| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Amicus Curiae brief | "friend of the court" brief filed by an interest group to influence a Supreme Court decision. |
| Dealignment argument | contention that parties are less meaningful to voters, who have abandoned the parties in greater numbers to become independents. |
| Divided government | government in which one party controls the presidency while another party controls the Congress. |
| Elite theory | theory that upper class elites exercise great influence over public policy. |
| Factions | term used by Madison to denote what we now call interest groups. |
| Fairness Doctrine | FCC rule (no longer in effect) that required broadcasters to air a variety of viewpoints on their programs. |
| Feeding frenzy | the media "attack" when they sense wrongdoing or scandal in government, and devote great amounts of coverage to such stories. |
| Free rider problem | the problem faced by interest groups when citizens can reap the benefits of interest group action without actually joining, participating in, or contributing money to such groups. |
| Horse race coverage | the tendency of the media to report on an election campaign as if it were a horse race, i.e., who is behind, who is gaining ground. |
| Iron triangle | an informal association of federal agency, congressional committee, and interest group that is said to have heavy influence over policy making. |
| Litigation | the act or process of carrying out a lawsuit. |
| Lobbying | attempting to influence policy makers. |
| Nonpartisan elections | elections in which candidates are not identified by party membership on the ballot. |
| Office column ballot | ballot in which candidates are arranged by office rather than party. Encourages split ticket voting. |
| Party column ballot | ballot in which candidates are arranged by party rather than office. Encourages straight ticket voting. |
| Photo opportunity | a staged campaign event that attracts favorable visual media coverage, e.g., a candidate reading to a group of school children. |
| Pluralism | theory that policy making is the result of interest group competition. |
| Political Action Committee (PAC) | an interest group that raises funds and donates to election campaigns. |
| Patronage | appointing loyal party members to government positions. |
| Revolving door | the cycle in which a person alternately works for the public sector and private sector, thus blurring the individual's sense of loyalty. |
| Selective exposure | the practice of selectively choosing media sources which are in harmony with one's own beliefs. |
| Selective perception | the practice of perceiving media messages the way one wants to. |
| Sound bite | a short, pithy comment that is likely to attract media attention. |
| Spin control | placing a certain slant on a story to deflect negative public attention against a candidate or office holder. |
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