|
 Third Parties | electoral contenders other than the two major parties. American third parties are not unusual, but they rarely win elections. Republican and Democrat parties don't always represent people's views. |
| Political Parties | Political parties address many issues. |
| Interest Groups | A group of people who focus on one political issue. |
| Responsibilities of Citizens | Follow laws, pay taxes, vote. |
| Decrease in Voter Turnout | Decline in voter turnout has increased the influence of special interest groups |
| Ideology | Political Parites belief |
| Subpoena | A court document ordering someone to appear as a witness in court |
| Registering to vote | Done before an election. Must be 18 years old. Done before the election to verify citizenship, age, and residency. |
| Political Action Committees (PACs) | Groups who support candidates through campaign contributions |
| Straw Poll | A poll that contains a biased sample. |
| Purpose of Interest Group | Influence government officials on specific issues |
| United States Census | Surveying homes to determine population figures |
| Gerrymandering | Drawing a congressional district's boundary in order to gain an advantage in an election |
| Referendum | A law or a bill that citizens can vote on |
| Constituents | Another word for a "voter." Elected officials are directly accountable to them. |
| Expectations of Candidates | Some feel appearance is more important than the issues. |
| Reapportionment | States gaining or losing representatives in the House of Representatives. |
| Political Parties | Group of people who have similar political beliefs. They nominate candidates involved in an election |
| Libel | Writing something that is knowingly false about someone. |
| Slander | Speaking something that is knowingly false about someone. |
| How citizens can change laws | Best way is testify at a legislative hearing and lobby elected officials. |
| Public Opinion | Everyday people's opinion on issues |
| Lobbyist | A member of an interest group |
| General Election | Elected members of political parties running against each other |
| Primary Election | Members of the same political parties running against each other in order to run in the General Election |
| Campaign | What an elected person runs in order to gain support |
| Candidate | A person who has been chosen to represent their political party, |
| Elected Officials | Someone who won the office in a free election |
| Redistricting | To set up new district lines after reapportionment is complete |
| Initiative | Allows all citizens to introduce a bill into the legislative and required members to take a vote on it |
| Lobbyist | Person who tries to persuade someone to support a particular cause |
| Mass Media | Term applied to agencies of mass communication, such as newspapers, magazines, and telecommunications. Sometimes known as the "fourth branch of government" because they can influence public opinion |
| Demographics | The characteristics of a population with respect to age, race, and gender. |
| Tinker v. Des Moines School District | Neither students nor teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech expression at the schoolhouse door |
| Due Process | In criminal law, the constitutional guarantee that a defendant will receive a fair and impartial trial. In civil law, the legal rights of someone who confronts an adverse action threatening liberty or property. |
| Equal Protection | the 14th ammendment states that no person should be denied the same protection of law enjoyed by others |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | court upheld segregation it ruled seperate but equal facilities did not violate the fourteenth ammendment. |
| Brown v. Board of Education | Supreme court case which led to the eventual desegregation of schools in 1954. |
| Civil Rights | The rights due to all citizens |