| Term | Definition |
|---|
| faction | A term the founders used to refer to political parties and special interests or interest groups. |
| pluralism | A theory of government that holds that open, mulitple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group. |
| interest groups | A collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Interest gropups usually work within the framework of goverment and try to achieve their goals through tactics such as lobbying. |
| movement | A large body of people interested in a common issue, idea, or concern that is of continuing significance and who are willing to take action. Movements seek to change attitudes or institutions, not just policies. |
| amicus curiae brief | Literally, a "friend to the court" brief, filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case. |
| bundling | A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like minded individuals (each limited to $2,000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a "bundle," thus increasing the PAC's influence. |
| lobbyist | A person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corportaion to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches. |
| issue adovacy | Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like "vote for" or "vote against," although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates. |
| 527 organization | A political group organized under section 527 of the IRS Code accept and spend unlimited amounts of money on election activities so long as they are not spent on broadcast ads run in the last 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election in which a clearly identified candidate is referred to and a relevant electorate is targeted. |
| collective action | How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives. |
| public choice | Synonymous with "collective action", especially studies how government officials, ploiticians, and voters respond to positive and negative incentives. |
| lobbying | Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact. |
| federal resgister | An official document, published every weekday, that lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies. |
| soft money | Money rasied in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building pruposes. |
| independent expenditures | The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an independent expenditure. |
| professional associations | Groups of individuals who share a common profession and are often organized for common political purposes related to that profession. |
| nongovermental agencies | A nonprofit association or group operating outside government that advocates and pursues policy objectives. |
| political action committee | The politcal arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary basis from members, stockholders, or employees to contribute funds to candidates or political parties. |
| leadership PAC | A PAC formed by an officeholder that collects contributions from individuals and other PACs and then makes contributions to other candidates and political parties. |
| Bipatisan Campaign Reform Act | Largely banned party soft money, restored long-standing prohibition on corportaions and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes, and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy. |
| open shop | A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment. |
| closed shop | A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be required as a condition of employment. |
| free rider | An individual who does not join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefits of the group's influence. |
| revolving door | An employment cycle in which individuals who work for government agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern. |
| issue network | Relationship among interest groups, congressional committees, and the goverment agencies that share a common policy concern. |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace