| A | B |
|---|
| community | a group of people living in the same place and under the same government |
| country | a nation |
| state | a geographical and political part of a country, such as the United States |
| county | in the United States, a smaller subdivision [part ] of a state |
| city | a center of population, commerce, and culture; a large and important town |
| town | a population center larger than a village and smaller than a city |
| village | a community smaller than a town |
| local | limited to part of an entire place |
| political | having to do with the structure and activities of a government |
| politics | the activities of a government, politician, or political party |
| political party | group of people who have similar ideas about how our country should be run |
| election | when a group of people make a choice by voting |
| majority | more than half |
| minority | fewer than half |
| candidate | a person who is running for office |
| convention | a big, official meeting of people; in politics this meeting is held to decide who will be the political party's candidate for office |
| delegate | a person chosen to speak or act for a group; in the United States, states send delegates to a national convention to choose candidates to run for President and Vice-President |
| electoral college | a group of persons chosen by the states and District of Columbia to elect the President and Vice-President of the United States; the number of electors from each state is based on population |
| President | the chief executive of the United States |
| Vice-President | a person ranking below the President and having the authority to take the President's place in case of his absence, illness, or death |
| governor | the person elected chief executive of a state in the United States |
| mayor | the chief government official of a city or town |
| Congress | in the United States, the Senate and House of Representatives, the two groups whose members are elected to make the laws of the nation |
| Senate | the upper house of the Congress; it includes two members from each state; each senator is elected by the people of their state every six years |
| senator | a member of the senate |
| House of Representatives | the lower branch of the United States Congress; members are elected every two years; the number of members each state can send to Congress is based on population |
| representative | in the United States, a member of the House of Representatives or of a state legislature |
| legislature | a group of persons who make or change the laws of a nation or state |
| legislator | a member of a group that makes laws |
| checks and balances | the ways in which each branch of the government limits the powers of the other branches of the government |
