| Term | Definition |
|---|
| national chairperson | one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions and is responsible for day-to-day activities of the party and is usually selected by the presidential nominee |
| national committee | one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions and is composed of representatives from states and territories |
| national convention | the meeting of the party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform |
| National Security Council | an office created in 1947 to coordinate the president's foreign and military policy advisors; contains the president, the vp, the secretary or state and defense |
| natural rights | rights inherent in human beings, not depending on governments |
| New Deal Coalition | coalition forged by Democrats who dominated American politics from 1930s to 60s. its basic elements were urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholics, Jews, poor, southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals |
| Office of Management and Budget | an office that grew out of the Bureau of the budget created in 1921 consisting of a handful of political appointees and hundreds of skilled professionals; performs both managerial and budgetary functions, and although the president is its boss, the director and staff have considerable independence in the budgetary process |
| Olson's Law of Large Groups | the larger the group, the further it will fall short of providing an optimal amount of a collective good |
| open primaries | elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests |
| opinion | statement of legal reasoning behind a judicial decision; content just as important as decidion |
| original intent | view that the Constitution should be interpreted as the original framers would have |
| original jurisdiction | the jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually i na trial and determine facts |
| PACs | funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms; the Federal Election Commissions monitor this |
| party competition | battle of parties for control of public offices |
| party dealignment | gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties as seen in part by the shrinking party identification |
| party eras | historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections |
| party identification | citizen's self-proclaimed preference for a party |
| party image | voter's perception of what a party stands for |
| party machines | type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements,such as patronage, to win votes and govern |
| party realignment | displacement of the majority party by the minority party |
| patronage | one of the key inducements used by political machines and is given for political reasons rather than merit or competence |
| plea bargaining | bargain struck between the defendant and prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime in exchange for the state's promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious crime |
| pluralist theory | : politics is mainly a competition among groups, each arguing for its own policies |
| pocket veto | veto taking place when Congress adjourns within ten days of having submitted a bill to the president by either letting it die by not signing it or vetoing it |
| policy voting | electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters' policy preferences and on the basis of where the candidates stand on policy issues |
| political culture | an overall set of values widely shared within a society |
Combine with other sets
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