Chapter 6: Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections

Designation as an official candidate of a political party.

An organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization’s name.

A set of interrelated institutions that links people with government.

An election that produces a sharp change in the existing pattern of party loyalties among groups of voters.

The change in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election.

A lessening of the importance of party loyalties in voting decisions.

A political system in which two major political parties compete for control of the government. Candidates from a third party have little chance of winning office

The system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes.

The system by which legisla-tive seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election.

A voter’s sense of psychological attachment to a party.

The statement of policies of a national political party.

A gathering of delegates of a single political party from across the country to choose candidates for president and vice president and to adopt a party platform.

A committee of a political party composed of party chairpersons and party officials from every state.

A meeting to select party leaders and decide committee assignments, held at the beginning of a session of Congress by Republicans or Democrats in each chamber.

An organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to support its own candidates in congressional elections.

A centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections.

A set of principles formalizing the ideal role of parties in a majoritarian democracy.

An organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate over others competing for the same office.

A preliminary election con- ducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election

A primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party’s potential nominees.

A primary election in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose either party’s primary ballot to take into the voting booth.

A primary election that allows individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and for which offices.

A primary election that entitles independent voters to vote in a party’s primary.

A special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party’s national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate.