| A | B |
|---|
| representative government | system of government in which public policies are made by officials who are selected by the voters and held accountable to them in periodic elections |
| political action committee | political arm of a special interest group that seeks to influence elections and public policy decisions |
| winner-take-all system | an almost obsolete system whereby the presidential aspirant who wins the preference vote in a primary automatically wins the support of all the delegates in the primary |
| recall | petition process by which voters can remove an elected state or local official from office |
| precinct | a local voting district |
| representative democracy | a stystem of government in which the people elect officials to represent them in making laws and running the government |
| platform | written declaration of the principles and policies of a political party |
| straw vote | unscientific measurement of public opinion |
| quota sample | a group chosen to be interviewed on which members of each of several groups are included in proportion to their percentage in the total population |
| township | a term used for subdivision of a county in states in the midwest and the northeast |
| presidential primary | election at which a party's voters chose some or all of a state party organization's delegates to that party's convention and/or express a preference among various contenders for the party's presidential nomination |
| sample | in scientific polling, a small number of people chosen as a representative cross-section of the total population to be measured |
| registration | process by which voters establish their eligibility to vote in elections also known as enrollment |
| plurality | in an election, at least one more vote than that received by any other candidate; it may or may not be a majority of the total vote |
| random sample | in scientific polling, a sample to be interviewed drawn such that each member of the population has an equal chance to be included in it |
| split-ticket voting | voting for candidates of more than one party in the same election |
| political party | organized group that seeks to control government through winning of elections and the holding of public office |
| referendum | process in which a measure passes by legislature is submitted to the voters for final approval or rejections; may be mandatory, optional or popular in form |
| ward | local unit of party organization; also a district within a city for council elections |
| single-member district | electoral district from which a single officeholder is chosen by the voters |
| polling place | particular location where those voters who live in a particular area vote in an election |
| reapportionment | redistribution of political representation on the basis of population changes, usually after a census |
| suffrage | the right to vote |
| runoff primary | a second primary, involving the two front-runners in the first contest; held whre, as in the south, state election law requires a majority vote |
| presidential electors | the person elected by the voters to represent them in making a formal selection of the President and Vice President |
| public opinion poll | a formal survey of public attitudes |
| term | the specified length of time served by elected officials in their elected office |
| straight-ticket voting | voting for candidates; the candidates of only one party in an election |
