Test 1 Govt: Chapter 8 Terms

Front 1

Mandate

Back 1

Perception of popular support for a program or policy based on the margin of electoral victory won by a candidate who proposed it during a campaign.

Front 2

Retrospective Voting

Back 2

Voting for or against a candidate or party on the basis of past performance in office.

Front 3

Professionalism

Back 3

In politics, a reference to the increasing number of officeholders whom politics is a full-time occupation.

Front 4

Careerism

Back 4

In politics, a reference to people who started young working in politics, running for and holding public office, and made politics their career.

Front 5

Incumbents

Back 5

Candidates currently in office seeking reelection.

Front 6

Reelection Rates

Back 6

Percentages of incumbents running for reelection who are successful.

Front 7

Name Recognition

Back 7

Public awareness of a political candidate-whether they are familiar with his or her name.

Front 8

Challengers

Back 8

In politics, a reference to people running against incumbent officeholders.

Front 9

Franking Privilege

Back 9

Free use of the U.S. mails granted to members of Congress to promote communication with constituents.

Front 10

Campaign Strategy

Back 10

Plan for a political campaign, usually including a theme, an attempt to define the opponent or the issues, and an effort to coordinate images and messages in news broadcasts and paid advertising.

Front 11

Negative Campaigning

Back 11

Speeches, commercials, or advertising attacking a political opponent during a campaign.

Front 12

Focus Group

Back 12

In a political context, a small number of people brought together in a comfortable setting to discuss and respond to themes and issues, allowing campaign managers to develop and analyze strategies.

Front 13

Photo Ops

Back 13

Staged opportunities for the media to photograph the candidate in a favorable setting.

Front 14

Sound Bites

Back 14

Concise and catchy phrases that attract media coverage.

Front 15

Mobilize

Back 15

In politics, to activate supporters to work for candidates and turn out on Election Day.

Front 16

Issue Ads

Back 16

Ads that advocate policy positions rather than explicitly supporting or opposing particular candidates.

Front 17

Political Action Committees (PACs)

Back 17

Organizations that solicit and receive campaign contributions from corporations, unions, trade associations, and ideological and issue-oriented groups, and their members, then distribute these funds to political candidates.

Front 18

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Back 18

Agency charged with enforcing federal election laws and disbursing public presidential campaign funds.

Front 19

Soft money

Back 19

Previously unregulated contributions to the parties, now prohibited, individual contributions to parties now limited.

Front 20

Retail Politics

Back 20

Direct candidate contact with individual voters.

Front 21

Spin Doctors

Back 21

Practitioners of the art of spin control, or manipulation of media reporting to favor their own candidate.

Front 22

Front-end Stategy

Back 22

Presidential political campaign strategy in which a candidate focuses on winning early primaries to build momentum.

Front 23

Front loading

Back 23

The scheduling of presidential primary elections early in the year.

Front 24

Big-state strategy

Back 24

Presidential political campaign strategy in which a candidate focuses on winning primaries in large states because of their high delegate counts.

Front 25

Electoral College

Back 25

The 538 Presidential electors approtioned amoung the states according to their congressional representation whose votes officially elect the president and vice presidnet of the United States.

Front 26

Swing States

Back 26

States that are not considered to be firmly in the Democratic or Republican column.