Civics Final

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140 terms

to select candidates to run for office


party leaders

party bosses

the election in the fall that determines who will hold the office until the next general election

general election

an election that is limited to registered members of political parties

closed primary

an election in which any registered voter may vote for any candidate

open primary

a paper that states that a person wishes to run for a particular office


an election in which each candidate is awarded delegates in proportion to the number of votes cast

proportional representation primary

an election in which the candidate who gets the most votes gets all the delegates

winner-take-all primary

an election in which voters vote to show which candidate they prefer instead of voting for delegates

preference primary

caucus, convention, primary, petition

4 ways to nominate candidates

earliest method of nominating candidates; people in a party talk through which candidate to elect; party bosses made this undemocratic


public meeting of members of a party; party bosses made this undemocratic; replaced by a primary system


each state has an election to determine who the most popular member of a party is

primary elections

the first tuesday after the first monday in november of every fourth year

When is the general presidential election day?


When was the first time DC voted in a presidential election?

23rd amendment

Which amendment allows for DC to vote in pres. elections?


How many electors does DC have?


How many votes are needed to elect the P and VP?

the electors of the party that the candidate belongs to

For whom does the citizen actually vote during the presidential election in november?

a member of congress or a person who holds a federal office

Who may not be an elector?

The first Monday after the second Wednesday in December

When do the electors officially cast their vote for president and vice president?

The constitution requires electors to cast a ballot for at least one person who is not an inhabitant of that elector's home state

How does this system insure that the presidential and vice-presidential candidates are not from the same state?

early January in a joint session of congress

When are the electors' votes officially counted?

the House

Who selects the new president if there is no majority winner?

Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams

Which presidents were elected by the House?

the Senate

Who selects the new VP if no VP candidate gets majority?

Every state has two senators and at least one representative in the House

Why would a state have at least three electoral votes?

how to make sure corporations and the wealthy can't buy a candidate

What is the problem with financing elections?

Set up a pool of money which gives the same amount of money to every candidate who participates; Matches funds up to $76 million

1971 Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act

candidates have to report donations and where the money is coming from

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

limits on amounts of campaign contributions ($2500); corporations and unions cannot give money to candidates

various campaign finance laws

organized by special interest groups; campaign for the candidate they want

Political Action Committees (PAC)

federal crime to deny any citizen the right to vote because of race, color, or previous enslavement

15th amendment

guaranteed women the right to vote

19th amendment

gave DC 3 electors for presidential elections

23rd amendment

bans poll tax

24th amendment

lowers voting age to 18

26th amendment

ends the literacy test requirement to register to vote

Voting Rights Act of 1965

enables citizens to register to vote when they register their cars

Federal Motor Voter Law

requires states to update their registration and voting systems

2002 Help America Vote Act

younger voters, new immigrants, African Americans, lower income, high school graduates, women, catholics/jews, northeast/midwest, urban

generalizations of democrat voters

Older, 2nd & 3rd gen. latinos, higher income, college educated, men, protestants, southerners/west, rural/suburbs/towns

generalizations of republican voters

most voters support the policies of one or the other of the major parties and tend to vote for that party's candidates

straight-ticket voting

college graduates, higher incomes, over 45, women, married, stable residence, active in church

generalizations of voter

male; under 35; low level of education; unskilled jobs

generalizations of nonvoter

never get around to registering; belief that little will change regardless of which party is in power; happy with current gov't; lack sense of political efficacy

reasons for not voting

the idea that a person can influence government by voting

political efficacy

ended the grandfather clause

Supreme Court Decision 1915 Guinn vs. US

gives Native Americans citizenship and the right to vote in federal elections

Indian Citizenship Act

collection of laws to end racial discrimination

Voting Rights Act '65, '70, '75, '82

the right to vote


money given directly to the candidate in support of their campaign

hard money

money given to an organization which supports the candidate (such as a party or PAC)

soft money

August; Tampa, Florida

Republican convention 2012

September; Charlotte, North Carolina

Democrat convention 2012

December 17th

Electors cast votes 2012

Texas, California, New York, Florida

4 biggest states

religious affiliation and property ownership

Early US history voter qualifications:

more people registering, minorities registering

results of voting acts

November 13

General election 2012

a government in which the people rule


a government in which the people elect officials to represent them in government

representative democracy

free elections, political parties, constitutional government, independent judiciary, capitalist economy

characteristics of a democratic nation

constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government

Great Britain (type of government)

nobility and bishops of the Church of England; limited power over lawmaking

House of Lords

elected by voters; each member represents one district

House of Commons

David Cameron (GB prime minister)

leader of the executive branch of government

prime minister (GB)

as long as he is popular and liked

How long can the prime minister stay in office?

a poll of the people to determine whether or not the prime minister should stay in office

vote of no confidence

the ruling party of Parliament

Who chooses the prime minister?

no judicial review (no constitution); do not make decisions based on law, but on educated judgement

British Courts

USSR; communist country; command economy and authoritarian government

What was Russia from 1917-1990?

Mikhail Gorbachev (Premier of the Soviet Union until 1991); knew the soviet union had to modernize to survive

means openness; opened up the government to the rest of the world; gave the soviets a little freedom so that they would be content; allowed elections


brought in western investment and technology; allowed private ownership


Dmitry Medvedev (President of Russia)

Vladimir Putin (prime minister of Russia); wants to bring communism back; used to be head of the KGB; has the real power in Russia

massive, but not very effective

Russian legislature

judicial review; questionable fairness

Russian courts

Felipe Calderon (president of Mexico)


How many years in a term for the Mexican president?

2 chambers; 4 month sessions; ineffective

mexican legislative branch

do not have much influence; afraid to go against the criminals

Mexican courts

Stephen Harper; president of Canada

government based on faith; example is Iran

theocratic republic

Mao Zedong; took over China and made it a communist nation

Hu Jintao; current leader of China

poverty; allows some private ownership; encourages foreign investments; no personal rights; communist party has total control; congress and courts have no power

Post-Mao China

Military or military officers take over the civilian government; purpose is to end reforms by civilian governments and to make sure the wealthy and powerful do not lose position


method used by juntas; suspended elections, fear (kidnappings, murder, torture)

martial law

they do not benefit ordinary citizens; dictatorships work for the group in power, not for majority of people

Why do communist nations collapse?

ethnic groups don't want to share power and they fight

Why is changing to a democracy difficult?

tribal and religious groups that fight each other for power

ethnic groups

Study of a nation's business systems and the way they are set up and organized


caring for the physical needs of its people; manufacturing and distribution of goods and services; buying and selling; job opportunities and regulation; setting value of money; creating savings, deficits, and surpluses

a nation's economy is its method of:

the economy is run by the people and not the gov't; free enterprise; economy based upon competition among businesses and industry; gov't has a hands off attitude towards business (will not interfere unless absolutely necessary)


gov't completely controls economy, owns almost everything; if workers do not produce as much as demanded, wages may be reduced but there is no compensation for successful production; not a lot of incentive to do well

command economies

as demand increases, price increases; as demand decreases, price decreases

Law of Demand

suppliers' viewpoint: as the prices increase, more items are left unsold; as the prices decrease, more items are sold

Law of Supply

the point where supply and demand are equal


increase in price resulting from increase in demand


a high demand for a product may lead to a shortage of the item


too much of a product; suppliers must lower the price in order to sell


means of exchange


easy to carry, take up little space; easy to do math with; must be durable; guaranteed by gov't and created in standardized form


substitute for real money; written and signed order for a bank to pay a specified amount of money to the person named on the check

checkbook money/debit cards

non-sufficient funds; don't have enough money to pay check


another substitute for real money; customer pays with credit card, card pays merchant, bank bills credit card holder; bank charges customer a fee for the service and interest on balances; merchant charged for the convenience and merchant passes fee to customer

credit cards

required payment of money by citizens to help pay for government expenses


raise revenue and regulate citizens' activities

2 reasons for taxes

property, sales, corporate, inheritance, personal income, city, state, and federal taxes

types of taxes

government spends more money than it takes in taxes

government deficit

government spends less than takes in taxes

government surplus

government with an elected assembly that has both legislative and executive powers

parliamentary government

UN building

United Nations; created in 1945; work towards world peace; 191 members; headquarters in NYC


most important UN committee; 15 members; in charge of security of the world; use troops, sanctions, blockades

security council

US, GB, France, Russia, China

5 permanent members of security council:

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; original purpose was to contain communism in Europe; now track and stop terrorist organizations


market, traditional, command

3 types of economies

private ownership, individual initiative, competition, profit, freedom of choice

5 characteristics of capitalism

government is involved in setting economic and social policies; provides funding for some resources

mixed economy

an economic system in which the government owns the basic means of production and decides how resources should be used and is supposed to provide social services such as health care and welfare


that all members of society should share equally in the benefits of economic activity

purpose of socialism

nationalism (the nation takes over certain industries), public welfare (free education, housing, hospitals), central economic planning (gov't decides how resources should be used)

4 characteristics of socialism

Venezuelan dictator who kicked out the american companies, took over the oil wells, and takes the profits

Hugo Chavez

resources can be used to benefit the nation rather than foreign investors; central planning allows government to direct capital toward the growth of the industries and manufacturing

Governments of developing nations choose socialism because:

so much money is used to produce goods for export that agriculture is overlooked and food has to be imported; government becomes so large that it slows decision-making process and drains nation's resources; foreign companies are afraid to invest because they could be taken over

problems of socialism in developing nations

there are 2 classes, owners and workers; owners take opportunities from the workers and have all the riches; the only way to overthrow the system is to revolt

Karl Marx beliefs

stirred up the Russian peasants into revolting against the monarchy

Vladimir Lennon

everything run by communist party; centrally planned economy (government makes all economic decisions); collectivism; government ownership

Characteristics of Soviet communism

the integration of economic activities across national borders


when government blocks trade

trade barriers

taxes placed on imports to make them more costly than locally produced goods


allows only a certain amount of a good to be brought into a country during a certain time period


government payments to the producers of a good or service to encourage local production


trade without barriers

free trade

population growth (drains agriculture); poor health (not enough doctors, poor sanitation); civil wars and military rule (keeps people on edge of starvation so they are unable to fight back); lack of capital and burden of debt (had to borrow money when they got started as an independent nation)

major problems faced by developing nations

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