Presentation Transcript

1. Unit III Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media Vocabulary Chapters 8-10
2. Q1. An ongoing coalition of interests joined together to try to get their candidates for public office elected under a common label
3. A1. political party
4. Q2. Election campaigns and other political processes in which political parties, not individual candidates, hold most of the initiative and influence
5. A2. party-centered politics
6. Q3. Election campaigns and other political processes in which candidates, not political parties, have most of the initiative and influence
7. A3. candidate-centered politics
8. Q4. party competition
9. A4. A process in which conflict over society’s goals is transformed by political parties into electoral competition in which the winner gains the power to govern
10. Q5. A political party organized at the level of the voters and dependent on their support for its strength
11. A5. grassroots party
12. Q6. An election or set of elections in which the electorate responds strongly to an extraordinarily powerful issue that has disrupted the established political order. The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period
13. A6. party realignment
14. Q7. critical election
15. A7. An electoral “earthquake” whereby new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Critical election periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era (Critical election period is often use synonymous with party realignment)
16. Q8. The pattern of voting in which the individual voter in a given election casts a ballot for one or more candidates of each major party
17. A8. split ticket
18. Q9. The pattern of voting in which the individual voter in a given election casts a ballot for candidates who are all of the same party
19. A9. straight ticket
20. Q10. Voting for a candidate because you agree and favor his or her ideas for handling issues
21. A10. prospective voting
22. Q11. Voting for a candidate because you like his or her past actions in office
23. A11. retrospective voting
24. Q12. two-party system
25. A12. A system in which only two political parties have a real chance of acquiring control of the government
26. Q13. A system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition
27. A13. multiparty system
28. Q14. The form of representation in which only the candidate who gets the most votes in a district wins office. To get representation you must win a district
29. A14. single-member districts
30. Q15. A form of representation in which seats in the legislature are allocated proportionally according to each political party’s share of the popular vote. This system enables smaller parties to compete successfully for seats
31. A15. proportional representation
32. Q16. party coalition
33. A16. The groups and interests that support a political party
34. Q17. party organization
35. A17. The party organizational units at the national, state, and local levels; their influence has decreased over time because of many factors
36. Q18. The designation of a particular individual to run as a political party’s candidate in the general election
37. A18. nomination
38. Q19. A form of election in which voters choose a party’s nominees for public office. In most states, eligibility to vote in this type of election is limited to voters who are registered members of the party
39. A19. primary election (direct primary)
40. Q20. service relationship
41. A20. The situation in which party organizations assist candidates for office but have no power to require them to support the party’s main policy positions
42. Q21. Campaign funds given directly to candidates to spend as they choose. (subject to legal limits)
43. A21. hard money
44. Q22. Campaign contributions that are not subject to legal limits and are given to parties rather than directly to candidates. (These contributions are no longer legal)
45. A22. soft money
46. Q23. money chase
47. A23. A term used to describe the fact that U.S. campaigns are very expensive and candidates must spend a great amount of time raising funds in order to compete successfully
48. Q24. A term that refers to the professional consultants who run campaigns for high office
49. A24. hired guns
50. Q25. A term that refers to the fact that modern campaigns are often a battle of opposing televised advertising campaigns
51. A25. air wars
52. Q26. The situation in which separate groups are organized around nearly every conceivable policy issue and press their demands and influence to the utmost
53. A26. single-issue politics
54. Q27. A set of individuals who are organized to promote a shared political interest
55. A27. interest group
56. Q28. economic groups
57. A28. Interest groups that are organized primarily for economic reasons but that engage in political activity in order to seek favorable policies from government
58. Q29. Benefits that a group (most often an economic group) can grant directly and exclusively to individual members of the group
59. A29. private (individual) goods
60. Q30. material incentive
61. A30. An economic or other tangible benefit that is used to attract group members
62. Q31. Organized interests formed by individuals drawn together by opportunities to promote a cause in which they believe but that does not provide them significant individual economic benefits
63. A31. citizens’ (noneconomic) groups
64. Q32. purposive incentive
65. A32. An incentive to group participation based on the cause (purpose) that the group seeks to promote
66. Q33. Benefits that are offered by groups (usually citizens’ groups) as an incentive for membership but that are non-divisible (e.g., a clean environment) and therefore are available to nonmembers as well as members of the particular group
67. A33. public (collective) goods
68. Q34. The situation in which the benefits offered by a group to its members are also available to nonmembers. The incentive to join the group and to promote its cause is reduced because nonmembers receive the benefits (e.g., cleaner environment) without having to pay any of the group’s costs
69. A34. free-rider problem
70. Q35. The process by which interest-group members attempt to influence public policy through contacts with public officials
71. A35. lobbying
72. Q36. Direct communication between organized interests and policymakers, which is based on the assumed value of close contacts with policymakers
73. A36. inside lobbying
74. Q37. A small and informal but relatively stable group composed of bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees. They are characterized by mutual dependency, in which each element provides key services, information, or policy for the others
75. A37. iron triangles
76. Q38. An informal grouping of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists who are brought together temporarily by their shared interest in a particular policy problem. Participates might come from a variety of executive agencies, congressional committees, interest groups, and institutions such a universities or think tanks
77. A38. issue networks
78. Q39. A form of lobbying in which an interest group seeks to use public pressure as a means of influencing officials
79. A39. outside lobbying
80. Q40. grassroots lobbying
81. A40. A form of lobbying designed to persuade officials that a group’s policy position has strong constituent support
82. Q41. The organization through which an interest group raises and distributes funds for election purposes. By law, the funds must be raised through voluntary contributions
83. A41. political action committee (PAC)
84. A42. news
85. A42. The news media’s version of reality, usually with an emphasis on timely, dramatic, and compelling events and developments
86. Q43. Those print and broadcast organizations that are in the news-reporting business
87. A43. press (news media)
88. Q44. Newspapers and other communication media that openly support a political party and whose news in significant part follows the party line
89. A44. partisan press
90. Q45. A model of news reporting that is based on the communication of “facts” rather than opinions and that is “fair” in that it presents all sides of partisan debate
91. A45. objective journalism
92. Q46. The accepted responsibility of the media to alert the public to important developments as soon as possible after they happen or are discovered
93. A46. signaler(signaling) role
94. Q47. The power of the media through news coverage to focus the public’s attention and concern of particular events, problems, issues, personalities, and so on
95. A47. agenda setting
96. Q48. The media’s function as an open channel through which political leaders can communicate with the public
97. A48. common-carrier role
98. Q49. The accepted responsibility of the media to protect the public from deceitful, careless, incompetent, and corrupt officials by standing ready to expose any official who violates accepted legal, ethical, or performance standards
99. A49. watchdog role
100. Q50. A role whereby the media attempt to act as the public’s representative
101. A50. public-representative role
102. Q51. A meeting of party members to select delegates backing one or another primary candidates
103. A51. caucus
104. Q52. Party leaders and elected officials who become delegates to the Democratic National Convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses
105. A52. superdelegates
106. Q53. The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention. At one time, it was considered advantageous for a state to choose its delegates late in the primary season so that it could play a decisive role. However, in recent years, votes cast in states that have held late primaries have been irrelevant given that one candidate had already sewn up the nomination early on
107. A53. frontloading
108. Q54. Federal Election Campaign Act
109. A54. A law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. The act created the Federal Election Commission (FEC), provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions
110. Q55. Presidential Election Campaign Fund
111. A55. Money from the $3 federal income tax check-off goes into this fund, which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns
112. Q56. matching funds
113. A56. Contribution of up to $250 are matched from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to candidates for the presidential nomination who qualify and agree to meet various conditions, such as limiting their overall spending
114. Q57. rational-choice theory
115. A57. A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives
116. Q58. A type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern
117. A58. party machine
118. Q59. patronage
119. A59. One of the key inducements used by political machines. A patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.
120. Q60. A primary election in which voting is limited to already registered party members
121. A60. closed primary
122. Q61. Elections to select party nominees in which voters are presented with a list of candidates (one ballot) from all the parties. Open to any party members
123. A61. blanket primary
124. Q62. Elections to select party nominees in which voters (any party member) can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests. Can only vote in one primary
125. A62. open primary
126. Q63. The meeting of party delegates every four years to nominate the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates and to write the party’s platform
127. A63. national convention
128. Q64. A group of individuals with a common interest upon which every political party depends.
129. Q64. coalition
130. Q65. party dealignment
131. A65. The gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification
132. Q66. In American presidential elections, the system in which the winner of the popular vote in a state receives all the electoral votes of that state
133. A66. winner-take-all
134. Q67 electioneering
135. A67. Direct group involvement in the electoral process. Groups can help fund campaigns, provide testimony, and get members to work for candidates, and some form political action committees (PACs
136. Q68. Lawsuits permitting a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people similarly situated
137. A68. class action lawsuits
138. Q69. loaded language
139. A69. Words that imply a value judgment, used to persuade a reader without having made a serious argument (media)
140. Q70. right-to-work law
141. A70. A state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs. State right-to-work laws were specifically permitted by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
142. Q71. As opposed to the traditional “broadcasting,” the appeal to a narrow, particular audience by channels such as ESPN, MTV, and C-SPAN, which focus on a narrow particular interest
143. A71. narrowcasting
144. Q72. Information leaked to the media to test public reaction to a possible policy
145. A72. trial balloon
146. Q73. Short video clips of approximately 15 seconds, which are typically all that is shown from a politician’s speech or activities on television news
147. A73. sound bites
148. Q74. 527 organizations
149. A74. Organizations that, under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, raise and spend money to advance political causes. 527 organizations can spend their money on politics so long as they do not coordinate with a candidate or lobby directly for that person
150. Q75. The person already holding an elective office.
151. A75. incumbent
152. Q76. The alleged tendency of candidates to win more votes in an election because of the presence at the top of the ticket of a better-known candidate, such as the president
153. A76. coattails
154. Q77. Spending by political action committees, corporations, or labor unions that is done to help a party or candidate but is done independently of them
155. A77. independent expenditures
156. Q78. political cue
157. A78. A signal telling a legislator what values are at stake in a vote, and how that issue fits into his or her own political views on party agenda
158. Q79. equal time rule
159. A79. An FCC rule that if a broadcaster sells time to one candidate, it must sell equal time to other candidates