| Term | Definition |
|---|
| party competition | The battle between Democrats and Republicans for the control of public offices. |
| political party | A "team of men [and women] seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election." |
| linkage institutions | Translate inputs from the public into outputs from the policymakers.The are four main linkage institutions in the United States: parties, elections, interest groups, and the media. |
| party image | Most voters know (or think they know) what the Republicans and Democrats stand for. |
| rational- choice theory | "Seeks to explain political processes and outcomes as consequences of purposive behavior. |
| party identification | The self- proclaimed preference for one party or the other. |
| ticket- splitting | Voting with one party for one office and the other for other offices- has reached record proportions. |
| party machines | A machine is a kind of party organization, very different from the typical fragmented and disorganized political party in America today. |
| patronage | A job that is awarded for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone. |
| closed primaries | Only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote in its primary, thus encouraging greater party loyalty. |
| open primaries | Allow voters to decide on election day whether they want to participate in Democratic or Republican contests. |
| national convention | The convention meets every four years, and its main task is to write the party's platform and then nominate its canididates for president and vice president. |
| national committee | Keeps the party operating between conventions. Composed of representatives from the states and territories. |
| national chairperson | Day-to-day activities of the national party are the responsibility of this person. |
| coalition | A set of individuals and groups supporting it. |
| party eras | A majority of voters identify with the party in power; thus this party tends to win a majority of the elections. |
| critical election | An electoral earthquake: fissures appear in each party's coalition which begins to fracture; new issues appear, dividing the electorate. |
| party realignment | A rare even in American political life that is akin to a political revolution. |
| New Deal coalition | A coalition forged by the Democrats, who dominated American politicsfrom the 1930s to the 1960s. |
| party dealignment | The gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification. |
| party neutrality | A term used to describe the fact that many Americans are indifferent toward to two major political parties. |
| third parties | Electoral contenders other than the two major parties. |
| winner-take-all system | An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies. |
| proportional representation | An electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election. |
| coalition government | When two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. This form of government is quite common in the multiparty systems of Europe. |
| responsible party model | A view favored by some political scientists about how parties should work. According to the modeal, parties should offer clear choices to the voters, who can then use those choices as cues to their own preferences of candidates. |
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