| A | B |
|---|
| State of the union | sets forth the programs policies and legislations that the president wants congress to enact. |
| Caucus | – a meeting of political party members to seek agreement on a course of action |
| electoral college | – the body of representatives from the 50 states and DC that officially elect the president |
| elector | – a member of the electoral college |
| pardon | the official release of a person charged with or convicted of a crime |
| commutation | the reduction of a punishment to a less severe one |
| reprieve | a postponement of the carrying out of a convicted person’s sentence |
| diplomatic recognition | an acknowledgement by one nation’s gov. that the other nation’s gov is legit |
| alliances | an agreement between 2 or more nations to work together towards one common goal. |
| executive order | a rule of regulation issued by the pres. Or another executive branch official on how to carry out or enforce legislation |
| executive privilege | principle that the executive branch may withhold information from congress and the courts to preserve national security |
| foreign policy | the nation’s plans and procedures for dealing with other nations |
| diplomacy | the art of negotiating, conducting and maintaining relationships with other nations |
| progressive tax | – people who make a higher income are taxed more than people who make a lower income |
| taxes | a required payment to a local state or national government usually made on some regular basis |
| privatization | – the act of turning functions previously performed by the federal gov to the private sector |
| civil servant | a non military employee of gov ; particularly one who is rewarded his or her job on the basis of the merit system |
| government corporations | – an independent agency the manages a non profit business |
| regulatory commissions | an independent agency created by congress with a greater degree of autonomy or self-rule than others |
| Bureaucracy | any management structure that carries out policy on a day to day basis |
| bureaucrat | worker in a bureaucracy |
| secretaries | the head of a cabinet local department within the executive branch of the US gov |
| attorney general | the head of the US dept of justice and the chief legal advisor to the president and the federal gov |
| office of management and budget | – an executive branch agency within the executive office that is responsible for preparing the office’s budget request |
| popular vote | – total votes cast by the general public in an election |
| party platform | a statement of a political party’s position on issues |
| conventions | – assembly of political party members gathered to perform some official duty, such as choosing candidates for elective office, adopting a party platform, or selecting delegates to a higher-level party meeting |
| primary elections | an election to choose a political party’s candidates for an elective office |
| general elections | an election in which voters choose from among candidates running for federal, state, or local elective office |
| custom duties | a tax on imports that may be levied by a nation’s government to raise revenue or to protect an industry within the nation |
| free enterprise | a system in which private business operates with minimal government regulation. |
| trade embargo | – a government order that forbids trade with a specified nation. |
| national debt | – the total amount of money that a nation owes its creditors. |
| monetary policy | a government’s program for regulation a nation’s money supply and the availability of credit in order to accomplish certain economic goals. |
| fiscal policy | the overall government program that establishes levels of taxing, borrowing, and spending that promote the desired economic goals for the nation. |
| passport | a document that a nation issues to its citizens that allows them to travel to other nations, identifies them to government authorities in those nations, and gives them the right to return home |
| visa | – the permission that a nation gives to a citizen of another nation who wishes to visit it |
| Monroe doctrine | a foreign-policy statement made by President James Monroe in 1823. Declared that the US would not allow European nations to further colonize or take any aggressive actions in the Western Hemisphere |
| Truman Doctrine | – 1947 foreign-policy statement made by President Harry Truman that pledged US military and economic aid o nations that were trying to avoid a communist takeover. |
| glastnost | means "openess"; Russian term for the Soviet political reforms of the late 1980's that permitted freer expression of political views |
| Perestroika | means "restructuring"; an effort by the Soviet union to change its economy from communism to market socialism |
