CHAPTER NINE – POLITICAL PARTIES
KEY TERMS: Briefly define & identify.
1)
2)
3)
4)
2012 breakdown of party loyalty among voters
political party
3 political arenas where parties operate
factors explaining differences between American and European political parties:
a) federalism
b) primary elections
c) independent executive
5) 4 broad periods in the history of political parties:
a) first period – Jeffersonian Republicans vs. Federalists
b) second period – Democrats vs. Whigs
c) third period – early development of modern Republican party
d) fourth period – Progressive era reform ideas
6) critical (or realignment) periods (definition & examples)
7) split ticket v. straight ticket voting
8) office-bloc (Massachusetts) ballot
9) party-column (Indiana) ballot
10) national convention
11) national committee
12) congressional campaign committee
13) national chair
14) amounts spent by successful House & Senate candidates in 2012
15) practical result of changes to national conventions (next to last paragraph on p. 201)
16) political machine
17) Hatch Act
18) ideological parties
19) social movements
20) solidary groups
21) sponsored parties
22) personal following
23) two-party system
24) plurality system
25) winner-take-all feature
26) 4 types of minor parties:
a) ideological
b) one-issue
c) economic-protest
d) factional
27) conventional wisdom about impact of minor parties on American politics
28) the Tea Party movement goals
29) contrary forces facing major parties when nominating presidential candidates
30) difference between primaries & caucuses
31) post-convention “bounce”
32) dilemma for presidential candidates noted in last paragraph of the chapter
KEY IDEAS: Explain in depth.
1) Explain how the winner-take-all/plurality-based electoral system widely used in American
elections discourages the development of minor parties. (p. 206-7)
CHAPTER TEN – ELECTIONS & CAMPAIGNS
KEY TERMS: Briefly define & identify.
1) total amount of money spent during the 2012 election cycle
2) top category of campaign spending (figure 10.1, p. 220)
3) purposes of polling
4) 2 top needs of candidates for major offices
5) 2 phases of elections
6) differences between American and European democracies regarding the 2 phases of elections
7) 4 differences between presidential and congressional elections
8) incumbent
9) coattails
10) 4 steps to running a campaign for president
a) getting “mentioned”
b) raising money
c) setting up an organization
d) picking a strategy
11) % of House incumbents who have gotten reelected since 1962
12) malapportionment
13) gerrymandering
14) current size of the House
15) reapportionment
16) “sophomore surge”
17) 2 important effects of the way people get elected to Congress
18) delegates v. trustees
19) “clothespin vote”
20) difference between Democrats and Republicans regarding nominating the presidential
candidate with early front-runner status
21) position issue v. valence issue
22) qualifications for the House & Senate (box on p. 229)
23) spots & visuals
24) types of primary elections: (box on p. 231)
a) closed
b) open
c) blanket
d) run-off
25) risk of visuals & debates
26) chief consequence of the new style of campaigning
27) PACs
28) Super-PACs (box on p. 235)
29) 2 problems with the 1973 campaign finance law
a) independent expenditures
b) soft money
30) limit on how much of their own money a candidate can spend on their own campaign
31) 3 changes made by the BCRA
32) landmark campaign finance cases (box on p. 240)
33) 3 things that generally decide presidential elections in peacetime
34) 4 factors (along with money) that generally don’t make a difference in presidential elections
35) 4 advantages of incumbent members of Congress that make it hardly surprising that they
almost always win reelection
36) 3 reasons why Democrats don’t always win elections when more people claim to be
Democrats than Republicans
37) prospective voting v. retrospective voting
38) 3 ways in which campaigns make a difference
39) what “putting together a winning electoral coalition” means
40) groups generally loyal to the Democratic party
41) groups generally loyal to the Republican party
KEY IDEAS: Explain in depth.
1) Briefly summarize the 2012 election as presented on p. 237. Does this election fit with
Wilson’s thesis about retrospective voting? Explain.
2) Defend or refute this statement from p. 247: “Elections are meaningless [because] public
policy remains more or less the same no matter which official or party is in office.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN – INTEREST GROUPS
KEY TERMS: Briefly define & identify.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Interest group
PAC
lobbyist
4 factors which help explain the rise of interest groups
institutionalized interests
membership interests
3 types of incentives for joining an interest group
a) solidary
b) material
c) purposive
8) ideological interest group
9) public-interest lobby
10) social movements
11) 2 reasons many observers believe there is an “upper-class bias” to interest group politics
12) role of interest groups in supplying information to legislators
13) political cue
14) ratings
15) earmarks
16) insider vs. outsider strategy
17) grassroots lobbying
18) proportion of all money spent by House candidates in 2012 that was provided by PACs
19) what PAC money actually buys
20) revolving door
21) objective of “making trouble”
KEY IDEAS: Explain in depth.
1) Briefly summarize the 6 techniques used by interest groups to try and influence public
policy. (p. 263-71)
2) Defend or refute this statement: “Members of Congress are bought and paid for by
PAC money and it is the interest groups behind the PACs that really decide things
in America.”
CHAPTER TWELVE – THE MEDIA
KEY TERMS: Briefly define & identify.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
new media v. old media
% of adults under 30 who read a newspaper
Freedom of Information Act
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
2 potential limits to the freedom of privately-owned media outlets
5 periods in journalistic history
a) party press era
b) popular press
c) opinion magazines
i)
“muckrakers”
d) electronic journalism
i)
advantage and disadvantage to public officials
ii)
sound bite
e) the internet
i)
blog
ii)
6 ways in which the internet has profoundly affected politics
7) local orientation of American media
8) elements that make up the national press
9) 3 roles of the national press
a) gatekeeper
b) scorekeeper
c) watchdog
10) prior restraints
11) requirements for proving libel
12) situation in which government can compel a reporter to reveal a source
13) fairness doctrine
14) equal-time rule
15) market
16) horse-race journalism
17) 2 ways in which most members of the national press differ from the average citizen
18) 3 types of stories:
a) routine
b) feature
c) insider
19) trial balloon
20) loaded language
21) selective attention
22) White House press corps
23) C-SPAN
24) 2 reasons why we have so many leaks:
a) separation of powers
b) adversarial press
25) impact of increased competition in the media
26) 4 ways in which reporters and public officials communicate:
a) on the record
b) off the record
c) on background
d) on deep background
KEY IDEAS: Explain in depth.
1) Briefly review the 3 different roles that the media plays in our political system. (p. 284)
Briefly discuss a recent example of a news story that fits into each category.