Who votes

How they vote

Choosing a

candidate

Choosing a

president

Election regu-

lations

Yep, more

election stuff

Mis-cell-any

100 100 100 100 100 100 100

200 200 200 200 200 200 200

300 300 300 300 300 300 300

400 400 400 400 400 400 400

500 500 500 500 500 500 500

AP Government Jeopardy – Campaigns and Elections

Final Jeopardy! QuestionCampaigns and Elections

Suffrage

The right to vote, a fundamental principle

of democratic government

Suffrage

Who votes 100

Guarantees right to vote to all races

Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

Who votes 200

Extended the right to vote to women

Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

Who votes 300

Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971)

Lowered age requirement to vote to

18 in all states

Who votes 400

Term used to describe the voters of a nation, state, city, or county

collectively

Electorate

Who votes 500

Voting for candidates of different parties for

different offices

Split-ticket voting

How they vote 100

Voting based on positions on specific

policies

Issue voters

How they vote 200

Proposed law or state amendment referred by the state legislature to the people for a vote; only at the state level,

and only in some states

Referendum

How they vote 300

Proposed state law or amendment brought by the citizens through a

petition process; only at the state level, and only

in some states

Initiative

How they vote 400

Special election initiated by a petition that allows citizens to

remove an official before his/her term has expired; only in some

states

Recall election

How they vote 500

Local party meetings to select delegates to state convention, which then

selects delegates to party’s national

convention

Caucuses

Choosing a candidate 100

Election in which voters choose which party’s

primary ballot they wish to vote on

Open primary

Choosing a candidate 200

Election in which only voters registered in the party may vote in the

party’s primary

Closed primary

Choosing a candidate 300

Election in which only one primary ballot is used and voters may

choose from candidates of either party and split

votes between them; ONLY used in

Louisiana, Washington, and California

Blanket primary

Choosing a candidate 400

Democratic Party leaders who are able to cast votes at the national convention for the party’s presidential

candidate

Superdelegates

Choosing a candidate 500

General electionElection in which officeholders (not

nominees) are selected; for federal offices, these are held the first Tuesday after the first Monday of

November in even-numbered years

Choosing a president 100

Swing statesStates without strong party alignment, that could vote

either Democratic or Republican in the general

election; candidates devote much of their time

campaigning in these states

Choosing a president 200

Electoral College538 member body that elects the president and vice president; in most states, these individuals pledge to vote according

to the results of the popular vote

Choosing a president 300

Winner-take-all systemAll of a state’s electors

voting as a block for the winner of the state’s popular vote; many

believe this makes the electoral college non-

reflective of the will of the electorate

Choosing a president 400

Coattail effectWhen the popularity of

the victorious presidential candidate helps his party’s candidates for Congress

win as well

Choosing a president 500

Motor Voter LawNational Voter

Registration Act of 1993 requires that states pass

these laws allowing voters to register when they renew their driver’s

licenses or apply for social services

Election regulation100

Federal Election CommissionIndependent regulatory

agency founded in 1975 to enforce federal campaign

finance laws and administer public

financing of presidential campaigns

Election regulation200

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)Supreme Court ruled that

Federal Election Campaign act campaign spending limits violated

First Amendment guarantees of freedom of

expression

Election regulation300

Soft moneyMoney donated to a

political party rather than a candidate to avoid limits

imposed by campaign finance reform laws, a loophole closed by the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act

(2002)Election regulation400

527 Political OrganizationsNonprofit organizations

that engage in issue advocacy, not candidate advocacy – a fine line

often blurred; not subject to campaign finance

limitations

Election regulation500

Literacy testA reading test citizens

were required to pass in order to vote; widely used in the South to discourage

blacks and poor whites from voting

Banned by the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Yep, more election stuff 100

Poll taxA tax levied on voters;

widely used in the South to discourage blacks and poor whites from voting

Banned by the 24th Amendment (1964)

Yep, more election stuff 200

Plurality electionWhen the leading

candidate receives the greatest number of votes, but not more than 50% (a

true majority)

Yep, more election stuff 300

Midterm electionFederal election held in

the middle of a president’s term of office; all House seats and 1/3 of Senate seats are elected; the

President’s party generally loses seats in Congress

Yep, more election stuff 400

House of RepresentativesGovernmental body

responsible for choosing the President when no

candidate wins a majority of votes in the Electoral

College

Yep, more election stuff 500

Voter apathyA reason for low turnout in

U.S. elections; generally defined as a lack of interest in politics, but may also result

from a mistrust in government or lack of political efficacy; generally, younger people,

racial and ethnic minorities, males, and lower income

individuals have the greatest issues with this Mis-cell-any

100

Political EfficacyThe belief that a person

can influence politics and public policymaking

Mis-cell-any 200

National conventionBefore the primary

system, this meeting served the purpose of choosing the party’s

nominee for president; in recent years, its

fundamental purpose is the adoption of the party

platformMis-cell-any 300

Front-loadingChoosing an early date to hold the primary election

in a state

Mis-cell-any 400

Party identificationThe most important single factor in determining how someone will vote in an

election

Mis-cell-any 500

• Compare the extension of suffrage in the pre-Civil War period to the post-

Civil War period

FINAL JEOPARDY

• Pre-Civil War extensions were aimed at eliminating barriers to universal white

male suffrage, including property ownership and payment of taxes

• Post-Civil War extensions eliminated restrictions based on race (15th

Amendment), gender (19th Amendment), and age (26th Amendment)

FINAL JEOPARDY