win the boss's approval by pledging loyalty and supporting policies that the party boss favored.

Open Primaries

Primary elections in which eligible voters do not need to be registered party members. Voters simply request one party's ballot on the day of the primary or choose which party's primary they wish to participate in after entering the polling booth. There is criticism of this system as it permits members of the other party involved in the nomination process. Because you don't have to pledge your allegiance to the party to vote, these can weaken political parties.

Closed Primaries

Primary elections in which only registered party members may vote. You must declare yourself a member of the party to vote. Then, you choose a candidate from the list of candidates representing your party; they are all from your party.

Patronage

System in which successful party candidates reward supporters with jobs or favors. They rewarded faithful party members with public office, jobs, and government contracts. But, this system wasn't fair as it gave jobs to people who weren't necessarily well-suited for it, and harbored favoritism and corruption.

Party Activists

The "party faithful"; the rank-and-file members who actually carry out the party's electioneering efforts. These people are part of the party base, but are more committed. They volunteer, giving their time and money; they are more ideologically extreme and care strongly about their party's issues. They keep the parties ideologically distinct and are reluctant to compromise. All in all, they put in a lot more effort into getting their voices heard and their ideas elected than most voters do.

Party Discipline

The ability of party leaders to bring party members in the legislature into line with the party program. It's the ability to keep participants voting together in a cohesive way. This was more typical of European parliamentary parties than the US presidential system, with the diversity of opinions amongst the parties.

Party Organization

The official structure that conducts the political business of parties. It represents the system of central committees at the national, state, and local levels. Ex: The Democratic National Committee is at the top of the Democratic Party. Ex: The Republican National Committee heads the Republican Party.

Party-in-electorate

The ordinary citizens who identify with the party. They have a feeling of attachment to one of the political parties. The party base is party of this group, although other citizens are also in this group.

Electioneering

The process of getting a person elected to public office. It involves recruiting and nominating candidates, defining policy agendas, and getting candidates elected. One of their main goals is to help candidates get and save their seats: get elected and stay in office.

Soft Money

Unregulated campaign contributions by individuals, groups, or parties that promote general election activities but do not directly support individual candidates. These unlimited funds were used by the parties for party-building efforts such as voter registration and issue development activities. But, in addition, parties distributed money to candidates either by giving cash to them directly or by funding campaign efforts, such as advertising for the candidates.

Party Identification

Voter affiliation with a political party. They generally support the party's basic ideology and policy principles. Typically, this is either to the Democratic or the Republican party, but voter attachment to the parties has steadily been declining since the 1930s, with more independent affiliations emerging. Many people inherit this "Party ID" from their parents.