American Politics

Voting, Campaigns, and Elections » Glossary

critical election
An election marked by significant shifts in established voting patterns signaling an enduring realignment of the electorate. Though some argue that 1968 was a critical election, the last election widely acknowledged as critical was the 1932 election which swept Franklin Roosevelt and the Democrats into power on the heels of the Great Depression after a long period of Republican dominance of national politics.
election judges
Officials appointed from nominees submitted by party officials whose job it is to oversee polling places at the precinct level and ensure fair and honest elections.
Electoral College
The constitutional mechanism for choosing the President of the United States. Each state gets as many electors in the electoral college as it has U.S. Senators and Representatives. Presidential electors in each state cast ballots for the parties' presidential nominees (possibly even independent candidates). A presidential candidate must win a majority of electors' votes nationwide to be elected President.
general election
The constitutional method for selection of government officials by voters marking their choices on ballots, with the winner of the votes (using either a majority or plurality decision rule) winning election to the government post.
gerrymander
The redrawing of congressional or state legislative districts to ensure that elections favor a particular group. The term was coined when Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Constitutional Convention delegate, and governor of Massachusetts, sought to assure his party's victory by getting the legislature to draw district boundaries carving opponents out of the prized districts. When mapped out, the resulting shape of one of the districts so resembled a salamander that a cartoonist described it as a "Gerry-mander," and the term has stuck as a description of a deliberate attempt to gain political advantage in the redistricting process.
hard money
Hard money refers to funds raised under the limits of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). For instance, individuals are limited to contributing $2,000 to any one candidate in an election, and that contribution is "hard money." Political action committees are limited to no more than one $5,000 "hard money" contribution to a candidate in one election. There are also hard money limits for contributions to parties, and aggregate limits on individuals.
political action committee
A political action committee (PAC) is an entity other than a political party regulated under federal and state law that raises and spends money to elect or defeat candidates. PACs qualified and registered to participate in federal elections may contribute up to $5,000 per candidate per election.
precinct
The smallest electoral unit into which voters are grouped for purposes of voting, vote tabulation, and party organizing.
primary election
A method by which a political party chooses its nominees for the general election, by party identifiers voting on candidates for the nomination. The winner of the votes (using either a majority or plurality decision rule) is declared the party's nominee for the general election campaign for that office.
proportional representation
A voting system for multi-member government bodies in which a group of candidates (a party) is awarded seats proportional to the number of votes that it gained in the election. For instance, if the Blue Party wins 40 percent of the votes and the Orange Party wins 60 percent, then the Orange Party is awarded 60 percent of the seats and the Blue Party is awarded 40 percent of the seats.
realignment
Historically in the U.S., a significant and enduring shift in the party loyalties of the electorate occurring roughly once a generation. Such shifts have often been associated with a particularly momentous or critical election or sequence of elections in which new issues arise, a different party comes to power, and public policy changes decisively.
reapportionment
A decennial adjustment in the number of congressional seats assigned to each state, based on Census data, with the goal of political equality (one person, one vote) - i.e., in areas where population grows in excess of the growth elsewhere, the number of Congressional seats is increased there to reflect that growth.
redistricting
The periodic redrawing of legislative district boundaries, with the goal of political equality (one person, one vote) - i.e., in areas where population grows in excess of the growth elsewhere, the district boundaries are shifted to create equal population districts. Other political goals may also be pursued in redistricting.
soft money
Soft money refers to funds raised in unlimited amounts by national party organizations outside the limits and restrictions of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Though now banned, national parties used soft money through 2002 to pay for party building activities in state and local elections and to help defray party organizational overhead, e.g., administrative costs and fundraising expenses.
split-ticket voting
In contrast with straight ticket voting (voting for all the candidates of one party), split-ticket voters vote for candidates of different political parties for different offices.
winner take all
A voting system in which the top vote getter in each voting district wins election, as opposed to a system like proportional representation. For instance, if the Blue Party candidate wins the most votes in five different districts, it wins all five seats, regardless of how strong or weak the margin of victory in each district.