Elections & Democracy
The Reference Library
Elections & Democracy Glossary
Key terms and definitions for elections & democracy. Every concept links to a full explanation — a reference for students, delegates, and researchers.
- Terms
- 419 terms
- Categories
- 1 category
A
16 entriesB
23 entries- Ballot Access
- Ballot Access Barriers
- Ballot Access Laws
- Ballot Access Litigation
- Ballot Access Petition
- Ballot Access Reform
- Ballot Access Restrictions
- Ballot Design
- Ballot Drop Box
- Ballot Harvesting
- Ballot Initiative
- Ballot Order Effect
- Ballot Rotation
- Ballot Security Measures
- Ballot Spoiling
- Ballot Stuffing
- Bandwagon Voter
- Belmont Stakes Strategy
- Biometric Voter Registration
- Blanket Primary
- Borda Count
- Bradley Effect
- By-Election
C
59 entries- Campaign Bus Tour
- Campaign Canvassing
- Campaign Endorsements
- Campaign Finance Cap
- Campaign Finance Dark Pools
- Campaign Finance Disclosure
- Campaign Finance Law
- Campaign Finance Loophole
- Campaign Finance Public Matching
- Campaign Ground Game
- Campaign Manager
- Campaign Microtargeting
- Campaign Spin
- Campaign Surrogate
- Campaign Surrogates
- Candidate Debate
- Candidate Recruitment
- Candidate Vetting
- Candidate-Centered Campaign
- Carryover Effect
- Caucus-Convention System
- Census Tract Redistricting
- Centrist Ideology
- Certification of Results
- Chain Voting
- Citizen Assembly Selection
- Citizen Initiative
- Civic Nationalism
- Closed List Proportional Representation
- Closed Party List
- Closed Primaries
- Closed Primary
- Closed-List System
- Coalition Bargaining
- Coalition Discipline
- Coalition Government
- Coattail Effect
- Coercive Vote Buying
- Compactness Standard
- Competitive Authoritarianism
- Compulsory Ballot
- Compulsory Voting
- Concession Speech
- Condorcet Method
- Condorcet Paradox
- Condorcet Winner
- Consensus Democracy
- Consent Decree on Redistricting
- Constituency Boundary Review
- Contested Convention
- Continuity of Representation
- Convention Bounce
- Cordon Sanitaire
- Counting Center
- Cross-Cutting Cleavages
- Cross-Pressured Voter
- Cube Rule
- Cumulative Ballot
- Cumulative Voting
D
26 entries- D'Hondt Method
- Dark Money
- Dark Money Groups
- De Facto Authoritarianism
- Dealignment
- Debate Moderator
- Delegate Allocation Rules
- Deliberation Day
- Deliberative Democracy
- Deliberative Polling
- Democratic Consolidation
- Democratic Erosion
- Descriptive Representation
- Devolution
- Direct Democracy Mechanisms
- Direct Election
- Direct Mail Campaigning
- Direct Primary
- District Magnitude
- Donkey Vote
- Double Ballot System
- Droop Quota
- Duverger's Hypothesis
- Duverger's Law
- Duverger's Law Exceptions
- Duvergerian Equilibrium
E
44 entries- Early Voting
- Effective Number of Parties
- Election Audit
- Election Cycle
- Election Day Registration
- Election Forensics
- Election Monitor
- Election Observation
- Election Petition
- Election Postponement
- Election Recount
- Election Silence
- Electioneering
- Electioneering Communications
- Electoral Calendar
- Electoral Coalition
- Electoral College
- Electoral Commission
- Electoral Court
- Electoral Engineering
- Electoral Fraud
- Electoral Geography
- Electoral Integrity
- Electoral Malapportionment
- Electoral Malpractice
- Electoral Quotas
- Electoral Realignment
- Electoral Reform Commission
- Electoral Register
- Electoral System Design
- Electoral Threshold
- Electoral Volatility
- Electronic Voting Machine
- Eligibility Requirements
- Endorsement Effect
- Endorsement Politics
- Entrenchment Clause
- Ethnic Fractionalization
- Ethnic Voting
- Exclusionary Rule
- Exhaustive Ballot
- Exit Poll
- Exit Polling
- Expressive Voting
F
13 entriesG
11 entriesH
4 entriesI
19 entries- Illiberal Constitutionalism
- Illiberal Democracy
- Imperiali Quota
- Incumbency Advantage
- Incumbency Disadvantage
- Incumbent Gerrymandering
- Incumbent Redistricting
- Independent Expenditure
- Independent Redistricting Commission
- Indirect Democracy
- Indirect Election
- Initiative
- Instant Runoff Voting
- Internet Voting
- Invalid Ballot
- Issue Framing
- Issue Ownership
- Issue Salience
- Issue Voting
J
2 entriesL
12 entriesM
22 entries- Machine Politics
- Mail-In Ballot
- Majoritarian Bonus System
- Majoritarian Electoral System
- Majoritarian Plurality System
- Majority Bonus System
- Majority Runoff
- Majority-Minority District
- Malapportionment Index
- Marginal Constituency
- Mass Mobilization
- Median Voter Theorem
- Midterm Election
- Minority Government
- Mixed Electoral System
- Mixed-Member Majoritarian
- Mixed-Member Proportional Representation
- Mixed-Member Proportional System
- Mobile Polling Station
- Motor Voter Law
- Multi-Member District
- Multiparty System
N
5 entriesO
11 entriesP
59 entries- Paper Trail Audit
- Parallel Vote Tabulation
- Parallel Voting System
- Partisan Sorting
- Party Discipline
- Party Identification
- Party List
- Party Primary
- Party Realignment
- Party System Fragmentation
- Party System Institutionalization
- Party System Realignment
- Patronage Politics
- Personal Vote
- Plebiscite
- Plurality Voting
- Plurality-at-Large Voting
- Pocket Borough
- Political Action Committee
- Political Action Committee (PAC)
- Political Cleavage
- Political Entrepreneurship
- Political Identity
- Political Lobbyist
- Political Machine
- Political Messaging
- Political Party Discipline
- Political Patronage
- Political Polarization
- Political Realignment
- Political Socialization
- Political Spin
- Poll Tax
- Poll Worker
- Polling Place
- Polling Station Observer
- Popular Vote
- Populism
- Populist Authoritarianism
- Populist Movement
- Populist Nationalism
- Populist Rhetoric
- Postal Voting
- Pre-Election Polling
- Precinct Captain
- Preferential Voting
- Premier Designate
- Presidential Coattails
- Primary Challenger
- Primary Election
- Primary Runoff Election
- Primary Threshold
- Proportional Allocation
- Proportional Representation
- Proportional Threshold
- Provisional Ballot
- Proxy Voting
- Public Opinion Polling
- Push Poll
R
21 entries- Random Ballot
- Ranked-Choice Voting
- Reapportionment
- Recall Election
- Recall Petition
- Recall Threshold
- Recount
- Redistricting Commission
- Referendum
- Referendum Quorum
- Registered Voter
- Repechage Round
- Residency Requirement
- Retention Election
- Retrospective Voting
- Returning Officer
- Riding Association
- Right to Vote
- Roll-Off
- Rotten Borough
- Runoff Election
S
39 entries- Safe Seat
- Sainte-Laguë Method
- Same-Day Registration
- Scrutineer
- Seat Allocation Formula
- Secondary Preference
- Secret Ballot
- Sectarian Voting
- Selective Exposure
- Shadow Campaigning
- Sham Election
- Single Non-Transferable Vote
- Single Transferable Vote
- Single-Issue Voting
- Single-Member District
- Snap Election
- Social Cleavage
- Socialism
- Soft Authoritarianism
- Soft Money
- Soft Paternalism
- Sortition
- Special Election
- Spin Doctor
- Split Ballot
- Split-Ticket Voting
- Spoiler Candidate
- Spoiler Effect
- Staggered Elections
- Straight-Ticket Voting
- Strategic Candidate Entry
- Strategic Voting
- Suffrage
- Super PACs
- Superdelegate
- Swing District
- Swing State
- Swing Voter
- Swing Voters
