Chapter 5: Participation and Voting

Relatively routine political behavior that uses institutional channels and is acceptable to the dominant culture.

Actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or support government and politics.

Relatively uncommon political behavior that challenges or defies established institutions and dominant norms. (Protest)

Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.

Unconventional participation that involves assembling crowds to confront businesses and local governments to demand a hearing.

Actions that express allegiance to government and country.

Behavior that seeks to modify or reverse government policy to serve political interests.

A legal action brought by a person or group on behalf of a number of people in similar circumstances.

The right to vote. Also called the franchise.

A philosophy of political reform based on the goodness and wisdom of the individual citizen as opposed to special interests and political institutions.

A preliminary election, run by the state government, in which the voters choose each party’s candidates for the general election.

The process for removing an elected official from office.

An election on a policy issue.

A procedure by which voters can propose an issue to be decided by the legislature or by the people in a referendum. It requires gathering a specified number of signatures and submitting a petition to a designated agency.

A relationship between socioeconomic status and conventional political involvement: people with higher status and more education are more likely to participate than those with lower status.