Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Elections in the United States
Interest Groups
A group of citizens who share a common interest – a political opinion, a religious or ideological belief, a social goal, or an economic characteristic – and try to influence public policy to benefit themselves (interest groups).
The act of trying to persuade elected officials to adopt a specific policy change or maintain the status quo (lobbying).
Interest groups of individuals who share a common type of employment and seek better wages and working conditions through collective bargaining with employers (unions).
Groups formed to advance the economic status of its members (economic interest group).
Groups that form among citizens with the same beliefs about a specific issue (ideological interest groups).
Groups that form to draw attention to purely public issues that affect all citizens equally (citizens’ groups).
Groups that form to present one view on a highly salient issue that is intensely important to members, such as gun control or abortion (single-issue groups).
Strategy employed by interest groups to pursue a narrow policy change and influence legislators directly rather than using a wider grassroots approach (inside strategy).
Groups formed to raise and contribute funds to support electoral candidates and that are subject to campaign finance laws (political action committees (PACs)).
View of democratic society in which interest groups compete over policy goals, and elected officials are mediators of group conflict (pluralist).
Set of groups seeking a particular benefit for themselves in the political process (special interest).
Insular and closed relationship among interest groups, members of Congress, and federal agencies (iron triangle).
View of the relationship among interest groups, members of Congress, and federal agencies as more fluid, open, and transparent than that described by the term iron triangle (issue network).
Benefits offered exclusively to members of an interest group (selective benefits).
Goods or benefits provided by the government from which everyone benefits and from which no one can be excluded (public goods).
Problem faced by interest groups when a collective benefit they provide is so widespread and diffuse that members and nonmembers alike receive it, reducing the incentive for joining the group (free rider problem).
Political Parties
Broad coalition of individuals who organize to win elections to enact a commonly supported set of public policies (political parties).
Document that lays out a party’s core beliefs and policy proposals for each presidential election (party platform).
Group of party members in a legislature (party caucus).
Top level of national political parties; coordinates national presidential campaigns (national committee).
Elections in which voters select the candidates who will run on the party label in the general election; also called a direct primary (primary election).
Election in which voters choose their elected officials (general election).
List of candidates who are running for elected office, used by voters to make their choice (ballot).
Electoral system in which whoever wins the most votes in an election wins the election (winner-take-all system).
Electoral system that assigns multiple seats to a geographic district according to the proportion of votes a political party receives in an election (proportional representation).
Meeting of party members in town halls, schools, and private homes to select a presidential nominee (caucus).
Minor political parties that present a third alternative to the two dominant political parties in the American political system (third parties).
Theory that, if voters select candidates based on ideology and everyone participates equally, then in a two-party race, the party closer to the middle will win (median voter theorem).
Electoral system that assigns one seat in a legislative body to represent citizens who live in a defined area (a district) based on which candidate wins the most votes (single-member plurality system).
Vote in which the winner needs to win more votes than any other candidate (plurality vote).
Vote in which the winner needs to win 50 percent + 1 of the votes cast (majority vote).
Voter identification with a political party in repeated elections (party alignment).
Long-term shift in voter allegiance from one party to another (realignment).
Parties that offer the electorate a clear and distinct range of policies and programs, thus providing voters a means for holding the party in government accountable for policy outcomes (responsible party).
The presidential electors, selected every four years to represent the votes of their respective states, who meet to cast the electoral votes for president and vice president (Electoral College).
Tally of total votes from individual citizens, as opposed to the electoral vote (popular vote).
Period just before the primaries begin during which candidates attempt to capture party support and media coverage (invisible primary).
Independent groups that can raise unlimited amounts of money from individuals, labor unions, and corporations and can spend it to support or oppose political candidates directly with candidates directly with candidates or political parties (Super PACs).
Voters who are neither reliably Republican nor reliably Democratic and who are pursued by each party during an election, as they can determine which candidate wins (swing voters).
State in which the outcome of the presidential election is uncertain, and in which both candidates invest much time and money, especially if its votes are vital for a victory in the Electoral College (battleground state).
States that are not clearly pro-Republican or pro-Democrat and therefore are of vital interest to presidential candidates, as they can determine election outcomes (swing state).
Gathering detailed information on cross-sections of the electorate to track potential supporters and tailor political messages for them; also called narrowcasting (microtargeting).
Noncontroversial or widely supported campaign issues that are unlikely to differentiate the candidates (valence issues).
Political issues that offer specific policy choices and often differentiate candidates’ views and plans for action (position issues).
Divisive issue focused on a particular group of the electorate that candidates use to gain more support by taking votes away from their opponents (wedge issues).
Theory that voting is driven by a citizen’s assessment of an officeholder’s performance since the last election (retrospective voting).
Congressional elections held between the presidential elections (midterm elections).
Trend marking the decline of competitive congressional elections (vanishing marginals).