history test ch.8

• – A type of
• winner-take-all election where the winner is the candidate who gets the most
• votes, even if he or she does not get 50% of the votes. Common in America.

• A centralized party organization
• that dominates local politics, often by giving tangible benefits (jobs,
• contracts) to party members or by illegal means.

• An
• election system in which a political party's share of the election's benefits (legislative
• seats or electoral votes) is based on the percentage of votes the party
• receives. (For example, a candidate receiving 60% of the popular
• votes in Maryland in a presidential election
• would receive 6 of Maryland’s
• 10 electoral votes. A candidate receiving the other 40% of the
• popular vote would receive the other 4 electoral votes).

• – A sample
• selected in such a way that every member of a population has an equal chance of
• being selected.

• – The group of people who respond
• to a survey or poll.

• –
• Electing a group of officials by dividing an area into districts and then
• giving an office to the first place finisher in each district election. (This is how we elect members to the House of
• Representatives.). Also called a “first
• past the post” election.

• – A sample group
• that reflects the characteristics of the population by race, gender, income,
• etc.

• - Voting
• for one party's candidate for one office and another party's candidate for
• another office.

An election system in which the first place finisher gets all of the benefits andthe other candidates get none. (Forexample, a candidate who receives 60% of the popular votes in Marylandin a presidential election receives all10 of Maryland’selectoral votes. The other candidatesget 0.)

• -- Laws that require government jobs and contracts to be awarded based on
• merit, not for political reasons. (Civil Service Reform laws
• outlawed patronage and were strongly supported by the Progressives in the late
• 1800s and early 1900s.)

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

• – The
• change in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election

• – Polls based on
• interviews conducted on Election Day with randomly selected voters.

• – Differences in
• the political views and voting behavior of men and women. Women are
• more likely to be liberal and vote for the Democratic Party. Men are
• more likely to be conservative and vote for the Republican Party (GOP).

• – A type
• of winner-take-all election where a candidate must get 50% of the votes plus
• one to win the election. Rare in America.

• – A committee
• which governs the national party between conventions. (Democratic National
• Committee, Republican National Committee).

• -- A
• meeting of party members that takes place every four years where the party
• selects presidential and vice-presidential nominees and drafts a platform

• -- A coalition of voters supporting the Democrats from the 1930s to
• the 1960s that included the working class, ethnic groups, Catholics, Jews, the
• poor, Southerners, African-Americans and intellectuals.

• - The
• increasing trend of the American people to refuse to identify themselves with
• either the Democratic or Republican parties.

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

• – The
• statement of policies of a political party.

The practice of givinggovernment jobs and contracts to political supporters, as opposed to givingthose jobs and contracts to the most deserving applicants. Patronage is now illegal for most jobs andcontracts because of civil service reform laws.

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

• – The group of people
• whose views a poll is intended to reflect.