Before you debate, learn your stuff. Here are some of the terms you need to know in order to do your civic duties well.
Note that some political terms are not mutually exclusive; for example, the U.S. can be described as a democracy, a republic, a capitalist country or a federation. Also keep in mind that there is a great deal of flexibility and variation in many of these terms. Use these definitions as generalizations to aid in your understanding, not as a definitive description.
Find U.S. elected officials on usa.gov/elected-officials.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE: POLITICAL SCIENCE
Politics: The complicated, multi-part process of choosing laws and lawmakers and carrying out other duties of political office
Government: A state-run institution that is tasked with maintaining order, protecting citizens, and promoting the general welfare of society by making and enforces laws and carrying out many other specified services, such as education and infrastructure building and maintenance
Political science: The study of political history, processes, people and ideas
Political party: A named group that shares political preferences and seeks to have their representatives elected
Suffrage: The right and ability to vote in an election
Political power: The ability to control or influence politics
Political legitimacy: The acceptance of a governing authority by its citizens
Political authority: The ability of a governing authority to govern without the use of force
Sovereignty: The right of a state to govern itself without external interference. In some cases, this right may be limited by international law, treaties and other considerations.
Political ideology: A set of beliefs about the right, practical and preferable function, structure and powers of government
Party identification: Loyalty to a political party, whether or not one is an official member of that party
Democracy: A political system in which citizens have the right and ability to vote for their laws and governmental leaders, either directly or through elected representatives
Monarchy: A form of government that is led by a supreme leader whose powers vary by state. In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is limited and guided by a constitution, the foundational law of the land. An emirate is a form of monarchy ruled by an emir (the ruler of a Muslim state). A sultanate is ruled by a sultan.
Oligarchy: A form of government that is led by a small group of individuals, usually wealthy and well-connected ones
Dictatorship: A form of government in which a single ruler has absolute power. In most cases, leaders of this type of government create a legal framework that justifies their actions.
Constitutional democracy: A democracy in which the rights and powers of the people are described in a constitution, which is the foundational law of the land
Republic: A form of government in which the people elect representative leaders to carry out their goals
Democratic republic: A type of republic in which the representatives are elected through a democratic process
Presidential government: A republic with a separate executive branch from the legislative branch that is led by a president
Parliamentary government: A form of government in which the executive branch, including main leader and an advisory cabinet, is chosen by a legislature or parliament. The leader is called a prime minister or a chancellor. This branch can be dissolved by the parliament and can in turn dissolve the parliament.
Federation: A form of government in which a group of individual states or provinces are united under a central government with limited powers
Confederacy: A looser form of government in which the member states or provinces retain almost all of their sovereignty and autonomy, with the central government having very limited powers
Confederation: A general term that can refer to any political association in which several states or provinces join together for a common purpose
Theocracy: A form of government in which a deity or religion, as interpreted by religious professionals, is supreme
Feudalism: A hierarchical political and social system that dominated Europe and Japan during the Middle Ages in which peasants worked for and were loyal to knights, knights worked for and were loyal to lords and lords worked for and were loyal to kings. Territory disputes were common due to political instability.
English colony: A territory or region that was controlled and governed by the British Empire, with varying degrees of autonomy and self-government
U.S. protectorate: A state or territory that is under the protection and influence of the United States, but is not fully incorporated as a part of the United States and has some degree of autonomy and self-government
Tribal nation: A sovereign yet dependent nation that must follow federal law but not all state laws
Non-government organization (NGO): A private, non-profit entity that works towards social, environmental, or humanitarian goals, often independent of government
Regime: Any particular government that is in power at a particular time. The word usually carries negative connotations.
The political spectrum: A way of organizing political ideologies according to the amount of government control and, conversely, the amount of individual freedom they espouse. Commonly, though not always, it is viewed as a straight line, giving rise to the “left-right” terminology. It is as follows, starting at the right: anarchy; libertarian capitalism; conservative capitalism; progressive liberal capitalism; socialism; and communism. Fascism/totalitarianism is often considered to be a far-right ideology, though it is more similar to communism.
Liberalism: In the U.S., a political ideology promoting social and economic reform, higher taxes and greater governmental power. It is associated with the Democratic Party. An economic liberal espouses only or mainly the ideology’s economic ideas, and a social liberal espouses only or mainly the ideology’s social values. In Europe, the term is used differently, signifying an ideology closer to what Americans call conservativism, and the word progressivism is used to describe what Americans call liberalism.
Conservatism: A political ideology promoting free markets, restricted government, efficient use of government resources and traditional social values. In the U.S., it is associated with the Republican Party. An economic conservative espouses only or mainly the ideology’s economic ideas, and a social conservative espouses only or mainly the ideology’s social values.
Capitalism: A political system or ideology based on private ownership, free-market competition and the profit motive
Socialism: A political system or ideology in which democratically elected leaders attempt to fairly redistribute wealth; eliminate or greatly reduce economic inequality; provide universal access to essential goods and services such as healthcare and education; and give workers greater control over the means of production
Communism: A political system or ideology in which private ownership of property, businesses and capital is banned and the state, usually run by a small group of leaders, controls everything. The state claims that all people share ownership of all resources, though in practice, it owns everything. Leaders are not elected democratically.
Libertarianism: A political system or ideology that seeks to maximize the freedom of the individual and minimize the size and powers of the government
Anarchy: A political system or ideology that seeks to abolish hierarchical forms of government in favor of cooperative systems
Totalitarianism: A political system or ideology in which state authority is total and often brutally enforced
Fascism: A form of totalitarianism that existed in several nations during World War II that was characterized by extreme militarism and nationalism
Nazism: National Socialism, the form of fascism that existed in Germany prior to and during World War II after the Nazi Party came into power
Marxism: A form of communism devised by Karl Marx in the late nineteenth century that he claimed would free the proletariat (workers) from exploitation by capitalists (business owners), resulting in a socialist system and classless society in which the means of production are owned collectively by the workers
Welfare capitalism: A form of capitalism in which a free-market economy is combined with an extensive social welfare system, including universal health care, education and more
State capitalism: A form of capitalism in which the government controls or heavily influences the economy, often through state-owned enterprises or by providing subsidies to certain industries
Laissez-faire capitalism: A form of capitalism in which the government exercises minimal control of the economy
Nationalism: A political ideology that holds that a nation should be fully sovereign and that citizens should be loyal to their nation above all else
Isolationism: A political ideology that holds that a nation should practice non-intervention or low intervention in international affairs
Egalitarianism: A belief in the inherent and rightful political, social and economic equality of all people
Political corruption: The use of entrusted powers by government officials for private gain. This includes extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, pork barreling, embezzlement and more.
Extortion: Obtaining or attempting to obtain something through force or threats
Bribery: Obtaining or attempting to obtain something through a monetary payment
Graft: The illegal use of public monies for private gain. It can take many forms, including embezzlement, bribery, granting lucrative contracts to associates who offer monetary kickbacks and more.
Embezzlement: Theft or misappropriation of public or institutional money or property for private use
Cronyism: The favoring of friends for political office or other benefits
Nepotism: The favoring family members for political office or other benefits
Patronage: The practice of giving government jobs or contracts to people as a reward for their political support
Pork barreling: The use of power and position to secure funding for local projects that may not be necessary or cost-effective in order to gain political support from constituents. This is frequently done by adding riders to bills and exchanging political favors.
Rider: An addition to a law that might or might not have any connection to the issue the law addresses, added to gain favor with the representatives who benefit from it
Conflict of interest: An ethically problematic situation in which a person has two different responsibilities that might have conflicting goals, resulting in difficult choices on the part of that person. An example of this is a state representative who is also a member of the board of a large company, such as a drug manufacturer, who might pressure the representative to pass legislation that is amenable to their cause.
Gerrymandering: Manipulating the boundaries of an electoral district in order to give one political party an advantage over another. This can be done by either packing opposition voters into a single district (thus wasting their votes) or spreading them across multiple districts (thus diluting their power).
Lobbying: The attempt by individuals and large organizations to influence lawmakers in their policy decisions through a variety of techniques such as persuasion, information, material incentives, economic leverage, disruption, entertainment and litigation. Professional lobbyists work for large corporations. They sometimes get only two or three minutes of an official’s time to make their case. Former government officials often become lobbyists and earn a high salary as such.
Soft money: Unregulated and sometimes unlimited donations given to political organizations rather than directly to candidates in order to avoid contribution limits. It was outlawed for federal elections but loopholes are constantly being sought.
Partisan journalism: Journalism that is clearly biased in favor of a political party or ideology
Yellow journalism: Journalism that relies on sensationalism, exaggeration, and often unethical practices to attract its audience
Interest group: An organization that advocates for the political interests of a specific group of people, such as a business, a labor union or an environmentalist group. They aren’t allowed to endorse candidates, but they are allowed to contribute to political campaigns through PACs.
Political action committee (PAC): An organization that advocates for a special interest group by making financial contributions to political campaigns, writing legislation, and more
Super PAC: A type of PAC that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose candidates, as long as they do not coordinate directly with the candidate’s campaign
Grassroots activism: The process of mobilizing large numbers of people to achieve shared goals through techniques such as letter writing campaigns, rallies and marches, petitions, initiatives, lobbying, advertising, local meeting attendance, campaigning, writing policy education materials and more
Economic issues: Political questions that concern the production, distribution, and consumption of goods, capital and services in a society. These include questions surrounding taxation, government spending, government regulation, trade and more.
Social issues: Political questions that concern matters of social justice, equality, equity and government-supplied benefits to the public. These include questions surrounding abortion, affirmative action, animal rights, capital punishment, censorship, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, Internet taxation, climate change, disarmament and nonproliferation, drugs, imprisonment, education, foreign aid, gay rights, gun rights, health care, immigration, lobbying, nuclear testing, political corruption, race relations, separation of church and state, space policy, welfare and more.
Foreign policy: A country’s strategies and measures regarding international issues, including issues of diplomacy, foreign aid, trade agreements, military force, political alliances, global human rights, nuclear proliferation, environmental concerns, terrorism and more
Public policy: A country’s strategies and measures regarding issues that concern the general policy, including welfare, national security, the environment and much more
Constituents: Voters and other citizens who are represented by elected political leaders
Bureaucracy: A large and complex organization that is typically hierarchical in structure, with specialized roles and procedures for decision-making and implementation
Political machine: A political organization that attempts to control a government through manipulation of elections, patronage and more
Grant: A financial award given by a government agency or private organization to a special program in response to their written grant proposal
Citizen legislation: Legislation that is initiated and voted on by citizens rather than by legislators
National debt: The total amount of money that a country’s government owes to its creditors, which can include both domestic and foreign investors, as well as other countries
Colonization: The takeover of a nation or people by a foreign nation, usually by force
The British Conservative Party: One of the two main political policies in the U.K., which advocates for free-market economic policies and conservative social values
The British Labour Party: One of the two main political parties in the U.K., which advocates for progressive values such as universal healthcare, affordable housing, and workers’ rights
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