Mercyb AP Government Unit 4
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Created by:
lindatownsend on February 25, 2011
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34 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Lobbying | Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact. |
| Litigation | the process of carrying on a lawsuit |
| Revolving Door | A term describing the movement of individuals from government positions to jobs with interest groups or lobbying firms, and vice versa. |
| Interest Group | a group of people with common goals who organize to influence government |
| Public Interest Group | an organization that seeks a collective good that will not selectively and materially benefit the members of the group. |
| Ideological Interest Group | Organization that attract members by appealing to their interest in a coherent set of controversial principles |
| Iron Triangles | the alliance among congressional committees, interest groups, and federal departments/agencies |
| Primary Election | Nominating election held to choose party candidates who will run in the general election |
| Buckley v. Valeo | limit on contributions =constitutional; limit on candidate spending=unconstitutional |
| Soft Money | funds obtained by political parties that are spent on party activities, such as get-out-the-vote drives, but not on behalf of a specific candidate |
| Hard Money | Campaign contributions donated directly to candidates. |
| PAC | committee formed by a special-interest group to raise money for their favorite political candidates |
| 527s | political organizations formed to influence elections, exempt from federal taxes |
| FCC | an independent governmeent agency that regulates interstate and international communications by radio and television and wire and cable and satellite |
| Party Activists | partisans who contribute time, energy, and effort to support their party and its candidates |
| Grassroots | people at the local level; average voters, not professional politicians. |
| Horse race Journalism | Election coverage by the mass media that focuses on which candidate is ahead rather than on national issues. |
| Watch Dog Journalism | Media sources keep an eye on government activities and report abuses |
| Public Financing | using tax dollars to fund something, such as election-campaign expenses |
| Muckrakers | Journalists who attempted to find corruption or wrongdoing in industries and expose it to the public |
| Partisan | devoted to a cause or party |
| N.Y. Times v Sullivan | public official must prove actual malice to sue for printing a falsehood |
| Fairness doctrine | FCC rule (no longer in effect) that required broadcasters to air a variety of viewpoints on their programs. |
| Citizen journalist | Someone who posts news online without having been trained as a reporter or affiliated with any news organization |
| Issue Ads | Commercial advertising on radio and television advocating a particular position on an issue, paid for by interest groups |
| Independent expenditures | money spent by individuals or groups, not candidates, in order to elect or defeat a candidate for office |
| Citizens United v FEC | ruled that corporations may spend money in order to influence election process without donating to a campaign |
| Mass media | forms of communication, such as newspapers and radio, that reach millions of people |
| Agenda Setting | the power of the media to bring public attention to particular issues and problems |
| Amicus Curiae Brief | a brief presented by someone interested in influencing the outcome of a lawsuit but who is not a party to it |
| Fourth Estate | The press as an unofficial fourth branch of government. |
| Incumbent | currently holding an office |
| McCain Feingold | aka Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002, it essentially banned "soft money" contributions made directly to candidates and set stricter guidelines for campagin advertising |
| FECA | Law made in 1971, which limited amounts that candidates for federal offices can spend on advertising, required the disclosure of the sources of campaign funds as well as how they are spent, limited contributions to candidates and created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) |
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