1. The coattail effect is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. The reverse coattail effect is the opposite: the tendency for an unpopular political party leader to take away votes for other candidates of the same party in an election.

2. Precincts  A precinct is a voting district. Polling Places  A polling place is where the voters who live in a precinct go to vote.  It is located in or near each precinct.

3. We use the Australian Ballot: 1)Provided at public expense 2)Lists candidates 3)Given out only at polls, one per voter 4)Can be marked in secret Sample Ballots are often provided Bedsheet Ballots are often used, despite the risk of ballot fatigue Office-Group Ballots are used by most; a few use Party-Column ones

6. Small contributors Wealthy supporters Nonparty groups such as PACs Temporary fund-raising organizations Candidates Government subsidies Private and Public Sources of Campaign Money

7. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforces:  the timely disclosure of campaign finance information  limits on campaign contributions  limits on campaign expenditures  provisions for public funding of presidential campaigns

8.  1907 – No Corp or Nat’l Bank can fund campaigns  1970s: Buckley v. Valeo states that the limits on spending only apply to candidates who accept campaign money from the government, not those who raise money independently.

9. Gov. ban on political spending by corp. or labor unions violates 1 st Amendment right to free speech. Corporations or Labor Unions can donate, but those donations are subject to FEC limits

10.  Soft money—money given to State and local party organizations for “party-building activities” that is filtered to presidential or congressional campaigns  Independent campaign spending—a person unrelated and unconnected to a candidate or party can spend as much money as they want to benefit or work against candidates.  Issue ads—take a stand on certain issues in order to criticize or support a certain candidate without actually mentioning that person’s name.