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Definition
| belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group. |
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| the process by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs. |
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| the study of the characteristics of population. |
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| a characteristic of individuals that is predictive of political behavior. |
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| division within society that reinforce one another, making groups more homogeneous or similar. |
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| divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different. |
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| a notion held by nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. |
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| a grouping of human beings with distinctive characteristics determined by genetic inheritance |
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| a social division based on national origin, religion, language, and often race |
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| conservative Christians who as a group have become more active in politics in the last two decades and were especially influential in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. |
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| the difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and of women. |
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Term
| gross domestic product (GDP) |
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Definition
| the total output of all economic activity in the nation, including goods and services. |
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Term
| socioeconomic status (SES) |
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Definition
| a division of population based on occupation, income, and education. |
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Term
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| an organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy. |
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| an election in which candidates are not selected or endorsed by political parties and party affiliation is not listed on ballots. |
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| the dispensing of government jobs to persons who belong to the winning political party. |
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| the period at the beginning of a new president's term during which the president enjoys generally positive relations with the press and Congress, usually lasting about six months. |
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| a meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform. |
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Term
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Definition
| a meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy and in some cases to select party candidates for public office |
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Term
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| an election in which voters choose party nominees |
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Term
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Definition
| a primary election in which any voter, regardless of party, may vote. |
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Term
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Definition
| voting by a member of one party for a candidate of another party. |
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Term
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Definition
| a primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote. |
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| a small political party that persists over time, is often composed of ideologies on the right or left, or that is centered on the charismatic candidate. Such a party is also called a third party. |
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Term
| proportional representation |
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Definition
| an election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote. |
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Term
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Definition
| an election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins. |
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Term
| national party convention |
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Definition
| a national meeting of delegates elected in primaries, caucuses, or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president, ratify the party platform, elect officers, and adopt rules. |
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Term
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Definition
| the act of declaring party affiliation; required by some states when one registers to vote. |
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Term
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Definition
| an affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood. |
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Definition
| weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents. |
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Term
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Definition
| political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed. |
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Term
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Definition
| money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. |
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Term
| Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) |
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Definition
| Largely banned party soft money, restored long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes, and narrowed the definition of issues advocacy. |
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Term
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Definition
| a term the founders used to refer to political parties and special interests or interest groups. |
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Term
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Definition
| a theory of government that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group. |
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Definition
| a collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Usually work with the framework of government and try to achieve their goals through tactics such as lobbying. |
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Term
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Definition
| a company with a labor arrangement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment. |
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Term
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Definition
| a company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment. |
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Term
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Definition
| an individual who does not join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence. |
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Term
| professional associations |
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Definition
| groups of individuals who share a common profession and are often organized for common political purposes related to that profession. |
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Term
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Definition
| engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact. |
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Term
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Definition
| an official document, published every weekday, that lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies. |
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Term
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Definition
| literally, a "friend if the court" brief, filled by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case. |
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Term
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Definition
| a tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2,000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a "bundle," thus increasing the PAC's influence. |
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Term
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Definition
| a person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches. |
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Term
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Definition
| an employment cycle in which individuals who work for government agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern. |
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Term
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Definition
| relationships among interests groups, congressional committees and subcommittees, and the government agencies that share a common policy concern. |
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Term
| political action committee (PAC) |
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Definition
| the political arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary basis from members, stockholders, or employees to contribute funds to candidates or political parties. |
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Term
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Definition
| formed by an officeholder that collects contributions form individuals and other PACs and then makes contributions to other candidates and political parties. |
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Term
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Definition
| distribution of individual preferences for or evaluations of a given issue, candidate, or institution within a specific population. |
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Term
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Definition
| distribution of individual preferences for or evaluations of a given issue, candidate, or institution within a specific population. |
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Term
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Definition
| every individual has a known and equal chance of being selected. |
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Term
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Definition
| a widely shared and consciously held view, such as support for abortion rights or homeland security. |
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Term
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Definition
| the process--most notably in families and schools--by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs. |
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Term
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Definition
| individuals choosing to access media with which they agree or avoiding media with which they disagree. |
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Term
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Definition
| citizens who follow public affairs carefully. |
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Term
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Definition
| a system designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents including proof of residency. |
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Term
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Definition
| elections in which voters elect officeholders. |
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Term
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Definition
| election in which voters determine party nominees. |
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Term
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Definition
| elections held in years when the president is on the ballot. |
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Term
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Definition
| elections held midway between presidential elections. |
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Term
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Definition
| an informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood. |
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Term
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Definition
| how voters feel about a candidate's background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities. |
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Term
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Definition
| voting base on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected. |
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Term
| retrospective issue voting |
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Definition
| holding incumbents, usually the president's part, responsible for their records on issues, such as the economy or foreign policy. |
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Term
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Definition
| an election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins. |
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Term
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Definition
| an electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official. |
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Term
| proportional representation |
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Definition
| an election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote. |
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Term
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Definition
| the electoral system used in electing the president and vice president, in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for a particular party's candidates. |
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Term
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Definition
| the boosts that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot, especially the president. |
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Term
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Definition
| the inclination to focus on national issues, rather than local issues, in an election campaign. the impact of a national tide can be reduced by the nature of the candidates on the ballot who may have differentiated themselves from their party or its leader if the tide is negative, as well as competition in the election. |
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Term
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Definition
| incumbents have an advantage over challengers in election campaings because voters are more familiar with them, and incumbents are more recognizable. |
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Term
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Definition
| a meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform. |
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Term
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Definition
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| present day anti-federalists |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| party system that stands for large corporations |
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Definition
| A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity. |
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Definition
| a belief that limited government ensures order, competitive markets, and personal opportunity. |
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Definition
| an economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange. |
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Term
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Definition
| an ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on minimal government, promoting a free market economy, a noninterventionist foreign policy, an an absence of regulation in moral, economic, and social life. |
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Term
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Definition
| a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed |
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Term
| intensity regarding public opinion |
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Definition
| the degree to which people feel strongly about their opinions. |
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