| A | B |
|---|
| affirmative action: | action taken to improve employment or educational opportunities for victims of past discrimination. (For example, instituting a quota system that sets aside a certain number of jobs for blacks and other minorities.) |
| Agent Orange: | a chemical used during the Vietnam War to kill jungle foliage under which the enemy hid. The chemical also allegedly produced harmful side effects on humans exposed to it. |
| apartheid: | a system of racial segregation in South Africa. |
| ayatollah: | a religious leader of Shiite Muslims. |
| "Baker v. Carr" (1962): | a case in which the Supreme Court ruled that election districts for electing state legislators must have approximately equal populations. |
| "Bakke v. Regents of the University of California": | a 1978 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action programs were constitutional as long as they did not violate the rights of others. |
| Camp David Accords (1979): | an agreement which ended the state of war between Egypt and Israel -- the first such agreement in which an Arab nation officially recognized Israel as a legitimate nation. |
| cartel: | a group of industries or nations that seeks to control production and set prices of certain goods or services. |
| comparable worth: | the idea that men and women who work jobs of comparable (equal) value or importance should be paid comparable wages. |
| conventional weapons: | non-nuclear weapons such as tanks or chemical bombs. |
| Equal Rights Amendment: | an amendment proposed in 1972, but never ratified, which would have declared that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex." |
| gender discrimination: | discrimination on account of sex. |
| hard-core unemployed: | those individuals who, because of a lack of education or other deficiencies, are unable to find jobs for a long period of time. |
| Helsinki Accords (1975): | an agreement signed by President Ford, Soviet Premier Brezhnev, and the leaders of 33 other nations in which they all promised to respect the human rights of their citizens. |
| human rights policy: | a policy adopted by President Carter which stated that the U.S. would restrict or cut off military aid and trade to those nations which violated the human rights of their citizens. |
| Khmer Rouge: | communist organization which under Pol Pot established a brutal dictatorship in Cambodia (Kampuchea) from 1975 until driven from power by a Vietnamese invasion in 1978. |
| My Lai Massacre (1969): | the massacre of hundreds of unarmed civilian Vietnamese by U.S. troops. |
| obstruction of justice: | to hinder or block the enforcement of law by lying to or by otherwise refusing to cooperate with law-enforcement officials and the courts. |
| Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries: | a cartel (monopoly) of major oil producing nations, especially Arab nations, formed in 1973, to control the production and price of oil (also known as OPEC). |
| Panama Canal Treaty (1977): | a treaty between the U.S. and the Republic of Panama calling for the transfer of ownership of the Panama Canal Zone from the U.S. to Panama in the year 2000. |
| pardon: | an official act excusing an individual from punishment for crimes or other offenses. |
| Paris Accords (1973): | an agreement which brought U.S. involvement in Vietnam to an end by calling for a cease-fire and a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam. |
| Pentagon Papers: | a secret government study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam which, when published, revealed that the government had not been totally honest in reporting its actions in Vietnam to the American people. |
| pragmatism: | a philosophy of considering actions and concepts by their practical results. |
| pro-choice: | term representing the belief that a pregnant woman should be free to choose whether to give birth or have an abortion. |
| pro-life: | term representing the belief that government should outlaw abortions. |
| right-wing dictatorship | a government that seeks to maintain power by outlawing dissent and opposition political parties. The businesses in the society are usually privately owned. |
| "Roe v. Wade" (1973): | a case in which the Supreme Court declared that state governments could not prohibit abortions. |
| Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT): | talks which led to an agreement (1972) between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. that each side would limit the production of certain kinds of nuclear weapons. |
| theocracy: | a government ruled by religious leaders. |
| Three Mile Island accident (1979): | a serious accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. |
| trade deficit: | an imbalance of trade which occurs when a country imports more goods than it exports. |
| War Powers Act of 1973: | a law limiting the power of the President to use combat troops by forbidding the use of U.S. soldiers in military operations for more than 60 days without the consent of Congress. |
| Yom Kippur War (1973): | a war between Israel and its Arab neighbors which began with a surprise Egyptian and Syrian attack on Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. |
