Unit 5 Flashcards by Emily Tange

State government is in charge
The Constitution left states in control of elections

Federal elections

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1870
Race can’t be a barrier to vote

15th amendment

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Direct election of senators
Gives citizens more power and can choose senators

17th amendment

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Gave women the right to vote

19th amendment

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Banned the use of poll taxes

24th amendment

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1965
Lowered the voting age to 18

26th amendment

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-rational choice voting
-retrospective voting
-prospective voting
-party - line voting

Structural barriers to voting

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A person who votes for a candidate whose policies benefit the voter

Rational choice voting

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*Backwards voting
Based on how the party has done in the past

Retrospective voting

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*Forward voting
Based on who you believe will handle the most important issues better

Prospective voting

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*Supporting a party
Voting for candidates from the same party for all public offices

Party-line voting

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-party identification is the best indicator
-political ideology
-candidate characteristics
-contemporary political issues

Voter choice

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A person’s belief that they can influence government and politics

Political efficacy

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Connect people to get to the government and the government to the people

Linkage institutions

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Focus on candidates as individuals, rather than party indifference

Candidate-centered politics

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A dramatic shift in party loyalty

Critical election

Dramatic, long-lasting shifts in party affiliation
-many people change political parties

Party realignment

A big region of the of the nation switches political parties

Regional realignment

Decline in party identification and loyalty
-people leave their parties and become independents

Party dealignment

Candidates are less reliant on the political party for money and are more independent to do as they wish

Campaign finance law

Organization that attempts to influence public policy

Interest groups

*Persuade political leaders to support the groups position
- testify at committee hearings
- draft legislation
- pressure legislators/ threaten fundraising support

Lobbyists/lobbying

People who benefit from a group’s efforts without joining

Free rider problem

Broad-based efforts to achieve major policy changes

Social movements

Residents can vote in either party’s primary

Open primary

Only registered party members can vote -ex. In Florida you have to register as one party in order to vote in primaries

Closed primary

A meeting of party members to choose a candidate (Iowa)

Caucus

Winner of the presidential office will officially take office as president

General elections

-Set out to limit amount of money involved in politics -banned “soft money” -soft money: contributions to a political party-building purposes, unlimited & unregulated -“Stand by your Ad”: made people put their name with their ads -banned direct contributions from corporations to candidates/campaigns

Bipartisan campaign reform act of 2002 (BCRA)

Supreme Court overruled BCRA including the ban on soft money - ruled BCRA violated 1st amendment -political spendings is a form of protected speech -corporations can’t give money directly to a candidate -have to create a super PAC -led to significant increase in money to campaigns

Citizens United v.s Federal Elections Commission (F.E.C) (2010) (Supreme Court case)

Private, usually set up by an interest group to raise money to elect a candidate

Political Action Committee (PAC)

*Independent-expenditure-only committee -corporations can give unlimited amount of money

Super PAC

The process through which information is filtered for dissemination

Gatekeeper

The idea of investigative journalism -reporters uncover problems to make sure things are being properly done in government -scrutinize and investigate politicians and government

Watchdog

Focuses on public opinion polls -citizens may be less informed instead of talking about issues, they focus on the poll -may lead to bandwagon effect- people might end up voting for whoever is winning

Horse race journalism

Many seek out sources that appeal to their personal beliefs -continuously getting our beliefs reinforced instead of being challenged on our viewpoints

Ideologically oriented news programming