Political Science Chapter 11 Vocab
Terms
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- Suffrage
- the right to vote; also called franchise
- Open primary
- a primary election in which the voter can wait until the day of the primary to choose which party to enroll in to select candidates for the general election
- Plurality system
- a type of electoral system in which, to win a seat in the parliament or other representative body, a candidate need only receive the most votes in the election, not necessarily a majority of votes cast
- Proportional representation
- a multiple-member district system that allows each political party representation in proportion to its percentage of the total vote
- Minority district
- a gerrymandered voting district that improves the chances of minority candidates by making selected minority groups the majority within the district
- Straight-ticket voting
- the practice of casting ballots for candidates of only one party
- Coattail effect
- the result of voters casting their ballot for president or governor and "automatically" voting for the remainder of the party's ticket
- Campaign
- an effort by political candidates and their staffs to win the backing of donors, political activists, and voters in the quest for political office
- Incumbent
- a candidate running for a position that he or she already holds
- Caucus (political)
- a normally closed meeting of a political or legislative group to select candidates, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters
- Open caucus
- a presidential nominating caucus open to anyone who wishes to attend
- Closed caucus
- a presidential nominating caucus open only to registered party members
- Winner-take-all system
- a system in which all of a state's presidential nominating delegates are awarded to the candidate who wins the most votes, while runners-up receive no delegates
- Platform
- a party document, written at a national convention, that contains party philosophym, principles, and positions on issues
- Unit rule
- the convention voting system under which a state delegation casts all of its votes for the candidate supported by the majority of a state's delegates
- Delegates
- political activists selected to vote at a party's national convention
- Superdelegate
- a convention delegate position, in Democratic conventions, reserved for party officials
- Spot advertisement
- a fifteen-, thirty-, or sixty-second television campaign commercial that permits a candidate's message to be delivered to a target audience
- Town meeting
- a media format in which candidates meet with ordinary citizens. Allows candidates to deliver messages without the presence of journalists or commectators
- Infomercial
- a lengthy campaign advertisement on television
- Soft money
- money contributed directly to political parties for voter registration and organization
- Political action committee (PAC)
- a private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns
- Issue advocacy
- independent spending by individuals or interest groups on a campaign issue but not directly tied to a particular candidate
- Prospective voting
- voting based on the imagined future performance of a candidate
- Retrospective voting
- voting based on the past performance of a candidate
- Midterm elections
- congressional elections that do not coincide with a presidential election; also called off-year elections
- Primary elections
- elections used to select a party's candidate for the general election
- Closed primary
- a primary election in which voters can participate in the nomination of candidates, but only of the party in which they are enrolled for a period of time prior to primary day
- Referendum
- the practice of referring a measure proposed or passed by a legislature to the vote of the electorate for approval or rejection
- Majority system
- a type of electoral system in which, to win a seat in the parliament or other representative body, a candidate must receive a majority of all the votes cast in the relevant district
- Gerrymandering
- appointment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party
- Benign gerrymandering
- attempts to draw district boundaries so as to create districts made up primarily of disadvantaged or underrepresented minorities
- Split-ticket voting
- the practice of casting ballots for the candidates of at least two different political parties in the same election
- Electoral college
- the presidential electors from each state who meet after the popular election to cast ballots for president and vice president