Unit 4: Chapter 9: Elections, Campaigns, and Voting

Question 1

Grassroots organizing

Answer 1

A grass-roots organization focuses on the citizens or ‘common people’ to help with a specific agenda item or movement.

Question 2

general election

Answer 2

an election that determines which candidates win the offices being sought

Question 3

Caucuses

Answer 3

meeting of party members held to select delegates to the national convention

Question 4

Open primary

Answer 4

a type of primary in which both parties ballots are available in the voting booth, and voters select one on which to register their preferences

Question 5

Closed primary

Answer 5

a type of primary in which voting in a party’s primary is limited to members of that party

Question 6

Front loading

Answer 6

Choosing an early date to hold the primary election

Question 7

super tuesday

Answer 7

the tuesday in early march on which the most primary elections are held, many of them in southern states

Question 8

runoff elections

Answer 8

a follow up election held when no candidates receives the majority of votes cast in the original election

Question 9

instant runoff elections

Answer 9

a special runoff election in which the computerized voting machines stimulates the elimination of last place vote getters

Question 10

Referendum

Answer 10

an election in which voters in a state can vote for or against a measure proposed by the state legislature

Question 11

initiative

Answer 11

A citizen sponsored proposal that can result in new or amended legislation or a state constitutional amendment

Question 12

proposition

Answer 12

a proposed measure placed on the ballot in an initiative eletion

Question 13

recall

Answer 13

a special election in which voters can remove office holders before their term is over

Question 14

Australian ballot

Answer 14

used in USA, a secret ballot prepared by govt, distributed to all eligible voters and when ballot is completed, counted by the govt officials in an unbiased fashion, without corruption or regard to individual preferences

Question 15

party column ballot

Answer 15

a ballot that organizes the candidates by political parties (one column one party and the other party, another column)

Question 16

coattail effect

Answer 16

the phenomenon by which candidates running for a lower level office such as city council benefit in an election from the popularity of a top ticket nominee

Question 17

office block ballot

Answer 17

a type of ballot that arranges all the candidates for a particular office under the name of that office

Question 18

absentee voting

Answer 18

casting a ballot in advance by mail in situations where illness, travel, or other circumstances prevent voters from voting in their precinct

Question 19

campaign consultants

Answer 19

paid professional who specializes in the overall management of political campaign or an aspect of campaigns

Question 20

campaign manager

Answer 20

a professional whose duties include a variety of strategic and managerial tasks, from fund raising to staffing a campaign

Question 21

Hatch Act

Answer 21

a congressional law that forbade government officials from participating in partisan politics and protected government employees from being fired on partisan grounds; it was revised in 1993 to be less restrictive

Question 22

Selective service act

Answer 22

independent federal agency in the executive branch. Selective Service works to register all males in the United States, between the ages of 18 1/2 to 26,to make sure that the Armed Forces can be adequately supplied with people in case of a crisis in national security.

Question 23

campaign strategy

Answer 23

blueprint for the campaign, includ, a budget and fund raising plan, advertising strategy, and staffing plan

Question 24

fund raising consultant

Answer 24

a professional who works with candidates to ID likely contributors to the campaign and arrange events and meetings with donors

Question 25

media consultant

Answer 25

a professional who brings the campaign message to voters by creating handouts and all forms of media ads

Question 26

Super PACS

Answer 26

Officially known as “independent-expenditure only committees,” these may not make contributions to candidate campaigns or parties, but may engage in unlimited political spending independently of the campaigns. Also, unlike traditional PACs, they can raise funds from corporations, unions and other groups, and from individuals, without legal limits.

Question 27

independent expenditures

Answer 27

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an independent expenditure.

Question 28

FECA

Answer 28

A US federal law that increased disclosure of contributions for federal campaigns. It was amended in 1974 to place legal limits on the campaign contributions. The amendment also created the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Question 29

FEC

Answer 29

An independent regulatory agency founded in 1975 by the US Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the US. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). It describes its duties as “to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of presidential elections.”

Question 30

Buckley v Valeo

Answer 30

The Court Upheld a federal law which set limits on campaign contributions, but ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and struck down portions of the law.

Question 31

soft money

Answer 31

Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Question 32

Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform act of 2002

McCain-Feingold

Answer 32

banned soft money contributions to national political parties from corporations and unions; independent expenditures by corporations, labor unions, trade associations, and nonprofit organizations are sharply restricted, The elimination of “soft money”

Question 33

527 groups

Answer 33

a tax exempt group that raises money for political activity

Question 34

citizens united v. FEC

Answer 34

2010 supreme court decision, provision to BCRA prohibiting unions/corporations/non-profit organizations from broadcasting electioneering communications within 60 days of general election or 30 days of primary election violates the free speech clause of the 1st amendment

Question 35

prospective voting

Answer 35

voting for a candidate because you favor his or her ideas for handling issues

Question 36

retrospective voting

Answer 36

voting for a candidate because you like his or her past actions in office

Question 37

salient

Answer 37

Having resonance, in relation to a voting issue, reflecting intense interest.

Question 38

incumbency

Answer 38

the fact that being in office helps a person stay in office because of a variety of benefits that go with the position

Question 39

voter fatigue

Answer 39

The condition in which voters grow tired of all candidates by the time Election Day arrives, and may thus be less likely to vote.

Question 40

rational abstention thesis

Answer 40

A theory that some individuals decide the costs of voting are not worth the effort when compared to the benefits.

Question 41

What are the diff types of elections?

Answer 41

primary (open and closed)
general
referendum
initiative
recall

Question 42

how do elections link people to govt?

Answer 42

it is a linkage institution

*allows them (citizens) to voice their opinions to govt

Question 43

How have elections changed from 1980’s to 1990’s?

Answer 43

• professionalism (meaning managers, etc)
• candidate centered campaigns
• technology involved more
• campaigns use money to influence more

Question 44

Why is regulating financing so difficult?

Answer 44

because it deals with freedoms (considered freedom of speech)

Question 45

why do people choose not to vote?

Answer 45

• lack of efficacy
• long lines
• voter fatigue
• negative campaigns

Question 46

Explain some factors that influence voting?

Answer 46

• education
• age
• race
• income