Monetary & Fiscal Policy
This independent government agency is responsible for monetary policy.
What is the Federal Reserve Board?
This ideology generally supports limited government regulation of business and lower taxes.
What is conservative?
The right or privilege to vote in political elections.
What is suffrage?
These organizations can donate money directly to political campaigns but are limited by federal law in how much they can contribute.
What are Political Action Committees (PACs)?
Scientific polls typically use this type of questions response options because this format produces more reliable, comparable data across large samples.
What is closed-ended question?
This type of policy involves government decisions about taxing, spending, and borrowing.
What is fiscal policy?
The process by which individuals develop their political beliefs and values through family, school, peers, and media.
What is political socialization?
This system awards all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote in that state.
What is winner-take-all (or the Electoral College system)?
This type of money refers to political spending by groups not directly coordinated with a campaign, often untraceable to its source.
What is dark money?
This statistical technique ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being selected for a poll or survey.
What is a random sample?
According to Adam Smith, this metaphor describes how free markets regulate themselves without government intervention.
What is the invisible hand?
Structural barriers to third-party success on the federal level.
What is a combination of structural barriers at the federal level—including the Electoral College's winner-take-all system, expensive national campaigns, and lack of media coverage—that don't exist in local races where plurality voting and smaller constituencies give them better chances?
A caucus
What is a nominating method involves public gathering, open discussion, physical grouping by candidate preference, and potential realignment of supporters whose candidates fail to reach viability thresholds—making it more time-intensive and less accessible than secret ballot alternatives?
This type of money refers to unlimited donations to political parties for "party-building activities" that was banned by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.
What is soft money?
This type of poll uses misleading or loaded questions designed to influence respondents' opinions rather than measure them
What is a push poll?
What two tools does the Federal Reserve use to influence the economy?
What is controls the money supply and sets interest rates?
These economic policies, also called "trickle-down economics," focus on lowering taxes on the wealthy and businesses to stimulate economic growth.
What are supply-side economic policies?
This voting behavior involves citizens evaluating a candidate based on past performance rather than future promises.
What is retrospective voting?
Nixon's re-election committee's acceptance of illegal corporate contributions and use of secret slush funds for the Watergate break-in led to this, which established contribution limits and the Federal Election Commission.
What are the FECA amendments (or Federal Election Campaign Act reforms)?
This type of journalism focuses on who is winning and losing in elections rather than discussing policy issues and candidate positions.
What is horse-race journalism?
These two categories of federal spending include one that Congress must authorize each year and one that is automatically funded by existing laws like Social Security.
What are discretionary spending and mandatory spending (or entitlements)?
This economic approach supports increased government spending during recessions to stimulate the economy.
What is Keynesian economic policies?
These Constitutional amendments extended voting rights to African American men, allowed direct election of senators, gave women the vote, abolished poll taxes, and lowered the voting age to 18.
What are the 15th, 17th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments?
501(c)(4)s are able to avoid campaign finance regulation.
What is by classifying themselves as social welfare organizations under the tax code instead of political committees under election law, these groups avoid FEC disclosure requirements, accept unlimited anonymous donations, and influence elections through issue ads that don't use explicit words like "vote for" while still clearly supporting or opposing candidates?
This media function doesn't tell people what to think, but rather determines which issues the public considers important by choosing what stories to cover and how much attention to give them.
What is agenda setting?