GOVERNMENT VOCABULARY--CHAPTERS 5- 7 POLITICAL BEHAVIOR: GOVT. BY THE PEOPLE

PARTY TIME Political Partya group of persons who seek to control government through the winning of elections and the holding of public office. Major Partiesthe two major parties are the Republican and Democratic parties Partisanshipthe strong support of their party and its policy stands Party in powerthe party that controls the executive branch -i.e. the presidency at the national level, or the governorship at the state level two-party systema political system dominated by two major parties bipartisansupported by two parties independentsterm used to identify those people who have no party affiliation

Republican?Democrat?Independent? Libertarian?Tea Party?Whig?Do-Nothing?

I WANNA BE ELECTED incumbentcurrent officeholder Coattail Effectoccurs when a strong candidate running for an office at the top of the ballot helps attract voters to other candidates on the party's ticket VOTING & POLLS COMBINED TERMS: gerrymanderingthe practice of drawing electoral district lines in order to limit one voting strength of a particular group or activity

Politician?Puppet?Puppet Master? Patrician?Pawnbroker? Humanitarian?NOBEL PRIZE WINNER?

THOSE WHO VOTE -- electoratethe people eligible to vote transientperson living in the state for only a short time registrationa procedure of voters identification intended to prevent fraudulent voting voter apathyused to describe a perceived "lack of caring" in voters Political efficacythe lack of any feeling of influence or effectiveness in politics Political Socializationprocess by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions gender gapmeasureable differences between the partisan choices of men and women today. party identificationthe loyalty of people to a particular political party

Your vote counts! Use it – it might be all the power you have & it’s your right

VOTING precinctthe smallest unit of election administration or a voting district off-year electionsin the congressional elections held in the even-numbered years, between presidential elections. split-ticket votingthe practice of voting for the candidates of more than one party in an election. straight-ticket votingthe practice of voting for candidates of only one party in an election closed primaryparty's nominating election in which only declared party members can vote. open primaryparty's nominating election in which any qualified voter can cast a ballot Absentee votingprocess by which they could vote without actually going to their polling places on election day Ballotthe device by which a voter registers a choice in an election

IF YOU DON’T VOTE, DON’T GRIPE!

LAWS purgestate law directs local election officials to review the lists of registered voters and to remove the names of those who are no longer eligible to vote Civil Rights Act of 1964forbids the use of any voter registration or literacy requirement in an unfair or discriminatory manner Voting Rights Act of 1965made the 15th amendment, at long last, a truly effective part of the constitution preclearancemandated by voting rights act of 1965, the prior approval by the justice department of changes to or new election laws by certain states injunctioncourt order that either compels (forces) or restrains (limits) the performance of some act by a private individual or by a public official

An unlikely hero – Texan President LBJ – signed the Civil Rights Acts of ‘64-65

THE POLLS (places to vote …) poll booksthe official lists of qualified voters in each precinct Election daymost states hold their election day on same date Congress has set for national elections: in November of every even-numbered year. "Tuesday-after-the-first-Monday Polling placethe place where the voters who live in a precinct actually vote THE LAWS & POLLS COMBINED TERMINOLGY: poll taxa special tax demanded by states as a condition for voting

In the “old days” a ballot was cast into a box – nowadays it’s computer-based

$$MONEY!!!!$$ (a.k.a. – filthy lucre) Political Action Committee (PAC's)the political arms of special-interest and other organizations with a stake in electoral politics Subsidya grant of money, usually from a government Hard Moneymoney raised and spent on elect candidates for congress and the white house Soft Moneyfunds given to party organizations for such "party-building activities" as candidate recruitment, voter registration, and get-out-the-vote drives, and similar efforts

Big-time politics involves HUGE $, for instance, the 2012 Presidential campaign raised upwards of $2 BILLION!!!!