Elections Vocab
The theorem that political candidates will move closer to median voter
Median Voter Theorem
Extension: How is this theory affected by primaries?
The system used for determining the winner of a presidential election
The electoral college
Extension: How are seats allocated in the electoral college?
The political model that various groups and ideologies compete for power, rather than having a dominant elite
Pluralism
Extension: Does this enhance/decrease democracy?
The collection of positions a party takes on crucial issues
A party platform
The process in which candidates are chosen for later elections
Primary elections
Extension: Why do parties use primaries?
The practice of states moving up their primaries
Front-loading
Extension: Do political parties like or dislike this?
The two parties present in the First Party System
The Federalists and Republicans
Extension: Who were the founders for each?
The name for a "bottom-up" popular movement
Grassroots movement
Extension: What is the name for an "artificial" grassroots movement?
Someone who represents an interest organization before the government
A lobbyist
Extension: What are the two types?
The practice of making voting decisions by reflecting on previous candidate/party performance
Retrospective voting
Extension: What is prospective voting?
Th supreme court case from this unit
Buckley v. Valeo
Extension: What did this case decide? (spending vs contribution limits)
The gradual shifts in voter allegiances from one party to another
Secular Realignment
Extension: From what party systems do we see secular realignment?
The three types of selective benefits provided by interest groups
Material, solidary, and purposive
Extension: What problem are selective benefits trying to solve?
The voting system in which the candidate with the most votes wins (regardless of majority or not)
First past the post
Extension: What happens in a majority system if no one gets the majority?
Political districts that elect one representative
Single member districts
Extension: What is the other type of district?
The three mechanisms of direct democracy
Initiative, referendum, and recall
Extension: What does each one mean?
Organizations that provide incentives (services, jobs, housing, etc.) in exchange for political support- often corrupt
Political Machines
Legal documents filled by groups external to a court case, hoping to influence the decision
An amicus curiae brief
The three parts to an iron triangle
Congressional committee, bureaucratic agency, and interest groups
Extension: Why are they called iron triangles?
The ballot that is standardized and displays all potential candidates
The Australian Ballot
Extension: What was voting like before?
The three goals of the invisible primary
Securing donations, staff, and endorsements
The phenomenon that winner-take-all elections lead to two-party systems
Duverger's Law
Extension: What is the reasoning behind this?
The theory that describes how interest groups are formed
Disturbance Theory
Extension: What does it say about the conditions that prompt group formation?
Laws that prevent previous lawmakers from immediately becoming lobbyists
Revolving door laws
Extension: What are these designed to do?
The observation that most Independents don't actually vote as Independent
Myth of the Independent Voter