Election Essentials
An election to select a candidate for a certain political party in which only members of said party can vote
what is a closed primary
Organizations that distribute campaign contributions to election candidates.
What are Political Action Committees
Which Federal Executive Agency regulates the media?
What is the Federal Communications Commision (FCC)
Which Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971?
What is the Twenty-Sixth Amendment?
This is where most political parties in the US decide on their candidates for the presidency
The biggest factor that impacts a candidates re-election
what is the incumbency advantage
These groups often persuade elected officials to support policy in their favor.
What are Grassroots Organizations?
Voting for one political party for every candidate up for election
what is straight ticket voting or party line voting?
This is the system used by 48 states in presidential election
winner takes all system
Television became extremely important in political campaigns beginning in
1960 (JFK & NIXON)
Journalism that focuses solely on who is ahead in the polls, instead of on a candidate’s agenda.
What is “horse race” journalism
Where is a presidential election decided if no candidate receives an electoral college majority
What is the House of Representatives?
A system under which the leading candidate, regardless of a majority, is elected
plurality election
The Supreme Court Case that ruled that corporate funding of independent political ads in candidate elections cannot be limited under the first amendment
what is Citizens United v. FEC
Money that is spent in support of a candidate, without directly donating to the campaign.
What is soft money?
Give an example of a historical barrier to voting rights even after a group is legally given the right to vote
What is a poll taxe, literacy tests, grandfather clause etc.
This disloyal term refers to a member of the electoral college who does not vote for the candidate they had pledged to vote for
Faithless Elector
A re-election strategy that gets constituent support by solving the issues specific people have with government agencies and programs
What is casework?
What role would the media be playing if they were to expose a presidential scandal that would lead to the calling of impeachment?
What is Scorekeeper?
When voters consider a candidate’s past actions in deciding who to support, they are engaging in this
What is retrospective voting?