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Mandate

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Perceptions of popular support for a program or policy based on the margin of electoral victory won by a candidate who proposed it during a campaign; direct federal orders to state and local governments requiring them to perform a service or to obey federal laws in the performance of their functions

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Retrospective Voting

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Voting for or against a candidate or party on the basis of past performance in office

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Prospective Voting

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Voting for or against a candidate or party on the expectations of their actions if they win

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Professionalism

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In politics, a reference to the increasing number of officeholders for whom politics is a full-time occupation

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Careerism

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In politics, a reference to people who started young working in politics, running for and holding public office, and who made politics their career

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Amateurs

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People who have not worked in politics or public service professions who run for public office

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Incumbents

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Candidates currently in office seeking reelection

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Reelection Rates

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Percentages of incumbents running for reelection who are successful

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Name Recognition

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Public awareness of a candidate- whether people even know his or her name

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Challengers

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In politics, a reference to people running against incumbent officeholders

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Franking Priviledge

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Free use of the U.S. mails granted to members of congress to promote communication with constitutents

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Campaign Strategy

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Plan for a political campaign, usually including a theme, an attempt to define the opponent or the issues, and an effort to coordinate images and messages in news broadcasts and paid advertising

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Voter Targeting

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The use of voting record, polling and market research data to identify and contact potential likely voters

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Negative Campaigning

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Speeches, commercials or advertising attacking a political opponent during a campaign

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Focus Group

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In a political context, a small number of people brought together in a comfortable setting to discuss and respond to themes and issues, allowing campaign managers to develop and analyze strategies

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Photo Ops

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Staged opportunities for the media to photograph the candidate in a favorable setting

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Sound Bites

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Concise and catchy phrases that attract media coverage

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Mobilize

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In politics, to activate supporters to work for candidates and turnout on election Day

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Issue Ads

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Ads that advocate policy positions rather than explicitly supporting or opposing particular candidates

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Political Action Committees (PAC's)

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Organizations that solicit and receive campaign contributions from corporations, unions, trade associations and issue-oriented groups, and their members and then distribute these funds to political candidates

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Federal Election Commission (FEC)

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Agency charged with enforcing federal election laws and disbursing public presidential campaign funds

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Soft Money

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Previously unregulated contributions to the parties, now prohibited; contributions to parties now limited

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Retail Politics

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Direct candidate contact with individual voters

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Spin Doctors

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Practitioners of the art of spin control, or manipulation of media reporting to favor their own candidate

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Front-End Strategy

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Presidential political campaign strategy in which a candidate focuses on winning early primaries to build momentum

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Front-Loading

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The scheduling of presidential primary elections early in the year

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Big-State Strategy

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Presidential political campaign strategy in which a candidate focuses on winning primaries in large states because of their high delegate counts

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Swing States

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States that are not considered to be firmly in the democratic or republican colum

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Electoral College

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The 538 presidential electors apportioned among the states according to their congressional representation (plus three for the district of Columbia) whose votes officially elect the president and vice president of the United States

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Solid South

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An empirical theory of American politics stating that when the former confederate states are unified and vote the same way, they determine who wins the presidency

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What is one condition that has to be met for elections to serve as policy mandates?

answer

Elected officials have to be bound by their campaign promises

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Retrospective voting is when individuals vote for or against an incumbent candidate to reward or punish that candidate's behavior in office. How does this serve democracy?

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Voters can hold officials accountable for policy decisions they made in the previous term

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In 1965, President Johnson said, \"The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice\". This was said after

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signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965

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What type of employment tends to be prevalent in politics?

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Lawyers

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Because of the increasing time demands and expertise required of political office, which of the following has emerged?

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An increase in the number of professional politicians rather than part-time citizen leaders

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Current officeholders are more likely to win than challengers because they have the advantage of

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name recognition and an established public image

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Which of these is an example of the franking privilege?

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An incumbent senator using the U.S. mail to distribute his or her re-election pamphlets without paying postage

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There's a good chance your hometown has the same House representative as it did when you were growing up. This is because a sitting representative has a much greater chance of being re-elected than a challenger, a phenomenon referred to as the ____________________________ advantage

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incumbency

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Which of the following is responsible for almost every logistical decision in a campaign?

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Campaign manager

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What is one of the current rules of political engagement?

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If attacked, hit back harder

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An effective one-liner, often taken from a message, is a

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sound bite

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Why would candidates refuse campaign funding from the federal government?

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Those candidates have to submit to other restrictions, fewer restrictions apply if candidates raise money independently

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The costs of running for office have been rising because of the professionalization of campaigns and the

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heavy costs of a media campaign, especially television airtime costs

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The rapid growth in the number of political action committees (PAC's) began

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following the campaign reforms of the 1970s

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The Constitutional rules governing the electoral college make which of these possible?

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The candidate who gets the most popular votes might not become president

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Presidential debates are a central feature of the general election campaign. An example of a presidential candidate who successfully used the power of television with a relaxed and confident manner in a debate versus an incumbent who seemed too rigid was

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Ronald Reagan in his debate with Jimmy Carter

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Which of the following has the most influence on voters in presidential contests, as opposed to other campaigns?

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Candidate image

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Which of the following is one of the major influences on voters in general elections?

answer

The economy

Chp. 8 GOVT

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