Political party-organized group which seeks to win elections in order to influence the activities of government Democrat-federalist party, symbol is the donkey, supportive of minorities, small businesses, civil rights, public education, Social Security, healthcare for everyone Republican –anti-federalist party, symbol is the elephant, supports corporations, school choice, home ownership, and the military Third parties-any party other than the two major parties, often champion individual issues (like the Green Party) Independent-not affiliated with any party

Precinct-smallest unit for administering elections and voting Ward-voting district made up of several precincts State committee-committee running election for state made up of numerous wards National convention-Convention where states bring their candidates together to vote to select the candidate for the national campaign National committee-runs the national convention and national political party

Moderate-in the middle between liberal and conservative Moderate-in the middle between liberal and conservative. Most swing voters are moderates. Liberal-seeks change, supports strong national government, usually Democrat Conservative-seeks tradition, prefers smaller national government, usually Republican

Platform-a political parties stand on important goals Plank –individual issues which make up the platform Ideologies-underlying belief system and ideology of a party Gridlock-political traffic jam; when Congress gets nothing done because of disagreements

Patronage-people supporting parties are then supported by them; elected officials may place in office those people who worked on their campaigns Two party system-Two parties compete with each other, represent multiple issues, and are dominant over other parties. Precinct captain-leader in the smallest political unit in an election.