front 1 Franchise/suffrage | back 1 Right to vote |
front 2 Rational-choice voting | back 2 assumes that political actors will make decisions based on their own benefit, carefully weighing all choices |
front 3 Retrospective voting | back 3 occurs when the voter looks at the candidate’s past actions and the past economic climate and makes a decision only using these factors. |
front 4 Prospective voting | back 4 Voting based on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected |
front 5 Party-line voting | back 5 process in which voters select candidates by their party affiliation |
front 6 Demographics | back 6 the study of a population based on factors such as age, race and sex |
front 7 General election | back 7 Elections in which voters elect officeholders |
front 8 Midterm elections | back 8 the congressional elections that occur in the even-numbered years between presidential election years, in the middle of the president’s term |
front 9 Linkage institutions | back 9 Groups that connect citizens to the government and facilitate turning popular concerns into issues on the government’s policy agenda. |
front 10 Critical election | back 10 An electoral “earthquake” where new issues and new coalitions emerge, beginning a new party era. |
front 11 Realignment | back 11 the shifting of groups in a coalition, usually before a critical election. Groups leave one party and support the other party. |
front 12 Winner-take-all system | back 12 all electoral votes for a state are given to the candidate who wins the most votes in that state |
front 13 Party coalition | back 13 When two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. |
front 14 Bipartisan | back 14 Legislation or policy that has the support of both major political parties. |
front 15 Open primary | back 15 an election in which any registered voter may vote in any party’s primary or caucus |
front 16 Closed primary | back 16 an election in which only voters registered with a party may vote for that party’s candidates |
front 17 Party caucus | back 17 a form of candidate nomination that occurs in a town-hall style format rather than a day-long election; usually reserved for presidential elections |
front 18 Incumbency advantage | back 18 the advantage held by officeholders that allows them to often win reelection |
front 19 Political Action Committee (PAC) | back 19 organizations created to raise money for political campaigns and spend money to influence policy and politics |
front 20 Super PAC | back 20 officially known as Independent Expenditure-Only Committees; organizations that can fundraise and spend as they please to support or attack a candidate but not contribute directly to a candidate or strategize with a candidate’s campaign |
front 21 Independent expenditure | back 21 Spending by political action committees, corporations, or labor unions that is done to help a party or candidate but is done independently of them |
front 22 Horse race journalism | back 22 Journalism that focuses on -who is winning or ahead in the polls rather than on candidates' policy agenda or debates. |
front 23 Proportional representation | back 23 An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded in proportion to the percentage of votes garnered by a party in an election. This system is common in Europe and benefits minor political parties, who may win a small number of legislative seats even if a mainstream party wins most seats. |
front 24 Electoral College | back 24 the constitutionally created group of individuals, chosen by the states, with the responsibility of formally selecting the next U.S. president |
front 25 Legitimacy | back 25 The people’s belief that the government has the right to rule |