Notes

Chief of State- term for the president as the ceremonial head of the united states, the symbol of all the people of the nation

Chief Executive- term for the president as vested with the executive power of the united states

Chief Administrator- term for the president as head of the administration of the federal government

Chief Diplomat- term for the president as the main architect of foreign policy and spokesperson to other countries

Commander in Chief- term for the president as commander of the nation's armed forces

Chief Legislator- term for the president as architect of public policy and the one who sets the agenda for congress

Chief of Party- term for the president as the leader of his or her political party

Chief Citizen- term for the president as the representative of the people, working for the public interest

Presidential Succession- scheme by which a presidential vacancy is filled

Presidential Succession Act of 1947- law specifying the order of presidential succession following the Vice president

Balance the Ticket- When a presidential candidate chooses a running mate who can strengthen his chance of being elected by virtue of certain ideological, geographic, racial, ethnic, gender, or other characteristics

Presidential Electors- a person elected by the voters to represent them in making a formal selection of the Vice President and President

Electoral Votes- Votes cast by electors in the electoral college

Electoral College- group of persons chosen in each state and the District of Columbia every four years who make a formal selection of the president and vice president

Presidential Primary- an election in which a party's voters (1) choose state party organization's delegates to their party's national convention, and/or (2) express a preference for their party's presidential nomination

Winner-Take-All- An almost obsolete system whereby a presidential aspirant who won the preference vote in a primary automatically won all the delegates chosen in the primary

Proportional Representation- Rule applied in Democratic primaries whereby any candidate who wins at least 15 percent of the votes gets the number of State Democratic convention delegates based on his or her share of that primary vote

National Convention- meeting at which a party's delegates vote to pick their presidential and vice-presidential candidates

Platform- A political party's formal statement of basic principles, stands on major issues, and objectives