Ch. 9 Political Parties – Flashcards

Broad coalitions of individuals who organize to win elections in order to enact a commonly supported set of public policies

Document that lays out a party's core beliefs and policy proposals for each presidential election

Percentage of voters who are likely to choose a party's candidates in an election

Members of the government who share the same party affiliation and work together to accomplish the party's electoral and policy goals

Internal Structure of a political party at the city, county, state, and federal levels

Attachment or allegiance to a political party; partisanship

Enrollment required prior to voting to establish eligibility

Group of party members in a legislature

Top level of national political parties; coordinates national presidential campaigns

Occupant of elected office

Top level of state political parties; helps recruit and raise money for statewide candidates and drafts state party policies

First level of political parties; recruits candidates for lower level elected office, registers voters sand ensures they get to the polls on election day

Elections in which voters select candidates who will run on the party label in the general election; also called direct primary

Election held after an initial primary in which voters select from the top two primary candidates, guaranteeing

Election in which voters choose their elected officials

Primary election in which the voter must affiliate with a party before casting a vote

Primary election in which party-affiliated voters cast votes and non affiliated voters can choose which party's primary vote in

Primary election in which voters do not have to affiliate with a party before leaving

List of candidates who are running for elected office, used by voters to make their choices.

Individual selected by party voters in a primary or caucus election who is committed to supporting a particular presidential nominee at the party's national nominating convention.

Meeting of party members in town halls, schools, and even private homes to choose a presidential party nominee

Electoral System in which whoever wins the most votes in an election wins the election

Democratic Party commission whose reforms of the party's presidential nominating system increased access by underrepresented groups.

Electoral system that assigns multiple seats to a geographic district according to the proportion of votes a political party receives in an election `

Democratic Party delegates who have a vote at the national nominating convention on the basis of party status or position in government and are free to support the presidential nominee of their choice

Holding many primaries simultaneously early in the year

Defined by Madison as any group that places its own interests above the aggregate interests of society

Initially, those who supported the Constitution during the ratification period; later, the name of the political party established by supporters of Alexander Hamilton

Those who opposed the new proposed Constitution during the ratification period

Political party formed by Thomas Jefferson to oppose the strong central government policies of the Federalists

Political party formed to oppose the Jackson Democrats

Grassroots movement too abolish slavery

minor political parties that present a third alternative to the two dominant political parties in the American political system

Political system in which government programs and benefits are awarded based on political loyalty to a party or politician

Party organization leader who controlled the distribution of public funds by rewarding party supporters and punishing party opponents

Party organization dominated by a "boss" who controlled the distribution of public jobs and commanded groups of voters to support his preferred candidates

Coalitions Democrats and Republicans who believed that government had been captured by corrupt elites who were using government resources to enrich themselves rather than serve citizens

System of employment in the federal bureaucracy under which employees are chosen and promoted based on merit

Voting system in which state governments run elections and provide voters the option of choosing candidates from multiple parties; also called the secret ballot

Theory that if voters select candidates on the basis of ideology and everyone participates equally; then in a two-party race, the party closer to the middle will win

Ideological viewpoint that falls between liberal and conservative , can be associated with Democrats or Republicans. and does not hold consistently strong ideas about whether government should be involved in people's lives

Electoral system that assigns one seat in a legislative body to represent citizens who live in a defined area to districts based on which candidate wins the most votes

Vote in which the winner needs to win more votes than any other candidate

Vote in which the winner needs to win 50 percent + 1 of the votes cast.

Voter or candidate who is not affiliated with a political party

Voter identification with a political party in repeated elections

FDR's program for ending the Great Depression through government intervention in the economy and a set of safety-net programs for workers

Ideological viewpoint that has faith in government to improve people's lives, believing that private efforts are insufficient. in the social sphere, liberals usually support diverse lifestyles and tend to oppose any government action that seeks to shape personal choices

Ideological viewpoint that distrusts government, believing that private efforts are more likely to improve people's lives. in the social sphere, conservatives usually support traditional lifestyles and tend to believe government can play a valuable role in shaping personal choices

Long-term shift in voter allegiance from one party to another

A reluctance by voters to identify themselves with either party, often accompanied by increased split-ticket voting

Practice of voting for candidates from different parties for different elected offices in a single election

Parties that offer the electorate a clear and distinct range of policies and programs, thus providing voters a means for holding the party in government accountable for policy outcomes

Voting in Congress according to party position, so that a majority of one party votes against a majority of the other party