Glossary of American politics

This glossary of American politics is a list of definitions of terms and phrases used in politics in the United States. The list includes terms specific to U.S. political systems (at both national and sub-national levels), as well as concepts and ideologies that occur in other political systems but which nonetheless are frequently encountered in American politics.



A
Act of Congress: A statute enacted by the processes and procedures of the.

actual malice: To successfully sue for libel in the United States, a public official must demonstrate actual malice – that the libelous statement was known to be false.

administration: The executive branch under a specific (or governor, mayor, or other local executive).

advice and consent:

appellant: A party who appeals a decision of a lower court of law to a higher authority.

appellate court: A court of law that has the power to review and overturn the decision of a lower court. The is the highest appellate authority in the United States.

B
battleground state: See.

bellwether state: An individual that is perceived as an indicator of trends or patterns in political tendencies, reflecting or predicting the political outlook of the nation as a whole. The term is often used in the context of U.S. presidential elections when the nationwide vote closely matches the ballots cast by voters in a particular state.

Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the.

blanket primary: A type of in which candidates from all parties appear on the same paper, as opposed to a, in which voters are asked to choose from a ballot listing candidates from only a single party.

Blue Dog Coalition:

A in the comprising members of the  who identify as centrists or conservatives and profess an independence from the leadership of both major parties. The caucus is the modern development of a more informal grouping of relatively conservative Democrats in during the 1980s, generally from the Southern United States, who tended to support, across party lines, the economic policies of President Ronald Reagan (a ). The "Blue Dog" moniker is derived from the earlier and also refers to the work of American artist George Rodrigue, known for paintings featuring a blue dog. Blue Dogs are sometimes seen as descendants of the, a similar group of conservative, traditional Democrats.

blue slip:

blue state: A where the majority of the electorate has supported or tends to support candidates, members, or policies of the. In the of the United States, the results of national elections are commonly portrayed on a national map in which each of the fifty states is colored either blue (Democratic) or red  according to the party affiliation of the winning candidate in that state.

C
Camp David: The official country retreat of the, located in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, approximately 70 miles from the. The residence was intended as a place for the president to work more informally, entertain guests, or simply relax.

caucus: A meeting of the members or officials of a political party in order to agree on a policy or elect a candidate to office.

Chief Justice of the United States:

closed session:

cloture:

A motion aimed at bringing a drawn-out debate to a quick end, typically used to end a in the ; in most cases, the requisite majority for invoking cloture is three-fifths of the non-vacant Senate seats. A motion for cloture can be overriden by the.

compound republic: A phrase used by U.S. President James Madison to describe the representative, federal, political system of government constructed by the, in particular the partnership between the individual and the, each of which is imbued with certain separate sovereign powers but also acts as a upon the other.

concurrent powers: Powers and responsibilities shared between two or more governments, in particular those shared between the and governments as laid out by the. Although both levels of government maintain sovereign jurisdictions where they govern separately, other tasks are shared, such as raising taxes, establishing law courts, and providing for an integrated national system of road transportation.

conferee: A member of the or the who is assigned by their respective body to a.

Congress: The bicameral legislative branch of the, consisting of the and the. Both houses combine for a total of 535 voting members of Congress, who are chosen through direct election. Congress sits for two-year terms in the in

Congressional caucus: A group of members that meet to pursue common legislative objectives.

Congressional cloakrooms: A set of rooms in the adjacent to the legislative chambers of the and the  which were originally used by members of  to hang their hats and overcoats, and which now provide informal meeting spaces where Senators and Representatives can discuss legislative deals and strategy.

Congressional Record: The official public record of the proceedings and debates of the, issued approximately every two weeks while Congress is in session. It is published by the United States Government Publishing Office.

Constitution of the United States:

continuing resolution (CR):

D
Declaration of Independence: A document written chiefly by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776 which formally declared the intent of the original American colonies to govern themselves independently of British rule and listed the various reasons why the American colonists no longer accepted British sovereignty. The adoption of the Declaration is remembered as one of the most significant moments of the American Revolution, as it officially brought to an end any effort to address the colonists' grievances within the strictures of the colonial system and publicly announced their demand for independence and their intention to fight for it if necessary. The text of the Declaration outlines the moral obligations of governments with respect to their subjects and then addresses specific cases in which the colonial governments under King George III had failed to meet these obligations. It is still frequently mentioned and cited in modern U.S. politics.

delegated powers:

Those powers granted by the states to the by Article One, Section Eight of the : namely, to manage the national debt; to regulate commerce between the states, with foreign powers, and with Native American nations; to mint a national currency and standardize weights and measures; to establish a mail service and construct roads; to enforce patents and copyright; to constitute federal courts under the ; to manage the nation's military capability and defend its interests in foreign affairs; to guarantee the internal security of the nation; and "to make laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers". Every act of Congress must, in some way, be constitutionally justified by referring back to one of these delegated powers; this has often been aided by a broad interpretation of the and the.

democracy:

Democratic Party: One of the two major contemporary in the two-party system of the United States, along with its main rival, the. Though the modern version of the party is a coalition comprising multiple distinct ideologies, Democrats generally espouse a philosophy that is socially and economically liberal. Since 2000, the color blue has been widely used to represent the Democratic Party in diagrams indicating partisanship, such as election maps.

denied powers: Those powers that, as outlined by the, remain in possession of United States citizens and cannot be legislated away by the federal or state governments. Denied powers include, for example, the provisions contained within the, such as freedom of speech.

direct primary: A type of in which, at the national party convention, victorious delegates are bound to vote for the candidate they officially pledged to support during primary. This is in contrast to an, in which the delegate is under no such obligation and may use their discretion in choosing who to vote for as the party's candidate.

District of Columbia:

divided government:

dual federalism: The division of powers between the federal and state governments in the 19th century.

E
Elastic Clause: See.

Electoral College: The 538 electors nominated by the states to elect the.

enrolled bill:

enumerated powers: See.

executive privilege: The right of the to withhold information from, federal courts, the states, or the general public. Although this right is not explicitly addressed in the, executive privilege is generally assumed on the grounds that if there were no secrecy about the deliberations of the , there might be little incentive for advice given to the president to be candid or truthful. Presidents have often refused to supply information by arguing that doing so would be incompatible with the national interest; in 1974, during the Watergate scandal, the ruled that executive privilege did not extend to criminal investigations.

executive session:

F
federalism:

filibuster: Talking until the time available expires, a tactic used especially during debates in the.

first-past-the-post:

G
gerrymandering: Deliberately arranging the boundaries of electoral districts so as to bias the results of elections held in those districts and thereby favor a particular political party or demographic.

Grand Old Party (GOP): See.

guillotine: See.

H
Hatch Act:

A federal law which prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the and the, from engaging in certain forms of political activity.

hold:

hopper: The wooden box located on the desk of the Clerk of the in which members deposit draft bills or resolutions that they wish to introduce to the chamber for deliberation. The has no equivalent receptacle; draft legislation is instead simply handed to a clerk.

House of Representatives:

I
impeachment: The process of officially charging an elected official, such as the, with a crime and trying them.

implied powers: Those powers that, although not explicitly addressed in the, are deemed to be logical extensions or implications of it. For example, because the Constitution charges with regulating the borrowing of money and the minting of currency on behalf of the United States, the formation of a national bank has been accepted as an implied power that serves as a logical extension of these responsibilities, and legislation establishing one was passed in 1791. Many of the implied powers are constitutionally justified by the or the.

indirect primary: A type of in which the victorious delegate is under no obligation to vote for a particular candidate at the national party convention. By contrast, a requires winners to vote for the candidate they pledged to support while campaigning to be a delegate.

initiative election: A referendum on a specific issue that is initiated once a designated number of citizens registers their support for the referendum, upon which a decision on the issue is put before the electorate as a whole.

iron triangle: A colloquial term for the mutually supportive three-sided relationship that can develop between legislators, bureaucrats, and interest groups who prioritize securing each other's interests rather than serving the public good.

J
joint resolution:

joint session:

judicial activism: Judicial rulings which go beyond a narrow reading of the law to implement a broader morality or policy.

K
Kitchen Cabinet: (slang) The closest personal advisors of the 's or.

L
lame duck:

line-item veto: A power of the executive to strike or individual provisions or "line items" of a bill, such as spending on a particular item.

lunatic fringe: A fringe group consisting of extremists with eccentric or fanatical views. The term was popularized by Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote in 1913 that "Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe."

M
military–industrial complex: The vested interest of the military and its suppliers and supporters.

N
Necessary and Proper Clause: The elastic clause which gives the power to do whatever is deemed "necessary and proper" in order to do its duty.

nuclear option:

O
open primary: A primary election which is open to all electors, not just members of a particular party.

P
pardon: A power of the to lessen or set aside a punishment.

plenum:

A meeting of a deliberative assembly in which all members of all parties are in attendance. Contrast.

plurality:

point of order:

political party:

President of the United States (POTUS):

Q
qualified majority: See.

quid pro quo: A Latin phrase meaning "something for something".

quorum: The minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly that is necessary to conduct the business of that assembly. The requirement is intended to protect against unrepresentative action in the name of the assembly by an unduly small number of members. In both the U.S. and the, the designated quorum is usually a of their respective members (218 and 51, respectively). Contrast.

R
Republican Party:

One of the two major contemporary in the two-party system of the United States, along with its main rival, the. In modern times, Republicans generally espouse a philosophy that is socially and economically conservative. Since 2000, the color red has been widely used to represent the Republican Party in diagrams indicating partisanship, such as election maps.

republicanism:

rider:

Rule of Four: An informal of the when deciding to take cases.

S
Saxbe fix:

select committee:

Senate:

Senatorial courtesy:

separation of powers: The division of power between branches of government such as the executive, judiciary and legislature.

simple majority:

Speaker of the House:

special committee: See.

sponsor:

The Congressperson who presents or introduces a bill or resolution to Congress for consideration, or, in cases where a bill is introduced jointly by multiple members of Congress, the first member to be listed.

standing committee:

Standing Rules of the Senate:

supermajority:

Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS):

T
third party: Any other than the two traditional leading political parties of the United States, the and.

two-thirds majority:

U
unanimous consent:

unfunded mandate: A duty or requirement for which no money is provided.

V
veto: A power of the to refuse to approve an.

Vice President of the United States:

W
whip:

whistleblower: A person who reports an illegal or unethical action.

whistle stop: A quick stop at a minor place during a campaign for an elected office.

Y
yellow journalism: Exaggerated or sensational press reporting.