Political Parties and Elections Study Guide
Terms
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- The main political parties in America's two-party system are the ___.
- Republicans and Democrats
- By their very nature, interest groups are ___.
- biased
- Special-interest groups help fund a candidate's campaign by forming ___.
- PACs
- When no candidate gains a required majority, the party holds a ___ primary between the top two vote-getters.
- runoff
- Television, radios, newspapers, magazines, recordings, movies, and books are called ___.
- mass media
- ___ represent their state in their party's national convention.
- Delegates
- Political action committees give most of their money to ___ candidates.
- encumbent
- ___ groups support causes that affect lives of Americans in general.
- Idealogical
- At what location is voting carried out?
- State
- What is the term for an individual part of a party's platform?
- Plank
- What was the name of the breakaway party that was formed by a group who opposed slavery?
- Republicans
- Citizens can vote to remove a public official from office in a ___ election.
- recall
- ___ is an attempt to promote a particular person or idea.
- Propaganda
- The United States is said to have a ___ party system.
- two
- ___ includes the ideas and attitudes that most people hold about government and political issues.
- Public Opinion
- The idea of the ___ appeal is to make people think a candidate is just like them.
- Just Plain Folks
- A ___ is a survey of a representative sample of the population.
- public opinion poll
- What is the term for an individual part of a party's platform?
- plank
- All voters in a ____ cast their ballots at the same voting place.
- precinct
- Elections are a two-part process involving primary races and ___.
- general elections
- Instead of paper ballots, most states in the nation now use ___.
- Electronic Voting
- What is the name of a party of farmers and laborers that called for the direct election of senators and an eight-hour working day?
- Populist Party
- Local party leaders try to build support for their party at the ___, or neighborhood level.
- grassroots
- The largest political units in the state are ___.
- counties
- An ___ is a way that citizens can propose new laws or state constitutional amendments.
- initiative
- Representative from every state make up a political party's ___ committee.
- national
- Each political party's candidate and vice president are formally chosen at the ___.
- national convention
- ___ polling allows specialists to predict the winners before all votes are officially counted.
- Exit
- Most presidents employ a ___ whose job is to conduct polls regularly.
- pollster
- If you vote for all the candidates in one political party, you are voting a ___ ticket.
- straight
- Independent candidates can get on most states' ballots by having people sign a ___.
- petition
- What is a third party formed only to promote a social, economic, or moral issue called?
- Single-issue party
- ___ parties rarely win major elections and have never won a presidential election.
- Third
- Many people think ___, or lack of interest, is the main reason for low voter turnouts.
- apathy
- What is the election unit that is made up of several different precincts?
- ward
- A ___ is a statement that sounds good but is essentially meaningless.
- glittering generality
- What factors influence public opinion?
- Personal Background, Mass Media, Public Officials
- Radio, Television, and Internet are considered ___ media.
- electronic
- What purpose did political machines serve before social serve agencies existed?
- helped needy citizens
- What are donations given to political parties and not designated for a particular candidate's campaign called?
- Soft Money
- What is the election unit that is made up of several adjoining precincts?
- Ward
- In ___ primaries, only declared members of a party are allowed to vote for that party's nominees.
- closed
- ___ provides a way for citizens to approve or reject state or local laws.
- Referendum
- ___ refers to whether public opinion on a topic is positive or negative.
- Direction
- What term refers to the strength of an opinion on a given issue?
- Intensity
- ___ represent their state at their party's national convention.
- Delegates
- Tammany Hall is a notorious example of a political ___.
- machine
- The amendment that gave 18-year-olds the right to vote is the ___ amendment.
- 16th
- The mass media plays an important ___ role by exposing government misconduct.
- watchdog
- Who wanted to limit the power of the national government and became the leader of the Democratic-Republican Party?
- Thomas Jefferson
- What are the six roles of political parties?
- Nominating Candidates, Campaigning for candidates, informing citizens, help manage government, link different levels of government, and acting as a watchdog.
- According to ___(court case), you are not allowed to publish anything in a school without allowing the school the right to edit the material.
- Hazlewood vs. Kuhlmeir
- People who cannot go to the polls can request an ___ ballot in advance.
- absentee