Media
This is a critical election.
What is an election where major groups of Americans realign (switch from supporting one political party to another).
What is the free-rider problem?
When someone benefits from an interest group's lobbying efforts without contributing to the interest group's efforts.
This is horse-race journalism.
What is media coverage of elections that focuses only on polls and not on policy issues and platforms?
What is incumbency advantage?
Incumbents (people already serving in Congress) are very likely to win reelection.
These are the three sides of an iron triangle.
Congressional committees, executive agencies/bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups.
This is the impact of horse-race journalism on America's political knowledge.
Americans know less about policy and candidate's platforms because media coverage of campaigns focuses only on polls.
This is one of the causes of the incumbency advantage?
What is name-recognition, fundraising advantage, and franking priveleges?
Who do iron triangles have the potential to harm?
Citizens because their government overspends on government programs that benefit a specific interest group.
During a primary, the candidate is often more politically polarized to capture party voters, but becomes more moderate during the general election to capture the support of independent and moderate voters.