1.
civic duty: The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote.
2.
electoral college: a group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president
3.
initiative petition: { also method of getting items on state ballot}A process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote if sufficient signatures are obtained on petitions calling for such a referendum.
4.
legitimacy: A characterization of elections by political scientists meaning that they are almost universally accepted as a fair and free method of selecting political leaders.
5.
mandate theory of election: The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do.
6.
motor voter act: Passed in 1993, this act went into effect for the 1996 election. It requires states to permit people to register to vote at the same time they apply for their driver's license.
7.
policy voting: occurs when people base their choices in an election on their own issue preferences
8.
political efficacy: The belief that one's political participation really matters - that one's vote can actually make a difference
9.
referendum: {method of getting items on state ballot}, The practice of letting voters accept or reject measures proposed by the legislature
10.
retrospective voting: A theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question: "What have you done for me lately?"
11.
suffrage: The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth Amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the Twenty-sixth Amendment.
12.
voter registration: A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of Election Day. A few states permit Election day registration.
