| A | B |
|---|
| citizenship | the condition by which individuals enjoy the protections afforded to citizens and exercise the duties and responsibilities of being a citizen |
| rights | natural-born privileges that are protected by American government |
| duties | things that citizens are required to do |
| responsibilities | things that citizens should do |
| immigration | the act of moving from one country to another |
| alien | an immigrant from a foreign nation who is not a citizen |
| naturalization | the process by which aliens are granted citizenship |
| INS | executive agency which naturalizes aliens |
| political party | an organized group that attempts to put its political ideas into law by winning elections and formulating public policy |
| liberal | political philosophy that advocates the use of increased government power in order to provide for the common good |
| conservative | political philosophy that advocates the use of limited government in order to protect liberty |
| partisan | to strongly believe in a particular political philosophy |
| 15th Amendment | extended suffrage rights to black men after the Civil War |
| 17th Amendment | provided for the direct election of Senators |
| 19th Amendment | extended suffrage rights to women |
| 23rd Amendment | extended suffrage rights to citizens of Washington, D.C. in presidential elections |
| 24th Amendment | prohibits the use of poll taxes in order to determine voting qualifications in federal elections |
| 26th Amendment | extended suffrage rights to 18 year olds |
| plurality | in an election, having more votes than any other candidate |
| majority | in an election, having at least 50% of the votes |
| coalition | an alliance of various political interests for the purpose of winning elections and/or forming public policy |
| nominate | the process of selecting candidates to run for office |
| campaign | a political contest waged by candidates to win the support of voters on election day |
| ward | local unit of party organization |
| precinct | a local voting district |
| caucus | a meeting held by a political party for the purpose of nominating candidates |
| delegates | individuals who are selected to represent others at a convention |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | prohibited discrimination in employment and voter registration |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | provided for enforcement of the 15th Amendment |
| primary | an intra-party nominating election in which voters choose a party's candidates to run in the general election |
| closed primary | a primary that is only open to voters of a particular party |
| open primary | a primary that may be participated in by all voters |
| run-off | a second primary which involved the two front-runners from the first contest; used in situations where election laws require a majority vote for nomination |
| nominating convention | a political convention held by a political party in which delegates nominate candidates to run for office |
| platform | a written statement of the beliefs that a political party officially stands for |
| plank | an item in a political party's platform |
| straight-ticket voting | voting only for the candidates of one political party |
| split-ticket voting | voting for candidates of more than one political party |
| popular vote | the vote of the people |
| electoral vote | the vote cast by states for the purpose of electing a president |
| initiative | petition process by which voters can put a proposed constitutional amendment or statute on the ballot |
| proposition | a proposal that may be directly voted on by the voters in a general election |
| referendum | a method by which voters have the opportunity to approve or reject a bill or measure that has been passed by their state legislature |
| recall | an election in which voters have the opportunity to remove an official from office |
| interest group | a group of people that try to influence politicians and public policy |
| special interests | common name given to interest groups that are only interested in a particular issue |
| PAC | political action committee formed by an interest group for the purpose of raising money to influence politicians and the political process |
| soft money | money given by individuals or PAC's to a particular political party for the purpose of helping its candidates win an election |
| lobbyist | individual who works for an interest group by attempting to influence politicians |
