| A | B |
|---|
| mandates | support for and/or commands relating to the policy stands that a constituency gives to its elected officials |
| caucus | a meeting of a group of like-minded persons to select the candidates they will support |
| equal time doctrine | a requirement set out in the Federal Communications Act of 1934 that if media makes air time available for one candidate, they must offer it to all |
| electoral college | group of persons chosen in each state and the district of columbia to make formal selection of the President and Vice President |
| party caucus | a meeting of party leaders and/or members to conduct certain party business |
| county | a major unit of local government in most states; created by the State chiefly to enforce State law |
| gerrymandering | the drawing of electoral district lines for partisan or other group advantage |
| at large | election of an officeholder by the voters of an entire governmental unit rather than by the voters of a district |
| off-year election | congressional or other general election held in the years between presidential election |
| coalition | an alliance of political groups |
| non partisan election | election held to fill nonpartisan offices (most often judicial, city, and school district offices) |
| franchise | suffrage or the right to vote |
| democracy | system of government in which supreme authority rests with the people (popular sovereignty, the people rule) |
| nomination | process of selecting (naming) candidates for office |
| blanket primary | a nominating election in which voters may switch from one party's primary to another on an office-to-office basis |
| direct primary | the most widely used method of making nominations in American politics; an intraparty nominating election; those who vote choose a party's candidates to run in the general election |
| initiative | petition process by which a certain percentage of voters can put a proposed constitutional amendment or statute on the ballot for popular approvial or rejection; available in inearly half of states |
| coattail effect | influence a popular candidate for top office (like president or governor) can have on the voters' support or other candidates of the same party on the same ballot |
| independents | voters who do not identify with or regularly support the candidtates of any particular party |
| apportionment | distribution of seats in a legislative body among electoral districts |
| electorate | all of the persons entitled to vote in a given election |
| constituents | all persons represented by a legislator or other elected officeholder |
| general election | regularly scheduled election at which the voters choose public officeholders |
| open primary | form of the direct primary in which any qualified voter may participate, without regard to his/her party allegiance |
| closed primary | form of the direct primary in which only party members may vote |
