AP Unit 5 Flashcards
(20 cards)
Political Efficacy:
The belief that your vote matters and you can influence government.
Structural Barriers:
Rules or laws that make it harder to vote (example: strict ID laws, limited polling places).
Rational-Choice Voting:
Voting based on what benefits you personally.
Retrospective Voting:
Voting based on how well you think a party/candidate has done in the past.
Prospective Voting:
Voting based on what you think a candidate/party will do in the future.
Party-Line Voting:
Voting for only one party across all elections (Example: only Democrats or only Republicans).
Ideological Orientation:
Your personal political beliefs (liberal, conservative, libertarian, etc.).
Candidate Characteristics:
Things about the candidate (personality, experience, honesty) that affect your vote.
Contemporary Political Issues:
Current hot topics (like abortion, healthcare, immigration) that influence how people vote.
Interest Groups:
A group that tries to influence government decisions to support their cause or interests.
Free Rider Problem:
When individuals get the benefits of something (like public goods) without contributing, causing issues for funding and fairness.
People using a public park without helping maintain it
Caucuses
Meetings where voters gather and discuss before choosing candidates.
Party Conventions:
Big official events where parties formally nominate their candidates.
Professional Consultants:
Experts hired to help run campaigns (ads, fundraising, strategies).
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA):
Introduced the “Stand by Your Ad” rule (“I’m [Name], and I approve this message”).
PACs (Political Action Committees):
Organizations that raise and spend money to influence elections.
“Horse Race” Journalism:
Focusing on who’s winning or losing instead of the candidates’ ideas or qualifications.
Gerrymandering
politicians redraw voting maps to unfairly help their own party win more elections.
Trustee
A trustee is someone who makes decisions based on what they think is best for the people, even if it’s not exactly what the people want.
War powers resolution
The War Powers Resolution (also called the War Powers Act) is a law passed in 1973 to limit the president’s power to send U.S. troops into combat without approval from Congress
