| A | B |
|---|
| political party | a group of individuals having some measure of ideological agreement who organize to win elections in order to determine public policy |
| politics | the art of satisfying one's own interests by persuading others to follow a particular course of action |
| coalition | an alliance of individuals and groups with a variety of interests |
| grass roots | local support or effort directed toward an interest group or political party |
| patronage | appointing people to political jobs on the basis of service to the party rather than any qualifications or merits |
| states' rights | powers belonging to individual states, under the Constitution; the concept that the individual states, rather than the federal government, hold the ultimate political power in the United States |
| two-party system | the division of voter loyalties between two major political parties, resulting in the virtual exclusion of minor parties from competing with the major parties or sharing in political power |
| third party | a minor party that is usually formed around a single issue or ideology and is more important for the message that it communicates than the votes it accumulates |
| platform | political party's official position on major issues used to win support during political campaigns |
| plank | one part of the party's platform; the party's official position on a single issue such as national defense or federal spending |
| independent | a voter who is not aligned with either of the major two political parties and prefers to cast his or her ballot for the best candidate |
