| A | B |
|---|
| Initiative | Petition process by which a certain percentage of voters can put a proposed constitutional amendment or statute on the ballot for popular approval or rejection. |
| Referendum | Process in which a measure passed by a legislature is submitted (referred) to the voters for final approval or rejection. |
| Item Veto | Power held by 43 State governors (but not the President) to eliminate (veto) one or more provisions (items) in a bill without rejecting the entire measure. |
| Pardon | Release from the punishment or legal consequences of a crime, by the President (in a federal case) or a governor (in a State case). |
| Commute | Reducing the length of a sentence or fine for a crime. |
| Reprieve | An official postponement of execution of a sentence. |
| Parole | Release of a prisoner short of the completion |
| County | A major unit of local government in most States; created by the State; principal powers lie in the fields of law enforcement, roads, schools, welfare. |
| Parish | The Louisiana term for counties |
| Borough | A major unit of local government in Alaska, similar to counties in other States; also in some States a small town, village. |
| Township | A term used for a subdivision of a county in many States. |
| Special District | Local unit of government , created to perform (usually) a single public function in a locale (e.g. a school or library district). |
| Mayor-Council Government | The most common form of city government in this country, featuring an elected mayor as chief executive and an elected council as the legislative body. |
| Strong-Mayor Government | Variety of major-council form of city government, featuring a mayor with broad executive powers (e.g., to hire and fire, to prepare budget, to veto ordinances) |
| Weak-Mayor Government | Variety of mayor-council form of city government, featuring a mayor with little real power. |
| Commission Form | Form of city government in which elected commissioners serve collectively as the city council and separately as heads of the city's administrative department. |
| Council-Manager Form | Form of city government with an elected council as the policy making body and an appointed administrator responsible to the council for the running of the city's government. |
| Zoning | Practice of dividing a city or other unit of government into districts (zones) and regulating by law (a zoning ordinance) the uses of land in each of them. |
| Metropolitan Area | Term for the large cities and the surrounding separate (but economically and socially integrated communities. ing |
