LIST OF TERMS IN GOVERNMENT FOR JAMB, WAEC AND NECO STUDENTS.

B Many students don't know the meanings of the following terms,  yet they are often used by external examination bodies in examinations. Study the meanings of each term and memorize them.

527 groups - A political organization, not affiliated with a party, that can raise and spend soft money; named after a section of the Internal Revenue Code.
2. absentee ballot - A ballot, usually sent in the mail, that allows those who cannot go to their precinct on election day to vote.

3. absolutism - The belief that the government should have all the power and be able to do whatever it wants.
4. acquisitive model - A view of bureaucracies that argues agency heads seek to expand the size, budget, and power of their agency.
5. actual malice - Knowingly printing falsehoods in order to harm a person’s reputation.
6. administrative adjudication - The bureaucratic function of settling disputes by relying on rules and precedents.
7. affirm - An action by the Supreme Court to uphold a ruling by a lower court; that ruling is now the legally binding one.
8. affirmative action - Measures to give minorities special consideration for hiring, school admission, and so on, designed to overcome past discrimination.

9. agency capture - The gaining of control (direct or indirect) over a government regulatory agency by the industry it regulates.
10. agency representation - A type of representation in which the representative is seen as an agent, acting on behalf of the district, who is held accountable if he or she does not do as the constituents wish.
11. agenda-setting - The power of the media to determine which issues will be discussed and debated.
12. amendment - A change to the Constitution.
13. American conservatism - The belief that freedom trumps all other political considerations; the government should play a small role in people’s lives.
14. American exceptionalism - The view that the United States is different from other countries.
15. American liberalism - The belief that the government should promote equality in politics and economics.
16. Americans with Disabilities Act - The major law banning discrimination against the disabled, it requires employers to make all reasonable accommodations to disabled workers; it passed in 1990.

17. amicus curiae brief - Literally, a “friend of the court” brief. A brief submitted to the court by a group not involved in the case; it presents further arguments for one side in the case.
18. anarchism - The belief that all governments are repressive and should be destroyed.
19. appellate jurisdiction - The authority to review cases heard by lower courts.
20. appointment power - The president’s power to appoint people to key federal offices.
21. appropriation - The act of Congress formally specifying the amount of authorized money that an agency can spend.
22. Articles of Confederation - America’s first national constitution, which loosely bound the states under a weak national Congress.
23. attack journalism - Journalism that aims to undermine political leaders.
24. Australian ballot - A ballot printed by the government that allows voting to be secret.
25. authoritarian regime - A government that can do whatever it wants, without limits.
26. authority - The ability of the government to exercise power without resorting to violence.
27. authorization - A formal declaration by a congressional committee that a certain amount of money is available to an agency.
28. autocracy - A regime in which the government holds all the power.

29. bad-tendency rule - A rule to judge if speech can be limited: If the speech could lead to some sort of “evil,” it can be prohibited.
30. Bakke case - This Supreme Court Case decided in 1978 that affirmative action is legal as long as race is not the only factor considered.
31. balanced budget - When a government spends exactly as much as it takes in.
32. bicameral legislature - A legislature with two houses.
33. bilateral - A state acting in cooperation with another state.
34. bill of attainder - A bill passed by the legislature that declares a person guilty of a crime.
35. Bill of Rights - The first ten amendments to the Constitution, which safeguard some specific rights of the American people and the states.

36. Bill - A proposed law or policy.
37. Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act - A law passed in 2002 that banned soft money, put limits on issue advertising, and increased the amount people can donate to candidates; also called the McCain-Feingold bill.
38. bipolar system - An international system characterized by two superpowers that roughly balance each other.
39. blanket primary - A primary in which voters can choose candidates from more than one party; declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
40. block grant - A grant-in-aid with few restrictions or rules about how it can be spent.
41. blog - A weblog on the Internet; the thoughts and opinions of a person or group posted online.
42. brief - A document submitted to a court that presents one side’s argument in a case.

43. broadcast media - Media that is distributed over the airwaves.
44. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas - Supreme Court case that ended segregation and declared “separate but equal” to be unconstitutional.
45. bundling - The practice of lumping campaign donations from several donors together.
46. bureaucracy - An administrative way of organizing large numbers of people to work together; usually relies on specialization, hierarchy, and standard operating procedure.
47. buying power - One’s ability to purchase things; it is undermined by inflation.
48. cabinet - A group, composed of the heads of federal departments and key agencies, that advises the president.
49. caesaropapism - The belief that the powers of church and state should be united in one person.
50. candidate-centered politics - Campaigns and politics that focus on the candidates, not party labels.

51. case law - The collection of court decisions that shape law.
52. casework - Work done by a member of Congress or his or her staff on behalf of constituents.
53. categorical grants - Money given for a specific purpose that comes with restrictions concerning how the money should be spent. There are two types of categorical grants: project grants and formula grants.
54. caucus - A gathering of political leaders to make decisions, such as which candidate to nominate for an office; set policy; and plot strategy.

55. census - Counting the population to determine representation in the House of Representatives; the constitution mandates one every ten years.
56. central bank - The institution with the power to implement monetary policy.
57. centralization - the process by which law- and policymaking becomes centrally located.
58. centrally planned economy - An economy where all decisions are made by the government.
59. charter - A document issued by state government granting certain powers and responsibilities to a local government.
60. checks and balances - The ability of different branches of government to stop each other from acting; designed to prevent one branch from gaining too much power.
61. chief of state - The ceremonial head of government; in the United States, the president serves as chief of state.
62. citizen - A legal member of a political unit.

63. civic education - Education geared toward training the young to be good citizens.
64. civil liberties - Individual freedoms that the government cannot take away, including free speech, freedom of religion, and the rights of the accused.
65. Civil Rights Act of 1964 - The major civil rights legislation in the modern era, the Civil Rights Act banned discrimination and segregation in public accommodations.
66. Civil Rights Cases - Supreme Court decision in 1883 that said the Fourteenth Amendment only made discrimination by government illegal; private citizens could do as they pleased.
67. civil rights - The rights of equality under the law.
68. Civil Service Commission - The first federal personnel agency.
69. Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 - Law that established the federal civil service; also known as the Pendleton Act.
70. Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 - Law that updated and reformed the civil service.

71. civil service - Government employees hired and promoted based on merit, not political connections.
72. civil society - The network of community relationships that builds social capital.
73. civil war - A war fought within a single country between or among different groups of citizens who want to control the government and do not recognize another group’s right to rule.
74. classical conservatism - A view that arose in opposition to classical liberalism; it claimed that tradition was very valuable, human reason limited, and stability essential.
75. classical liberalism - A view that arose in the early modern era in Europe; it argues for the value of the individual, the necessity for freedom, the importance of rationalism, and the value of the free market.
76. clear-and-present danger - A limit on free speech stipulating that speech that constitutes a “clear and present danger” can be banned.
77. closed primary - A primary in which the voter must belong to the party in which he or she participates.
78. closed rule - A rule on a bill, issued by the House Rules Committee, which limits or bans amendments during floor debate.

79. cloture - A motion to end debate in the Senate, it must be approved by sixty votes.
80. codetermination - A policy used in some states with strong social democratic parties that forces large corporations to have substantial representation from the workers on the board of directors
81. command economy - An economy where all decisions are made by the government.
82. commerce clause - A clause in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.

83. common law - A system of law, originally from England, in which previous decisions guide judges in interpreting the law.
84. common-carrier role - The media’s role as an intermediary between the people and the government.
85. communism - An extreme form of socialism that advocates violent revolution to create a socialist state.
86. comparative politics - An academic discipline that compares states in order to understand how they work.
87. concurrent powers - Powers exercised simultaneously by the states and the federal government.
88. concurring opinion - An opinion issued by a judge who votes with the winning side but disagrees with the majority or plurality opinion.

89. confederacy - A loose relationship among a number of smaller political units.
90. confederate system - A system of government with a very weak central government and strong states.
91. conformism - A tendency for people to act the same way, watch the same television programs, read the same books, and so on.
92. constituency - The people in a district represented by a legislator.
93. constitution - A set of rules that govern how power will be distributed and used legitimately in a state.
94. constitutional democracy - A type of government characterized by limitations on government power spelled out in a constitution.
95. constitutional government - A regime in which the use of power is limited by law.
96. constitutional powers - Powers of the president granted explicitly by the Constitution.

97. continuing resolution - A measure passed by Congress that temporarily funds an agency while Congress completes its budget.
98. convention delegate - A party member or official who goes to the national convention to vote for the party’s presidential nominee and to ratify the party’s platform.
99. conventional participation - Political participation in activities deemed appropriate by most; includes voting, donating to a campaign, and writing letters to officeholders.
100. cooperative federalism - A term used to describe federalism for most of the twentieth century (and into the twenty-first), where the federal government and the states work closely together and are intertwined; also known as marble-cake federalism.

Thanks for reading.