UNIT 5 AP GOV

Describe THREE Suffrage Amendments

- 15th: All Males can vote regardless of race - 19th: Women's Suffrage - 26th: 18 or older to vote - 24th: Poll Tax

Define Sound Byte and describe how it effects elections?

- A sound bite is a brief snippet of recorded speech that usually under 10 secs. - Sound byes effects elections because due to the limited amount of information, voters are less informed on the policies of the candidates.

Describe two specific federal governmental regulation of interest groups

- Disclosure of contributions, funding or activities - Registration of lobbyists, PACs - Campaign finance laws - Limits on gifts - Limits on revolving-door appointments - Prohibition of bribery

Identify three Swing States

- Florida - Colorado - Virginia - Wisconsin - Ohio - North Carolina

Describe three things incumbency advantages

- Franking Privilege - Name Recognition - More PAC funding - Pork Barrel Legislation - Voting Record - Casework

Identify THREE linkage institutions

- Media - Elections - Political Parties - Interest Groups

List TWO institutions that set the agenda

- Media -President

Describe two different ways by which interest groups support the fundamental goal of political parties in the political process

- Monetary contributions/political action committee (PAC) donations. (If these two are clearly differentiated, then the response earns both points.) - Organization/mobilization of people. - Media campaigns. - Independent committees/527s. - Independent expenditures. - Endorsement/recruitment of candidates.

Describe the demographics of a typical voter in the primaries, and how does this affect the parties' platform?

- More ideologically / extreme in their political ideology - Party platform becomes more extreme

Minor parties make important contributions to the United States political system in spite of the institutional obstacles to their candidates' success. Describe two of these contributions

- New or different ideas or issues - Voice for fringe - Safety valve for discontent - Enhanced participation - Room for critical voices - Pushes major parties to include otherwise underrepresented concerns/groups - Clarify major-party candidates' positions

Identify THREE roles of a political party

- Nominate candidates - Educate voters - Provide a platform of issues - Raise funds for their candidate campaigns - Mobilize voters / get out the vote campaigns - Watchdog of the other party

Describe the role of Super Delegates

- Party leaders are now assured a role in the nomination process, regardless of which candidate they support. - Party leaders can cast the deciding vote in close nomination contests. - Superdelegates are unpledged and therefore can change their minds on candidates as the process unfold.

Describe one way in which the winner-take-all feature of the electoral college affect how presidential candidates from the two major political parties run their campaigns

- Resource allocation or focus on competitive states, swing states, and large states where candidates spend their time or money or buy media. - Issues (an issue may swing a bloc of voters in a state). - Choice of Vice-President (regional balance).

Describe one way in which the winner-take-all features of the electoral college hinders third-party candidates

- Third-party candidates may get a lot of popular votes but no electoral votes unless they carry a state. - The difficulty of winning electoral votes hampers the ability to raise funds and gain other campaign resources.

Identify THREE different forms of political participation

- Voting in elections - Joining an interest group - Contacting public official - Campaigning for a candidate / party - Protesting - Running for office

Define Closed Primary

- a primary election limited to registered members of a political party - (for example, in a state with closed primaries, only registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary to choose candidates for local, state, and national office)

Define Open Primary

- a primary election that is not limited to registered party members. - (for example, in a state with open primaries, independent voters or Republicans can vote in the Democratic primary to choose candidates for local, state, and national office).

Define a Mid-term Election

- an election that takes place in the middle of a presidential term. - (midterm elections tend to have much lower voter turnout than presidential elections and often result in the loss of congressional seats for the president's party)

Describe a proportional voting system

- an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded in proportion to the percentage of votes garnered by a party in an election - (this system is common in Europe and benefits minor political parties, who may win a small number of legislative seats even if a mainstream party wins most seats)

Describe two drawbacks of modern campaigns

- longer election cycle - increased campaign costs and fundraising efforts - increased reliance on professional consultants

Identify two political events that create divided government

-Mid-Term Elections - Split-Ticket Voting

Describe why candidates will change their campaign strategy between primaries and the general election

-The electorate in the primary election is different from the electorate in the general election. - A candidate's opponents in the primary are fellow partisans, whereas opponents in the general election are from other parties. - There are differences in financing, media coverage, and current events leading up to the general election.

Identify the total amount of Electoral College votes and the amount needed to win?

538 & 270

Define Super Tuesday

A day when most states hold a presidential primary

Describe Party Realignment

A major change in the composition of party coalitions, often brought on by a new or pressing issue (often economic trouble or war). For example, the Great Depression led many African Americans to leave the Republican Party and join the Democratic Party in the 1932 election, permanently changing each party's base of supporters.

Define Photo Op

A photo op is an arranged opportunity to take a photograph of a politician at a notable event.

Define Plurality (Different than Pluralism)

A plurality vote describes the circumstance when a candidate wins an election when they receive more votes than any other, but does not receive a majority of all the votes casted.

Define policy agenda

A policy agenda is a set of issues, problems, or subjects that gets the attention of/is viewed as important by people involved in policymaking (e.g., government officials, government decision-makers).

Define an Off-year Election

An election without a congressional / presidential election

Define Incumbent

An incumbent is a government official currently holding office.

Describe how the South has realigned

Before the Civil Rights Act of 1965, the South states have consistently voted Democrat due to the Civil War. After Northern Democrats created the Civil Rights Acts of 1965, Southern states started voting Republican to limit civil rights effectiveness (Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy).

Describe how the main goal in question 61 impacts political knowledge

Bias may cause the media to open the gate to some stories instead of others or to report stories in a way that is weighted toward one side. There are many causes of bias. The most common among media sources is being more politically liberal (leaning toward the Democrats) to attract liberal viewers or conservative (leaning toward the Republicans to attract conservative viewers.

Define Coalition Building

Coalition building is the process by which different groups or individuals come together for a particular cause or legislation.

Describe why the United States has a decentralized party leadership

Due to federalism, the division of power of the national government and state government and different elections and strategies between the state level and national level, difference exist from state to state leading to not one person controlling the entire party a crossed the United States.

Describe how the Electoral College impacts voter turnout.

Due to the winner-take-all policy of the electoral college, (the candidate who receives the most votes wins all of the electoral votes) voters may feel their vote doesn't matter, and will not participate in the presidential election, which decreases voter turnout.

Which type of Interest Groups have the most influence?

Economic interest groups

Describe candidate-centered campaigns

Elections campaigns in which candidates, not parties have the most initiatives and influence on the political parties policy agenda. Voters are more concerned about the candidate and their message instead of the party.

Identify which constitutional principal allows states to have different voter laws

Federalism

Describe the main goal of the media

For-profit media must make the news as exciting as possible to attract lots of viewers to gain revenue through advertisement. While attracting viewers the media also play the role of - Informing the public - Shaping public opinion - Gatekeeper - Watchdog - Scorekeeper

Define Front Loading

Frontloading is when states move their primary earlier in the year to gain the attention of the media and candidates.

Explain how each of the following factors has weakened the influence of political parties over the political process. - Direct primaries

Gives parties less control over the nomination process of candidates because the people get to pick the parties' candidate instead of only the party elites.

What is the role of linkage institutions?

Groups in society that connect people to the government and facilitate turning the people's concerns into political issues on the government's policy agenda.

Identify which political institution determines the outcome of an election, when no candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College

House of Representatives (Each State gets 1 vote).

Describe how the main goal in question 61 impacts media coverage

In order to survive in today's culture, television news must keep things short, fast-paced, and exciting. If a story can't be told in a quick, 15-second sound bite, it's likely to be left outside the gate. The media influences the electoral process in horse race journalism by focusing on who's winning rather than focusing on policy issues relevant to the voter. People are more informed of the candidates standing in the polls, and short sound bytes, rather than the candidate's political stances.

Describe the main goal of special interest groups and how is different from a political party

Interest group want to provide information to influence policy, while political parties try to recruit and nominate candidates to get elected to make policy.

Describe Pork-Barrel Legislation

Legislation giving benefits to constituents through projects within a state or district to enhance a congressmen's chance of reelection.

Describe the coattail effect

Less known candidates from the president's party profit from the president's popularity by winning votes by associating with the president.

Define Hard Money

Money given directly to a candidate campaign.

Explain two reasons how variations in types and resources of interest groups affect their ability to influence elections and policymaking

Not all interest groups have an equal impact on policy, however, as some have more funds, greater access to decision makers, and more committed members.

Describe how a Political Action Committee (PAC) influences government

PAC influence the government by donating money to candidate's campaigns to gain access to politicians.

Define Party Dealignment

Party Dealignment is the process by which an individual loses his or her loyalty to a political party without developing loyalty to another party.

Describe why political participation may influence the policy making process

Public officials care about votes, and when people are concerned about a particular issue, public officials will address those issues to get votes.

Explain why the United States has a two-party system

Since the United States has a winner-take-all plurality system, and the two major parties have board policies platforms to attract as many voters as possible, it puts third parties at a disadvantage because of the spoiler effect. (The spoiler effect is the effect of vote splitting between candidates or ballot questions who often have similar ideologies.) This causes the opposite party/candidate to have plurality and win the election. Because of the spoiler effect, and winner take all most people vote for a party that it is closest to their ideology which ends up with a two-party system

Describe why the United States has a Super Tuesday

States participate in a Super Tuesday to prevent frontloading. Frontloading is when states move their primary earlier in the year to gain the attention of the media and candidates. By having most of the primaries on the same day, this prevents one state becoming more important than the other.

Describe how a Super-Political Action Committee is different from a PAC

Super-PACS can spend unlimited amount on campaign expenditures as long as SUPER PACs don't work with the candidate or party. SUPER-PACS are different from PACs, because PACs give money directly to the party and candidate and the money (limited by the FEC)

Describe the "free-rider problem"

The Free-rider problem of group behavior that occurs when an individual can receive a public benefit without making a personal contribution of money or effort; for example, a person might listen to public radio but never make a contribution to the station, assuming that other donors will pay to keep it operating.

Explain the decision of Citizens United vs FEC

The Supreme Court ruled that limiting the ability of businesses, unions, and other groups to fund their own campaigns (independent campaign expenditures) to elect or defeat candidates for office violates their First Amendment of Freedom of Speech.

Describe the impact of the Telecommunications Act of 1996

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 deregulates broadcast media, this has lead to a few major corporations owning most of the media in the country, there is fewer opinions and more similarity in media.

Describe the influence of the media on the electoral process in each of the following roles - Gatekeeping / Agenda Setting

The media influences the electoral process in gatekeeping by determining which issues are perceived as relevant voters. If the Media wants gun control to be an issue than the media will talk about gun control over the war on drugs, which makes candidates address these issues. This is how the media influences the electoral process.

Describe the influence of the media on the electoral process in each of the following roles - Scorekeeping / Horserace Journalism

The media influences the electoral process in horse race journalism by focusing on who's winning rather than focusing on policy issues relevant to the voter. People are more informed of the candidates standing in the polls, then the candidate's political stances, and this is how the media influences the electoral process.

Describe the effect third parties have on elections

Third parties cause the spoiler effects on elections. The spoiler effect is the effect of vote splitting between candidates or ballot questions who often have similar ideologies. This causes the opposite party/candiate to have plurality and win the election.

Identify the unintended consequence of the winner-take-all, single member districts of the electoral system

Two-Party System

Define a Caucus

a meeting in a voting precinct at which party members choose nominees for political office after hours of speeches and debates.

Define a General Election

an election that decides which candidate will fill an elective office; general elections usually pit candidates from opposing parties against one another

Define Critical Election

are an electoral earthquake where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. (party realignment).

Describe the purpose of "McCain-Feingold" Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act

banned soft money and/or reduced attack ads.

Describe how lobbying of government institutions is used by interest groups to exert influence over policy

direct contact with policymakers for the purpose of persuasion through the provision of information, political benefits, etc.

Describe how grassroots mobilization is used by interest groups to exert influence over policy

interest groups organize citizens, who act to influence policymakers.

Define Soft Money

money spent in support of a candidate without directly donating to their campaign, such as paying for ads or campaign events, or giving to the candidate's party.

Describe the winner-take-all feature of the electoral college

the candidate who gets the most votes (or a majority, a plurality, more than any other candidate) wins all of a state's electoral votes.

Describe how litigation is used by interest groups to exert influence over policy

the use of courts to gain policy preferences through cases or amicus curiae.