Chapter 4

Court Cases:

• Buckley v Valeo(1976)-a landmark case in American campaign finance law, in a percuriam opinion, the Supreme Court of the US struck down on the 1^st Amendment grouds several provisions in the 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act
• Citizens United v FEC(2010)-a constutional law case dealing with the regulation of campaign spending by organizations. The US Supreme Court held that the 1^st smendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expendures by a nonprofit corporation. The principles artuculated by the Supreme Court in the case have also been extended to forprofit corporations, labor unions, and other associations

Vocab Terms:

• Blanket Primary-a type of primary election that occurs before the general election to choose candidates to run for the general election
• Midterm Election-refer to general elections in the US that are held two years after the quadrennial(4-year) elections for the President of the US
• Closed Primary-used to choose canadits who will run in the general election, only registered for the party canvote
• Swing state-a US state where the two major political parties have similar levels of support among voters, viewed as important in determining the overall result of the presidental election
• Patronage-the support given by a patron
• Initiative Petition-citizen-generated ballot queations, which, if passed majority vote, have the force of law, the same as if the state legislature passed them
• Direct Primary-an election in which voters choose candidates to run on a party's ticket in a subsequent election for public office
• Legitimacy-the lawfulness or authenticity of something
• Party Machine-in US politics, a party orgnization, headed by a single boss or small autocratic group, that commands enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, county or state
• Motor Voter Act(1993)-to enhance voting opportunities for every American, it made if easier to register to vote and maintain their regestration
• National Convention-a convention of a major political party, especially one that nominates a candiate for the presidency
• Policy Voting-electoral choices that are made on basis of the voters policy preferences and on the basis o fwhere the candidates stand on policy issues
• Open Primary-a primary election in which voters are not required to declare a party affiliation
• Referendum-a general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision
• Two Party System-two major political parties dominate politics within a government, one of the two parties typically hold a majority in the legislature and is usually refered to as the majority party while the other is the minority party
• Sufferage-the right to vote in political elections
• Split Ticket-a vote for candidates of different political parties on the same ballot, instead of for candidates of only one party
• Franchise-an authorization granted by a government or company to an individual or group enabling them ot carry out specified commercial activities
• Third Parties-a person or group besides the two primary involved in a situation, especialy a dispute
• Federal Election Commission(FEC)-an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the US Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the US
• Single Member District-an electoral district that returns one office holder to a body with multiple members such as a legislature
• Carcus-a meeting of the members of a legislative body who are members of a paticular political party, to select candiates or decide policy
• Porporional Representation-an electoral system in which parties gain seats in preportion to the number of votes cast for them
• Soft Money-a controbution to a political party that is not accounted as going to a particular candidate, thus avoiding various legal limitations
• Rational Choice-a framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior
• McClain-Feingold Act-a US Federal law that amended the Federal Election campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns
• Realignment-to align again