Elections A-Z

Absentee Voting

Federal Legislation

Vote by Mail

Absolute Majority

America First Party (1992–)

American Independent Party (1968–) and American Party (1972–)

American Party-Know-Nothings (1856)

Anti-Federalists (1789–1796)

Anti-Masonic Party (1832–1836)

Apportionment

At-Large

Baker v. Carr

Ballot Access

Access Requirements

Pressures for Liberalization

Changes in Voting Technology

Ballot Types

Bandwagon Effect

Beauty Contest

Bellwether

Bicameral

Bilingual Voters

Effect of Federal Laws

Growing Involvement

Black Suffrage

Slavery and the Civil War

“Jim Crow” Laws

Assault on Voting Discrimination

Blanket Primary

Blue Dog Democrat

Boll Weevil

Border States

Brass Collar Democrat

Brokered Convention

Buckley v. Valeo

Bull Moose

Bullet Vote

Bundling

By-Election

Campaign, Basic Stages of

The Exploratory Stage

Building an Organization

Getting Started

Campaigning Techniques

The Final Hours

Campaign Buttons

Campaign Finance

Early Reforms

Rising Costs

Watergate Scandals

Limits of Reform

Partisan Deadlock

Campaign Slogans

Campaign Strategies

Strategies in Action

Deciding on a Strategy

Candidate-Centered Campaigns

The Effect of Image

Running for Congress

Candidate Image

Canvassing Board

Caucus

Complex Method

Caucuses 1980–1996

Caucus Pros and Cons

Census

Constitutional Mandate

Count and Consequences

Challenger

Checkoff Fund

Chronology of Presidential Elections

Election of 1789

The First Contest: 1796

The Jefferson-Burr Contest: 1800

The Death of King Caucus: 1824

Jackson's Rise: 1828

The Fateful Election of 1860

The Compromise of 1876

The Republicans Self-Destruct: 1912

Dawn of the New Deal: 1932

Eisenhower's Victory: 1952

Kennedy and the Politics of Change: 1960

Johnson and the Great Society: 1964

The Breakup of Consensus: 1968

Effects of the Watergate Affair: 1976

The Reagan Revolution: 1980

The Election of 1988

Clinton Victory: 1992

Divided Government Retained: 1996

Citizens Party (1979–1984)

Citizenship and Voting

Constitutional Amendments

Naturalization Process

Civil Rights Acts

The Court's New Attitude

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Closed Primary

Coalition

Coattails

Communist Party (1924–)

Compression

Compulsory Voting

Congressional District

District characteristics

Shifts in the 1990s

Congressional Elections

Nineteenth Century

Civil War and Aftermath

The Postwar Years

The Vietnam War Years

Years of Uneasy Peace

The Post–Cold War Era

End of an Era in the House

Conservative

Constituency

Constitutional Union Party (1860)

Contested Elections

President

Senate

House

State and Local

Cross-Filing

Crossover Voting

Cumulative Voting

Dark Horse

Debates

Incumbents' Reluctance

Vice-Presidential Debates

Prenomination Debates

Presidential Debate Commission

Third Party Participation

Delegates

Democratic Rules Changes

Effect on Primaries

Allocating the Seats

Credentials Disputes

Results

Democracy

Control of Leadership

Constitutional Framework

Democratic National Committee

Democratic National Convention

Democratic Party (1832–)

Democratic-Republican Party (1796–1828)

Direct Election

District of Columbia

Nineteenth Century

Post–World War II

Partial Home Rule

Proposed Amendment

Districts, Wards, and Precincts

District

Ward

Precinct

Dixiecrats

DO Committee

Election Cycle in America

Election Day

Legislative History

Proposals for Change

Election Fraud

Reforms and Technology

Watchdog Activities

Electoral Anomalies

Electoral Vote Effect

Oddities in Congressional Elections

Electoral Behavior

Electoral College and Votes

How the System Works

Method of Choosing Electors

Other Anomalies

Reform Efforts

Entrance Polls

Equal Time and Rebuttal Rules

First Amendment Considerations

Regulation Controversies

Exit Polls

Brief History

Accuracy

Purpose

Fairness Commission

Fairness Doctrine

Faithless Electors

Favorite Son

Federal Election Commission

Background

Operations

Federal Matching Funds

Federal Workers' Political Activity

Loosening the Reins

Earlier Acts

Federalist Party (1789–1816)

Fifteenth Amendment

Forecasting Election Results

Fourteenth Amendment

Franchise

Free Soil Party (1848–1852)

Freeholder

Front-Loading

Front-Runner

Fund Raising

Fusionism

Gerrymander

Get Out the Vote

Governor

Governorship History

Length of Terms

Elections in Nonpresidential Years

Methods of Election

Number of Terms

Majority Vote Requirement

Removal from Office

Grandfather Clause

Gray v. Sanders

Green Party (1996–)

Greenback Party (1876–1884)

Hard Money

Hatch Act

Historic Milestones in U.S. Elections

1787

1789

1796

1800

1807

1824

1831

1832

1837

1840

1844

1854

1856

1860

1865

1870

1874

1876

1881

1887

1890

1892

1901

1912

1913

1916

1918

1920

1923

1924

1928

1932

1934

1936

1940

1944

1945

1948

1951

1952

1954

1960

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1967

1968

1969

1971

1972

1973

1974

1976

1981

1984

1988

1989

1990

1992

1994

1995

1996

1998

1999

Home Rule

House of Representatives, Electing

Term Length and Limits

Size of the House

Majority Elections

Elections in Odd-Numbered Years

Special Elections

Campaign Costs

Party Shifts in the House

House of Representatives, Qualifications

House Characteristics

Qualification Disputes

Hunt Commission

Ideology

Ideological Self-Identification

Extent of Ideological Thinking

Ideology in Operation

Impeachment

Incumbency

Presidency

Congress

State Officers and Legislators

Independent

Independent Expenditures

Indirect Election

Infomercials

Initiatives and Referendums

California Example

Initiatives Industry

Growing Popularity

Interest Group

Composition and Growth

Foreign Lobbying

Interest Groups and Elections

Regulation

International and U.S. Elections Compared

Mandatory Voting

Money and Elections

Iowa Caucus

Issue Ads

Issue Voting

Judicial System

Origins of Judicial Review

Sparing Use

The Court and Equality of Vote

The Court and Elections

The Court and Political Parties

Jungle Primary

Junior Tuesday

Lame Duck

Landslide

Liberal

Liberal Republican Party (1872)

Libertarian Party (1971–)

Liberty Party (1840–1848)

Lieutenant Governor

Literacy Tests

Loophole Primaries

Louisiana v. United States

McGovern-Fraser Commission

Majority-Minority District

Mandate

Mandatory Voting

Media Coverage of Campaigns

Types of Messages

Emphasis on the “Horse Race”

Media “Bias”

Media Influence on Voters

Media Use by Campaigns

Peaks and Valleys

Getting the Message Across

Refinement and Innovation

Participation in Candidate Forums

Midterm Election

Return to the Past

Effect on Turnout

Presidential Involvement

Effect on State Elections

Mikulski Commission

Miller v. Johnson

Minority Presidents

Motor Voter Act

Mugwump

Multimember Districts

National Democratic Party (1896)

National Election Studies

Background

Methodology

Scope

National Party Conventions

Multiple Functions

Locations and Financing

Call of the Convention

Controversial Rules

Convention Officers

Platform Writing

Filling Vacancies

Oratory and Coverage

National Republican Party (1828–1832)

National Unity Party (Independent John B. Anderson) (1980–1988)

Natural Law Party (1992–)

Nature of Representation

Delegate or Agent?

Representation in Practice

Negative Campaigning

Fast Forward

Attack Ads and Dirty Tricks

Truth in Advertising

New Alliance Party (1988–)

New Hampshire Primary

Nineteenth Amendment

Nonproportional Representation

One Person, One Vote

Open Primary

Oregon v. Mitchell

Party Endorsement of Candidates

Party Identification by Voters

Trend to Independence

Ticket Splitting and Candidate-Centered Politics

Partisan Realignments

Peace and Freedom Party (1967–)

People's Party (1971–)

People's Party-Populists (1892–1908, 1984–)

Platform

Influence of Third Parties

Interest Group Participation

Thorny Issue: Abortion

Plurality

Pocketbook Voting

Role of the Economy

Little Cohesion

Political Action Committees

Political Advertising

Ads Versus Reportage

Statewide Races

Free Air Time

Issue Advocacy

Political Consultants

Birth of an Industry

Effect on the Electoral Process

Celebrity Consultants

Consultancy's Future

Political Culture in America

Fundamental Beliefs

Equal Opportunity

Demographics

Distribution of Wealth

National Origin

Other Demographic Factors

Political Parties

Political Socialization of the Public

Adult Socialization

The Effect of Social Backgrounds

Ethnicity and Race

Religious Background

Regional Divisions

The Gender Gap

From Socialization to Participation

Poll Taxes

Polling

Techniques and Ratings

Polling Methods

Polling Accuracy

Popular Vote

Wider Participation

Voting Trends

Populist Party

Postconvention Bounce

Precinct

President, Nominating and Electing

Who Runs for President

The Exploratory Stage

The Primary and Caucus Schedule

The Presidential Nomination

General Election Campaign

Electoral College

Term of Office

President: Qualifications

Age Factor

Geography

Backgrounds

Oath of Office

Presidential Draft

Presidential Primaries

Impact of Progressives

Primaries and Conventions

Democratic Rules Changes

Regional Primaries and Super Tuesday

“March Madness”

Approaches to Reform

Presidential Selection Reforms

Rooted in the 1960s

McGovern-Fraser Commission

Mikulski Commission

Winograd Commission

Hunt Commission

Fairness Commission

Rules Changes in the Republican Party

Primary Types

Progressive Party (1924)

Progressive Party (1948)

Progressive Party–Bull Moose (1912)

Prohibition Party (1869–)

Proportional Representation

Complex Formulas

Critics' Arguments

Public Financing of Campaigns

The “Watergate” Election

Post-Watergate Finance Laws

Court Cases and Constitutional Issues

State Election Funding

Public Opinion

Importance and Stability

Effect on Policy

Push Poll

Racial Redistricting

Radical Republicans

Realignments and Dealignments

Time for Realignment?

Existing Alignments

Reapportionment and Redistricting

Reapportionment of the U.S. House

Redistricting

Supreme Court Action

Recall

Recount

Redistricting

Referendums

Reform Party (1995–)

Registration Laws

Removal from Office

Impeachment

Recall

Republican Government

Federal Supremacy

Role of the Courts

Republican National Committee

Republican National Convention

Republican Party (1854–)

Residency Requirements

Retrospective Voting

Reynolds v. Sims

Right to Vote

The Fifteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Other Suffrage Amendments

Rule 29 Committee

Running Mate

Nominations Refused

A Once-Maligned Office

Factors in Selection

Runoff Primary

Safe Seat

Scandals

1802

1831

1859

1873

1875

1884

1922–1923

1947

1954

1958

1964

1967–1970

1967

1969

1972–1974

1973

1974

1976

1977–1978

1977

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1991–1992

1992

1992–1996

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998: Clinton Impeachment

1998: Other Scandals

1999: Clinton Trial

Senate, Electing

Flawed System

The Seventeenth Amendment

Special Elections

Senate's Three Classes

Sessions and Terms

“Long” and “Short” Sessions

The Twentieth Amendment

Senate, Qualifications

Senate Characteristics

Qualification Disputes

Seventeenth Amendment

Shaw v.Reno

Single-Issue Voting

Single-Member District

Smith v. Allwright

Soccer Moms

Socialist Labor Party (1888–)

Socialist Party (1901–)

Socialist Workers Party (1938–)

Soft Money

Sophisticated Voting

Sore Loser Laws

Southern Democrats

Southern Primary

Runoff Primaries

Preferential Primaries

Special Elections

The “Solid South” Meltdown

Special Elections

Spending Limits

Split- and Straight-Ticket Voting

Stages in an Election

Prenomination Stage

General Election

Stalking Horse

State and Federal Election Responsibilities

Regulation of Parties

Voter Registration

Campaign Finance

Ballots and Voting Methods

Apportionment and Districting

State Legislator

States' Rights Democratic Party (1948)

Straight-Ticket Voting

Straw Vote

Succession

Suffrage

Super Tuesday

Superdelegate

Swing District

Swing Voter

Term Limits

Presidents' Two-Term Limit