Elections & Voting
The right to vote in political elections.
What is suffrage?
This includes television, newspapers, the internet, and social media used to communicate information.
What is the mass media?
Members of Congress who lead their party’s strategy on the House or Senate floor.
Who are the floor leaders?
Organizations that seek to influence public policy on specific issues.
What are interest groups?
A meeting of party members to select candidates or decide policy.
What is a caucus?
Citizens eligible to vote in an election make up this group.
What is the electorate?
Journalists and editors who decide what news stories get attention are called these.
Who are the gatekeepers?
When one party draws district lines to favor its candidates, it’s called this.
What is gerrymandering?
Committees that raise and spend money to support political candidates.
What are Political Action Committees (PACs)?
The scandal that led to President Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
What was Watergate?
Elections that occur when the presidency is not on the ballot.
What are off-year elections?
Planned events staged for the press to get favorable coverage of politicians.
What are media events?
Senators use this prolonged speech tactic to delay or block a vote.
What is a filibuster?
Money donated to political parties for “general purposes,” often used to skirt campaign finance limits.
What is soft money?
A shift in party coalitions or voter alignment that changes the political landscape.
What is realignment?
This process lets voters propose new laws or amendments directly on the ballot.
What is an initiative?
The constitutional right protecting speech, press, and political communication.
What is freedom of expression?
People represented by elected officials in a district or state.
Who are constituents?
Local, bottom-up citizen activism to influence decision-makers.
What is grassroots lobbying?
When one party controls Congress and the other controls the presidency, causing gridlock.
What is a divided government?
A special election that allows voters to remove an elected official from office before their term ends.
What is a recall?
When citizens or groups organize locally to pressure government officials, it’s known as this kind of movement.
What is grassroots activism?
A now-unconstitutional power Congress once used to cancel executive actions after they were made.
What is a legislative veto?
Local, bottom-up citizen activism to influence decision-makers.
What is grassroots lobbying?
The inability of government to act because rival parties block each other’s proposals.
What is gridlock?