Unit 5 Vocabulary

Interest Group

• An organized group of individuals sharing common objectives who actively attempt to influence policymakers.

Lobbyist

• An organization or individual that attempts to influence the passage, defeat, or contents of legislation and the administrative decisions of government

Social Movement

• A movement that represents the demands of a large segment of the public for political, economic, or social change

Free Rider Problem

• Occurs when people benefit from an interest group’s efforts without making any contributions

Solidary Incentive

• A reason or motive having to do with the desire to associate with others and to share with others a particular interest or hobby.

Material Incentives

• A reason or motive having to do with economic benefits or opportunities.

Purposive Incentives

• A reason or motive having to do with ethical beliefs or ideological principals.

Labor Movement

• The full range of economic and political expression of working-class interests

Public Interest

• The best interests of the collective, overall community
• The national good, rather than the narrow interests of a self-serving group.

Direct Technique

• An interest group activity that involves interaction with government officials to further the group’s goals.

Indirect Technique

• A strategy employed by interest groups that uses third parties to influence government officials.

Boycott

• A form of pressure or protest
• An organized refusal to purchase a particular product or deal with a particular business.

Independent

• A voter or candidate who does not identify with a political party

Political Party

• A group of political activists who organize to win elections, operate the government, and determine public policy.

Faction

• A group or bloc in a legislature or political party acting together in pursuit or some special interest or position.

Two-Party System

• A political system in which inly two parties have a reasonable chance of winning.

Era of Good Feelings

• The years from 1817 to 1825, when James Monroe was president and there was, in effect, no political opposition.

Democratic Party

• One of the two major American political parties that evolved out of the Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson

Whig Party

• A major party in the United States during the first half of the 1800’s, formally established in 1836.
• Dominated by anti-Jackson elements and represented a variety or regional interests.
• It fell apart as a national party in the early 1850’s.

Republican Party

• One of the two major American political parties.
• It emerged in the 1850’s as an antislavery party. It consisted of former northern Whigs and antislavery democrats.

Reverse-Income Effect

• A tendency for wealthier states or regions to favor democrats and for less wealthy states or regions to favor the Republicans.
• The effect appears paradoxical because it reverses traditional patterns of support.

Party-In-The-Electorate

• Those members of the general public who identify with a political party or who express a preference for one party over another.

Party Organization

• The formal structure and leadership of a political party, including election committees; local, state, and national executives; and paid professional staff

Party-In-Government

• Elected members of a party in the legislative and executive branch

National Convention

• The meeting held every four years be each major party to select presidential and vice presidential candidates, to write a platform, to choose a national committee, and to conduct party business.
• The national convention is at the top of the hierarchy of party conventions that consider candidates and issues.

Party Platform

• A document drawn up by the platform committee at each national convention, outlining the policies, positions, and principles of the party; it is then submitted to the entire convention for approval.

National Committee

• A standing committee of a national political party established to direct and coordinate party activities during the four-year period between national party conventions.

State Central Committee

• The principal organized structure of each political party within each state.
• This committee is responsible for carrying out policy decisions of the party’s state convention.

Patronage

• Rewarding faithful party workers and followers with government employment and contracts.

Divided Government

• Legislature controlled by one political party and the executive controlled by the other party
• Most likely effect of ticket splitting

Ticket Splitting

• Voting for candidates of two or more parties for different offices.
• i.e. Voting for democratic president and republican senator.
• Sign of weakened political party
• Divided Government

Safe Seat

• A district that returns the legislator with 55% of the vote or more.

Plurality

• Total votes cast for a candidate who receives more votes than any other candidate but not necessarily a majority.
• Most national, state, and local electoral laws provide for winning elections by a plurality vote.

Electoral College

• A body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.
• Gives the House of Representatives the power to determine who will be president if no candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes.
• Maine and Nebraska are only states without winner-take-all policy

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Third Party

• A political party other than the two major political parties.
• Sometimes, third parties are composed of dissatisfied groups that have split from the major parties.
• They act as indicators of political trends and as safety valves for dissident groups.

Splinter Party

• A new party formed by a dissident faction within a major political party.
• Usually, splinter parties have emerged when a particular was at odds with the major party.

Realignment

• A process in which a substantial group of voters switches party allegiance, producing a long-term change in the political landscape.

Dealignment

• A decline in party loyalties that reduces long-term party commitment
• Increased number of registered independents is a clear indicator

Party Identification

• Linking oneself to a particular political party

Straight-Ticket Voting

• Voting exclusively for the candidates of one party

Swing Voters

• Voters who frequently swing their support from one party to another.

Tipping

• A phenomenon that occurs when a group that is growing in population becomes large enough to change the political balance in a district, state, or country.
• Increase in Hispanic voters in both Arizona and Texas could lead to those two states becoming contested in presidential elections sometime soon

Amicus Curiae Brief

• A brief (document containing a legal argument supporting a desired outcome in a particular case) filed by a third party, or amicus curiae (Latin for “friend of the court”), who is not directly involved in the litigation but who has an interest in the outcome of the case.

Coalition Building

• The process by which different groups or individuals come together for a particular cause or legislation

Political/Party Machine

• Well organized political organization that controls election results by awarding jobs and other favors in exchange for votes
• Local party organizations that dispensed patronage in the 19^th and 20^th century