ap gov unit 5

• Political participation


  The many different ways that people take part in politics and government
• Suffrage


  the right to vote
• Political efficacy


  The belief that one's political participation makes a difference.
• Rational-choice voting


  Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen's individual interest
• Retrospective voting


  voting based on the past performance of a candidate
• Prospective voting


  voting for a candidate because you favor his or her ideas for handling issues
• Party-line voting


  Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices at the same level of government.
• Voter turnout


  the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election
• Structural barriers to voting
• Grandfather clause


  A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867.
• Literacy test


  a requirement that citizens show that they can read before registering to vote
• Poll tax


  A requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote
• White primary


  the practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation
• Voter registration laws


  Require individuals to first place their name on an electoral roll in order to be allowed to vote
• Mid-term (congressional)

  elections

  the people can elect their representatives in the middle of the term of the executive. ... Only a fraction of a body's seats are up for election while others are not until the terms of the next set of members are to expire.
• Presidential elections


  Elections held in years when the president is on the ballot.
• Referendum


  A state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove proposed legislation or a proposed constitutional amendment.
• Recall


  procedure whereby voters can remove an elected official from office
• Initiative


  A procedure by which voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment.
• Precinct


  A voting district
• Civic engagement


  individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern
• Ideological orientation


  When a network or organization is partisan to a party and influences it's viewers through their ideological orientales news programs
• Contemporary political issues


  any event, idea, opinion or topic in a given subject that is relevant to the present day.
• Religious affiliation


  A term indicating an individual's acceptance of knowledge, beliefs, and practices related to a particular faith.
• Political parties


  groups that help elect people and shape policies
• Interest groups


  private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy
• Linkage institutions


  The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.
• Electorate


  the citizens eligible to vote
• Voter mobilization


  a party's efforts to inform potential voters about issues and candidates and to persuade them to vote
• Invisible primary


  The period before any votes are cast when candidates compete to win early support from the elite of the party and to create a positive first impression of their leadership skills.
• Iowa Caucuses


  In January or February of a presidential election year Presidential candidates campaign hard in Iowa -- a win in Iowa or New Hampshire can help fundraising and build momentum for future primaries and caucuses.
• New Hampshire Primary


  First Presidential primary and its winner becomes the media's major attention
• Swing states


  States that are not clearly pro-Republican or pro-Democrat and therefore are of vital interest to presidential candidates, as they can determine election outcomes
• Plurality


  Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half.
• Majority


  The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.
• Front loading


  The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.
• Retail politics


  Campaign style emphasizing close personal contact between candidate and voters
• Party platforms


  A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. The platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidate's strength. It is the best formal statement of a party's beliefs.
• Party chairperson


  the chairman of the national committee of the political party who usually acts as the head of the party's permanent organization and has general direction of party strategy especially during election campaigns.
• Delegate


  A person appointed or elected to represent others