| A | B |
|---|
| 15th Amendment | free slaves can vote |
| 17th Amendment | direct election of Senators |
| 19th Amendment | woman can vote |
| 24th Amendment | outlawed poll taxes |
| 26th Amendment | 18 year olds can vote |
| Reapportionment | process of dividing the number of state legislators and congressional representatives among a state's population in order to assure, as close as possible, districts of equal size |
| Redistricting | the actual drawing of legislative boundaries |
| Gerrymandering | the deliberate re-drawing of legislative districts that favors one political party and heavily influences the outcome of elections |
| Political Culture | the fundamental value that people have about their government and how these values translate into patterns of voting |
| Political Socialization | how people acquire their political values that influences which party they will support and which candidate(s) they vote for; family is the primary influence; also includes: income, occupation, school/level of education, sex, age, religious and ethnic background; region of the country |
| Party Identification | a voter's preference and loyalty to a political party |
| Democratic Party Electoral Coalition | Demographic groups that tend to vote for Democrats (based on exit polling): African Americans, Jews, Women, Union Members, Urbanites, people with lower incomes |
| Republican Party Electoral Coalition | Demographic groups that tend to vote for Republicans (based on exit polling): Men, White Protestants, business and corporate executives, people living in rural areas, people with higher incomes |
| Motor Voter Act (193) | register to vote while applying for or renewing your driver's license |
| Voter turnout in Presidential elections | hovers around 50% (since the 1960s) |
| Divided Government | one party has the White House, the other party has the Congress |
| Incumbency | candidate running for re-election for the office they are currently holding; re-election rates for incumbents are very high (higher in the House than the Senate) |
| Public Opinion Polls | used to measure the attitude and views of the people on issues ranging from presidential/congressional job approval the right/wrong direction of the nation and the presidential "horse race," as well as views on specific policy issues |
| Dark horse | the candidate for office who is not considered the likely choise and starts out at the back of the pack |
| Presidential Job Approval Ratings | determined thorough public opinion polling; is a "snapshot" in time and will often vary from month to month |
| Exit Polls | poll of randomly selected voters that is taken outside hte voting area, after the voter leaves that area. Used by the media as early indicators of who is winning the election |
| Faithless Electors | those people who were designated as voters in the Electoral College and decided not to cast their vote for the party's candidate |
