Political Parties
This is the main purpose of political parties in the United States.
What is to select and support candidates for public office?
This term describes when voters select leaders for government positions.
What is a general election?
The media can influence politics by telling the public about important topics, a process called this.
What is agenda-setting?
These organizations try to influence government policies on specific topics.
What are interest groups?
The U.S. system of government, where citizens elect representatives, is called this.
What is a representative democracy?
This type of political system, like in the U.S., is dominated by two main parties.
What is a two-party system?
Citizens can best judge how politicians are viewed by the public through this type of public opinion research.
What is a poll or survey?
A benefit of media coverage is that it gives voters this type of view of multiple political parties.
What is balanced information?
Interest groups sometimes file these to try to change laws through the courts.
What are lawsuits?
One responsibility of citizens in a democracy is participating in this process to choose leaders.
What is voting?
One way political parties help citizens participate in democracy is by doing this during elections.
What is informing voters and encouraging participation?
This is the first step in narrowing candidates before a general election.
What is a primary election?
Political ads shown on TV or social media are examples of this type of influence.
What is persuading public opinion?
This is a method interest groups use to gain public support for their cause.
What is launching public awareness campaigns?
This term describes the principle that government gets its power from the people.
What is popular sovereignty?
This process allows parties to choose their candidates for the general election.
What is holding primary elections?
Free and fair elections promote trust in democratic institutions because they do this.
What is ensure leaders are chosen by the people and reflect majority will?
One thing the media does NOT directly do for elections is this.
What is contribute money to campaigns?
Interest groups often speak directly to lawmakers to push for policy change. This is called ____.
What is lobbying?
Political parties help keep government accountable by doing this.
What is acting as a watchdog over the opposition?
When a political party increases its focus on one key issue to sway voters, it is using this strategy.
What is issue-oriented campaigning?
In the presidential election process, this group officially casts votes based on the popular vote of each state.
What is the Electoral College?
When media coverage focuses heavily on one issue over others, it is using this technique.
What is spotlighting or focusing attention?
Interest groups give information to lawmakers to ensure they understand certain issues. This method is called ____.
What is providing expert testimony?
This concept describes how different branches of government share power to prevent any one from becoming too powerful.
What is separation of powers?