| A | B |
|---|
| Gilded Age | The period from 1870 to 1890, marked by political corruption and extravagant spending |
| Patronage | The practice of awarding government jobs to political supporters |
| Merit | Ability |
| Civil Service Commission | Government agency created to fill jobs based on merit |
| Civil Service | All federal jobs except elected offices and those in the Military |
| Interstate Commerce | Business that crosses state lines |
| Interstate Commerce Commission | Government agency organized to oversee railroad commerce |
| Political Boss | Powerful politicitian who controls work done locally and demands payoffs from businesses |
| Muckraker | Journalist who exposed corruption and other problems of the late 1800s and early 1900s |
| Progressive | Reformer in the late 1800s and early 1900s who wanted to improve American life |
| Public Interest | The good of the people |
| Wisconsin Idea | Series of Progressive reforms introduced in the early 1900s by Wisconsin governor Robert La Follette |
| Primary | Election in which voters choose their party's candidate for the general election |
| Initiative | Process by which voters can put a bill directly before the state legislature |
