HUSTON-AP US GOVT CHAP 12
Terms
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- civil service laws
- These acts removed the staffing of the bureaucracy from political parties and created a professional bureaucracy filled through competition
- coalition
- A group of interests or organizations that join forces for the purpose of electing public officials
- coattail effect
- The tendency of lesser known or weaker candidates lower on the ballot to profit in an election by the presence on the party's ticket of a more popular candidate
- congressional party
- The members of a political party who hold congressional offices. If the party does not have a president in office, the congressional party speaks for the party to the nation.
- decline of party affiliation
- Over the past two decades, there has been a decline in partisan identification and party loyalty. There has also been a rise in the number of independents at the expense of the two major parties. Being a socially acceptable, integrated, and contributing member of one's community once demanded party affiliation. Today, however, the labels are avoided because many Americans insist that they vote for the "person, not the party." The growth of issue-oriented politics cuts across party lines, as does the emphasis on personality politics by the mass media. The loss of party credibility and the decline of the party's tangible connections to the lives of everdya citizens have also contributed to a decline in party affilitaion.
- direct primary
- The selection of party candidates through the ballots of qualified voters rather than at party nomination conventions.
- dualist theory of political parties
- The theory that there has always been an underlying binary party nature to U.S. politics.
- GOP
- The Grand Old Party: The Republican Party.
- governmental party
- The office holders and candidates who run under a political party's banner.
- Green Party
- Third Party that in 2000 helped play a role in Al Gore's defeat when Ralph Nader ran for president.
- history of US party system
- At first there were not meant to be parties, but they have exsisted ever since the election between Jefferson and Adams, in which there was a split in ideas of how big a role the national government should play.
- informal political groups
- groups below the national party that are either slightly affiliated (DNC, RNC, Young Democrats/Republicans) or unaffiliated with one party; these PACs do support one party and donate to it; examples: labor unions, teacher groups, religious organizations, pro-choice/pro-life groups
- issue-oriented politics
- issues override importance of party, candidate
- Libertarian Party
- a third party in the United States which does not have a following large enough to make the country a seriously third-party nation; believes in personal freedom, free market economy, personal responsibility, and peaceful non-intervening foreign policy
- modernization of Republican Party
- Until 1992, the GOP had outclassed the Democrartic party in every category of campaign service because of the disappointment in congressional contests. Whatever the cause, they have grown increasingly strong in choosing party staff, making voter contact, polling the electorate, advertising in the media, and conducting intense staff training and research.
- national convention
- A party conclave held in the presidential election year for the pupose of nominating a presidential and vice presidential ticket and adopting a platform.
- national party leadership
- A sense of responsibility adopted by the party that provides a rallying point while creating popular support and keeping policies on task.
- national party platform
- A statement of the general and specific philosophy and policy goals of a political party, usually promulgated at the national convention.
- New Deal coalition
- A diverse collection of groups of voters who supported the United States Democratic Party from 1932 till 1964, putting the party in the majority seat.
- one-partyism
- A political system in which one party diminates and wins virtually all contests.
- organizational party
- The workers and activists who staff the party's formal organization.
- partisanship/non-partisanship
- "The state of being a partisan, or adherent to a party; feelings or conduct appropriate to a partisan./ An inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally.
- party discipline
- The ability of a political party to get its members to support the policies of the party leadership
- party identification
- A citizen's personal affinity for a political party, usually expressed by his or her tendency to vote for the candidate of that party.
- party in the electorate
- The voters who consider themselves allied or associated with the party.
- patronage
- Jobs, grants, or other special favors that are given to as rewards to friends amd political allies for their support.
- political base
- political consultant
- Professional who manages acmpaigns and political advertisements for political candidates.
- political machine
- An organization designed to solicit votes from certain neighborhoods or communities for a particular party in return for services and jobs that party wins.
- political parties and judiciary
- political party
- A group of office holders, candidates, activists and voters who identify with a group label and seek to elect to public office those who run under that label.
- political polarization
- The term used to describe when political parties become extremely different.
- presidential party
- The party to which the president belongs to.
- proportional representation
- The practice of awarding legislative seats in proportion to the number of votes received.
- Reform Party
- Third Party, had Ross Perot as a presidential candidate in 92 and 96.
- roles of American political parties
- Mobilizing support and gathering power, electioneering function, a force for stability, Unity, Linkage, Accountability, Party as a Voting and Issue Cue, and Policy Formulation and Promotion
- spoils system
- The firing of public-office holders of a defeated politifcal party ad their replacement with loyalists of the newly elected party.
- state political party
- At a state level, the political party has a more high-profile role in the legislative process, and the state political parties are much more cohesive and united than the national political parties; a strict seniority system and powerful leaders contribute to this cohesion. Furthermore, political party caucuses are more active and influential at a state level.
- structure of American political parties
- The structure of American political parties can be divided into three basic groups: national, state, and local. At the national level is the Democratic and Republican National Committees; they makes arrangements for the national conventions and coordinate subsequent presidential campaigns; the key national party official is the chairperson of the national committee. The state level is the most flourishing of all levels with respect to party allegiance and powerful positions within the party; most party business goes on at the state level; the key officials at the state level are the precinct committee members who represent the various precincts of the state.
- Tammany Hall
- A powerful New York City Democratic political machine; it brought new immigrants under its wing by helping them assimilate into their new world, find jobs, and become party of the community; the bosses would hand out drinks, and sometimes food and money to a needy constituent. In return, Tammany Hall and its bosses requested their votes.
- think tanks
- An institute, corporation, or group organized for interdisciplinary research (as in technological and social problems).
- third-partyism
- A party systems in which there are two major contenders for power of approximately equal strength plus one or more minor parties able to win seats but not to control the government.
- ticket-splitting
- A voter who may be a Republican or Democrat, but who occasionally votes for a candidate of another party.