| A | B |
|---|
| Politics | Struggle between various groups and citizens to control and influence the conduct and policies of government |
| Political Parties | A group of persons who seek to control government through winning elections |
| Nominating Function | Role of political parties; select candidates and present them to voters |
| Packaging | Sell candidate's to public |
| Informing and Activating Supporters | Role of political parties; Inform, inspire, and activate interest and participation |
| Bonding Agent | Role of political parties; Nominate people who are qualified and of good character |
| Watchdog Function | Role of political parties; Criticizes the policies and behavior of the party in power, serve as loyal opposition |
| Two-Party System | Party system present in the U.S. |
| Democrat Demographics | Minorities, female, less affluent |
| Republican Demographics | White, male, relatively affluent |
| Minor (3rd Parties) | Parties not in the two-party system that do not have widespread support |
| Spoiler Role | Effect of minor parties; pull away votes from one of the major parties, weakening that party's ability to win an election |
| Interest Groups | Any organized group whose members share a common goal and try to promote their interests by influencing government policy and decision-making |
| Lobbying | Organized effort to influence the government by persuading officials to favor or oppose action on a specific issue |
| Lobbyists | Speak to members of Congress and their staffs, testify before congressional committees, and offer comments at hearings held by executive agencies |
| Political Action Committees | Organization that raises and distributes funds to candidates running for office |
| Federal Election Commission | Develop and administer federal campaign laws |
| Soft Money | Requires no federal limits or reporting laws; Money given to State and local party organizations for "party building activities" |
| Hard Money | Money subject to reporting requirements and amount limits |
| Public Opinion | Phrase used to describe/suggest that all or most of American people hold the same view on some public issue |
| Mass Media | Means of communication that reaches a large audience |
| News | Relies on small armies of reporters, fact-checkers, and editors to research and report stories in accurate, unbiased manner |
| New Media | Includes talk radio, television talk shows, television news magazines, cable comedy shows spoofing news; unreliable source of information |
| Voter Qualifications | Citizenship, residence in state, 18 years of age, registration |
| Straight-ticket voting | Practice of voting for candidates of only one party in an election |
| Split-ticket voting | Practice of voting for the candidates of more than one party in an election; recent increase in this form of voting |
