Media
stories that focus on celebrity and personality rather than political or economic issues
Soft News
The number of eligible voters who actually participate in an election versus the total number of eligible voters
Voter turnout
An unofficial tally of opinion or support at a meeting or event
Straw poll
The right to vote in political elections
Suffrage
A structure of electoral representation in which a candidate and the party that he or she represents must win the most votes in a state or district to be represented in government
Single-member plurality system
a merging of information and entertainment in a way designed to attract viewers and gain market share
infotainment
The transmission of information about the political world and civic norms to learner
civic education
Influencing people’s interpretations of news, events, or issues through the presentation of the context
Framing
Members of the electoral college who do not cast their vote for the pledged candidate
Faithless electors
A primary election in which all eligible voters may vote, regardless of their partisan affiliation
Open Primary
An approach to reporting employed in the nineteenth century that relied on sensational headlines and emotional language to persuade readers and sell newspapers
Yellow Journalism
A political ideology that emphasizes an even stronger role for government than liberalism, including government control and ownership of sectors of the economy
The first type of media to shape American attitudes, mobilizing support for the cause of independence from Great Britain
Pamphlets
Bodies of voters in a given area who elect a representative or senator
Constituencies
A structure of electoral representation in which parties are represented in government according to their candidates’ overall share of the vote
Proportional representation system
An organization that gathers and reports on news and then sells the stories to other outlets
Wire Service
The centrality of an individual’s opinion in the sense of the opinion’s ability to shape the individual’s views on other issues or candidates.
Salience
The degree to which a tool accurately measures what it is intended to
Validity
A measure that captures an individual’s wealth, income, occupation, and educational attainment.
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
a primary election in which only registered voters from a particular political party may vote
Closed primary
Outlets for news and other content that rely on mass communications technology to bring stories directly into people’s homes; these media sources are subject to stricter content regulations than cable television outlets and alternative sources of information
Broadcast media
1. voting
2. supporting or participating in political campaigns,
3. contacting or pressuring politicians in office, and
4. acting outside the electoral process
Verba and Nie sorted acts of political engagement into four categories
The intentional use of redistricting to benefit a specific interest or group of voters
Gerrymandering
A presidential candidate can win the presidency without actually winning the ____
Popular vote
1. As organizations, political parties recruit, nominate, and support candidates for political office.
2. In the electorate, parties act as labels that are provided to candidates and officeholders and that voters can use as shortcuts in identifying candidates closer to their own political ideologies and advocating similar policy positions.
3. In government, a party enacts the policy positions of its members and acts as an opposition to the majority party when it is in the minority.
V. O. Key Jr. identified three primary roles that political parties play in American representative democracy