US GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS – ELECTIONS UNIT REVIEW
Be familiar with the following terms from your textbook and/or class activities:
1. Investigative journalism: definition, purpose in context of political campaign
2. Party nomination: definition, how a candidate obtains their party’s nomination.
3. Linkage institution: definition, examples from groups in our simulated election.
4. Party convention: definition, purposes
5. Trial balloon: definition, purpose
6. Campaign strategy: What is involved (money, media, momentum), who is
involved
7. Presidential primaries – definition, purpose
8. Primary season: timing of primaries in states
9. Superdelegate: definition, who becomes one
10. Frontloading: definition in context of primary calendar
11. Campaign momentum: the “big mo”: definition, significance
12. Voting patters in primaries and caucuses versus general elections: who
bothers voting in each
13. Buckley v. Valeo (1976): impact on campaign finance
14. Hard money vs. soft money: definitions, examples, contrast between
15. Federal Elections Campaign Act: purpose, rules resulting from
16. Campaign team: roles, purposes of each role
17. Party Platform: definition, significance
18. 527 group: definition, purpose, famous examples
19. Voter participation: most versus least likely voters
20. Motor Voter Act of 1993: definition, significance
21. Voter Turnout: Factors influencing, compared to other industrialized nations
22. Campaign Strategy: How presidential candidates campaign to gain support in
the different regions of the US
23. Exit polls: definition, purpose
24. The Electoral College: What is it, weaknesses of, basis of each state’s number of
votes
25. Conservative vs. liberal beliefs about government
26. Interest groups: what are they, what do they do, how can they raise money
27. Federal regulation of political campaigns
28. Public opinion polls: definition
29. Political Socialization: definition, sources of
30. Electoral apportionment of votes: winner-take-all
31. Sequence of campaigns from start to finish.