GOVT2305 Chapters 8

The rise of candidate-centered campaigns has

-increased the importance of money in political campaigns -made it easier for political newcomers to win high office

Which of the following states have closed primaries?

-kansas -florida -nevada

Which of the following factors have contributed to the weakening of party organizations?

-primary elections -candidate-centered campaigns

Which of the following statements about negative ads and negative campaigning are true?

Abraham Lincoln was the target insulting comments about his appearance during election campaigns. Negative campaigning in presidential elections was used as long ago as when Thomas Jefferson ran for office.

Air wars

Darell West applies this term to advertising (politically)

state governments

In order to raise enough funds for their campaigns, political candidates raise money from all of the following groups except

Republican Party Opposition to slavery gave rise to which party?

Republican Party

The Civil War triggered a party realignment. What were the two major parties following this realignment period?

Republican Party Democratic Party

smaller government that performs fewer social welfare functions

The Republican Party has advocated for a

Which is a reason why some scholars think we have moved into a new party alignment?

The Republican Party has become stronger in the South and the Democratic Party had become stronger in the Northeast.

Which of the following are true of Hispanic voters in the United States?

They lean heavily toward the Democratic Party Hispanics tend to be liberal on economic issue and conservative on social issues

Party centered

US campaigns are this way, in the sense that the Reps and Dems compete across the country election after election

Money chase

US campaigns are very expensive and candidates must spend a great amount of time raising funds in order to compete successfully

the Great Depression

Which of the following led to the start of the political party realignment in the 1930s that worked to the benefit of the Democratic Party?

Primary election/ direct primary

a form of election in which voters choose a party's nominee's for public office

ountries with multiparty systems tend to have what kind of electoral system?

a proportional representation system

which of the following characteristics of political campaigns have undergone change?

amount of money required. focus of the campaign. length of the campaign.

Soft money

could be used to support party activities, such as the voter registration efforts and party-centered TV ads that could indirectly benefit its candidates

Single-issue parties

formed around a lone issue of overriding interest to their followers

Packaging

highlighting those aspects of the candidate's partisanship, policy positions, personal background, and personality that are thought most attractive to voters

Median voter theorem

if there are two parties, the parties can maximize their vote only if their position themselves at the location of the median voter-- the vote whose preferences are exactly in the middle

Candidate centered

individual candidates devise their own strategies, choose their own issues, and form their own campaign organizations

Party competition

narrows voters' options to two and in the process enables people with different backgrounds and opinions to act together

Partisan press

newspapers and other communication media that openly support a political party and whose news in significant part follows the party line

local party organizations operate

only during campaign periods

Which of the following statements sum up the various functions of political consultants?

production of promotional materials gathering voter opinions advising on how to run a successful campaign

which party benefited from the 1896 realignment?

republican party

Proportional representation

seats of the legislature are allocated according to a party's share of the popular vote

Common-carrier function

serving as a conduit through which political leaders communicate with the public

which single expenditure accounts for the most spending on US political campaigns?

televison ads

Signaling function

the media seek to alert the public to important developments as soon as possible after they happen

when a realignment in the electorate occurs, which of the following occurs?

the parties reorganize themselves.

Watchdog function

the press stands ready to expose officials who violate accepted legal, ethical, or performance standards

priming

the process by which a communicated message, because of its content , activates certain opinions but not others

framing

the process of selecting certain aspects of reality and making them the most salient part of the communication

Linkage Institutions

they serve to connect citizens with government

Multiparty system

three or more parties have the capacity of gaining control of the government

Party organization

units at national, state, and local levels; their influence has decreased over time b/c of many factors

Two-party system

a system in which only two political parties have a real chance of acquiring control of the government

partisan function

acting as an advocate for a particular viewpoint or interest

in order to have the best chance at winning in a two-party system, political parties normally

align themselves at the middle of the voting spectrum

Political Party

an ongoing coalition of interests joined together in an effort to get its candidates for public office elected under a common label

Objective journalism

based on the reporting of "Facts" rather than opinions that is "fair" in that it presents both sides of partisan debate

Political consultants

campaign strategists, pollsters, media producers, and fundraising and get-out-the-vote specialists.

Although party organizations still manage many tasks related to elections, the lead role in elections now lies with the

candidate

A state that prevents members from political party and quite possibly voters registered as independents, from voting for another party's nominees has which type of primary?

closed

true or false: today's candidates are more likely than before to owe their nomination to the efforts of their political party organization.

false

Third parties that break off from one of the two dominant parties are known as

fractional parties

the fact that more white women than white men vote for the democratic party is and example of a(n) _________ gap

gender

Hard money

it goes directly to the candidate and can be spent as he or she chooses

what of the following are true about political contributions called hard money?

it is subject to legal limits. it is money given directly to a candidate. it can be spent as the recipient chooses.

what happens after a third party is relatively successful in attracting votes during a US national election?

one or both major parties will try to co-opt the issue or issues that made the third party successful

Reform parties

parties that base their appeal on the claim that the major parties are having a corrupting influence on government and policy

organizations that nominate and seek to elect candidates to government office are known as

political parties

a reason political parties have emerged whenever democracy has been established is that

political parties provide individuals a way to join together in order to exercise their collective influence

today's political campaigns rely on which of the following to be successful?

pollsters. campaign strategists. media producers.

voting for a candidate's promises rather than his or her past actions is an example of what is called __________ voting.

prospective

Today, political candidates tend to

set up and tun their own campaign organizations

third parties formed to promote a stance on a particular issue are known as

single-issue parties

Nomination

the selection of the individual who will run as the party's candidate in the general election

Service relationship

the situation in which party organizations assist candidates for office but have no power to require them to accept or campaign on the party's main policy positions

which of the following are distinct disadvantages of the rise of candidate centered campaigns

they make it easier for officeholders AND they provide opportunities for power interest groups

Factional parties

a minor party created when a faction within one of the major parties breaks away to form its own party

Which of the following best describes the voting electorate after the expansion of voting rights during the Jacksonian Era?

all white males

Realignment

an election or set of elections in which the electorate responds strongly to an extraordinarily powerful issue that has disrupted the established political order. A realignment has a lasting impact on public policy, popular support for the parties, and the composition of the party coalitions

the internet has proved itself to be superior to televised political advertising

as a means of getting campaign contributions from small donors. by spreading awareness of issues to a greater audience

Ideological parties

party committed by its ideological commitment to a broad and noncentrist philosophical position

Grassroots Party

party that operates largely at the leadership level-- formed to oppose drug prohibition

Party coalition

the groups and interests that support a party are collectively referred to as this

how do candidates encourage people to vote on election day?

they rely on organizations to spread the word. they contact prospective voters on elections day.

what is another name for the plurality system?

winner-take-all system

Gender gap

women vote disproportionately for the Dems

Single-member districts

the form of representation in which only the candidate who gets the most votes in a district wins office