Terms
Interest group
Group of people with common interests that vote for a specific candidate.
Soft Money
Republican
Right side of the scale
AARP
AARP is a United States–based interest group focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. According to the organization, it had more than 38 million members as of 2018. The magazine and bulletin it sends to its members are the two largest-circulation publications in the United States.
Role of a Watch Dog
Watchdog journalists gather information about wrongdoings of people in power and deliver it to the public so the public can understand what happens in society and stop wrongdoings.
Lobbyist
Lobbyists are professional advocates that work to influence political decisions on behalf of individuals and organizations.
Hard Money
By contrast, hard money is federally regulated campaign contributions and other moneys spent to influence the outcome of a federal election. Individuals are subject to an annual limit of $25,000 on contributions they can make
Democrat
Left Side of the Scale
NRA
The National Rifle Association of America is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while continuing to teach firearm safety and competency.
4 Models of voting behavior
Rational-choice voting, retrospective voting, prospective voting, party-line voting.
Keynesian Economics
Keynesian economics is a macroeconomic economic theory of total spending in the economy and its effects on output, employment, and inflation.
PAC
limited on funds they can receive.
Green Party
Left Side of Scale
MoveOn
MoveOn is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroots progressive campaigning communities in the United States, with a membership of millions.
5 functions of a political party
Nominate Candidates, Create Balance, Influence Policy, Inform Citizens, and Unite Government.
Nonpartisan election
Super Pac
Super PACs (independent expenditure only political committees) are committees that may receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and other PACs for the purpose of financing independent expenditures and other independent political activity.
libertarian
left sided
Green Peace USA
Greenpeace USA is the United States affiliate of Greenpeace, an international environmental nonprofit organization.
Role of minor parties in the US.
Can play a spoiler role in elections by taking critical votes from a major party
Issue advocacy
Issue advocacy ads (also known as interest advocacy ads or issue only ads) are communications intended to bring awareness to a certain problem. Groups that sponsor this form of communication are known by several names including: interest advocacy group, issue advocacy group, issue only group, or special interest group.
527 Group
A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 527). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates to federal, state or local public office.
Conservative
Right sided
Log Cabin Republicans
The Log Cabin Republicans is an organization within the Republican Party which advocates for equal rights for LGBT+ Americans.
3 major proposals to change the electoral college.
(1) the automatic plan, which would award electoral votes automatically and on the current winner-take-all basis in each state; (2) the district plan, as currently adopted in Maine and Nebraska, which would award one electoral vote to the winning ticket in each congressional district in each state, and each state’s two additional electoral votes awarded to the statewide popular vote winners; and (3) the proportional plan, which would award each state’s electoral votes in proportion to the percentage of the popular vote gained by each ticket.