| A | B |
|---|
| laws | Enforceable rules of conduct in a society. |
| code | Laws grouped into an organized form. |
| common law | Law based on the current standards or customs of the people. |
| positive law | Law dictated by a sovereign or other central authority to prevent disputes and wrongs from occurring. |
| jurisdiction | The power to decide a case. |
| equity | Fairness |
| constitution | Document that sets forth the framework of a government and its relationship to the people it governs. |
| statutes | Laws enacted by legislatures. |
| ordinance | Legislation enacted at the local level. |
| case law | Law made after a trial has ended and one of the parties has appealed the result to a higher court. |
| stare decisis | The legal doctrine that requires lower courts to follow established case law in deciding similar cases (“to adhere to decided cases”). |
| administrative agencies | Governmental bodies created by federal, state, and local legislatures to carry out particular laws. |
| civil law | The group of laws that make up for wrongs against individual persons. |
| criminal law | Laws governing the citizens’ right to live in peace. |
| substantive law | Laws defining rights and duties of conduct except those involved in reinforcement. |
| impartiality | The idea that the same ethical standards are applied to everyone. |
| universalizing | Imagining everyone doing the same thing and then determining whether the result would be irrational, illogical, or demeaning. |
| ethics | Practice of deciding what is right or wrong in a reasoned, impartial manner. |
| civil disobedience | An open, peaceful, violation of a law to protest its alleged or supposed injustice. |
| integrity | The capacity to do what is right even in the face of temptation or pressure to do otherwise. |
| Declaration of Independence | Document adopted by delegates from the 13 original American colonies charging King George III with tyranny and declaring unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. |
| Articles of Confederation | Charter of the thirteen sovereign states describing the government of their union. |
| U.S. Constitution | Constitution with seven articles providing a workable framework for a federal government. |
| Bill of Rights | The first ten amendments to the Constitution that grant personal rights. |
| civil rights | Rights protected by the First Amendment: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the freedom to assemble. |
| due process of law | At a minimum a defendant over whom jurisdiction has been established must be provided adequate notice and a proper hearing. Due process of law requires fundamental fairness in compliance with reasonable and just laws. |
| system of checks and balances | Gives specific authority to each of the three basic branches of government. |
| impeachment cases | Legal cases which involve trying a government official for misconduct in office. |
| political party | A private organization of citizens who select and promote candidates for election to public office. |
| amendment | A change or alteration. |
| democracy | A form of government in which every qualified adult citizen may vote on all issues. |
| republic | A representative democracy in which voters select their representatives to the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. |
| sovereignty | Freedom from external control. |
