WORDBOOK
“In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.”
— George Orwell
Amendment: A modification to the U.S. Constitution. Amendments must be proposed and approved by two-thirds of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and then ratified by three-quarters of State Legislatures. As of December 2025, there have been 27 Amendments added to the Constitution, the most recent being ratified in 1992.
Amicus Curiae: This Latin phrase translates as Friend of the Court. It is an individual, organization, or government entity that is not a party to a lawsuit, but that provides information, expertise, or legal arguments through an “amicus brief” to assist a Court in making its decision. These briefs often provide perspectives on the broader legal or social implications of a case, particularly in Appellate Courts, including the Supreme Court. The plural of Amicus Curiae is Amici Curiae.
Appropriations Bill: Bills in Congress for funding different parts of the government. These have largely been replaced by Omnibus Budget Bills, which fund the entire government.
Articles of Confederation: The first legal document of the United States to create the structure of its government, finalized by Congress in 1777, and ratified by all thirteen original States in 1781. It was replaced in 1789 by the U.S. Constitution.
Behested Contributions: Contributions made to a charitable, governmental, or legislative cause at the request of an elected official. Although legal, such contributions are ethically questionable, as they provide a means of skirting donation limits while allowing donors to earn favor with lawmakers. These contributions are easily abused. For example, an elected official might ask for donations to an organization that employs members of that official’s family.
Big Pharma: Term utilized to describe the largest, most profitable pharmaceutical companies, often employed to indicate their considerable political influence.
Bill of Rights: These are the first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791. They include some of the most important fundamental personal rights, such as the freedom to practice religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right peaceably to assemble, the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. It also declares that all powers not specifically granted to the Federal government are reserved to the States.
You can read the full text of the Bill of Rights here.
Charters of Freedom: Originally employed by the National Archive in the 1950s, the term collectively refers to three fundamental foundational American documents: the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. In a December 1952 ceremony marking the first time that the three documents had been exhibited together in one location, the use of the term solidified the formal designation. The full text and explanations of these documents can be found here.
Checks and Balances: A system within government that allows different branches of that government to amend, override, and/or veto actions of other branches in order to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. In the United States, the Constitution provides for Checks and Balances among the three branches of the Federal government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial).
Conference Committee: An optional legislative committee formed to work the out differences between the versions of a Bill passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The likelihood of them achieving success depends on whether or not the appointed conferees are good negotiators.
Constitution: The fundamental legal document of the United States. It establishes the structure of the nation’s government, divides powers between the Federal and State governments, and protects the basic rights of citizens. When an elected Federal official takes their oath of office, they do not pledge to pursue the needs of their home state, or to work for their own benefit or those of special interests, but to protect and defend the Constitution.
You can read the full text of the Constitution here.
Corporate Welfare: Government policies—such as subsidies, tax breaks, grants, and favorable regulations—that provide financial benefits to specific businesses or industries.
Dark Money: Money spent to influence political outcomes, with no disclosure of the source of those contributions.
Declaration of Independence: The founding document of the United States of America, in which the Thirteen Colonies declared themselves an independent nation, free from British rule.
You can read the full text of the Declaration of Independence here.
Deficit Spending: The event of the government spending more money than its collects in revenues.
Direct Democracy: A form of government in which policies and laws are decided by a majority of all those eligible rather than by a body of elected representatives. For example, a State may provide a process where citizens can collect enough signatures to place a new law on the ballot, on which eligible voters can then cast a vote for or against enacting that law.
Duopoly: An instance in a market where just two companies control most or all of the supply for a product or service, resulting in limited consumer choice and potentially higher prices.
Executive Privilege: The right claimed by the President and other members of the Executive Branch to withhold information under certain circumstances. This right is not explicitly conferred by the Constitution, nor is the oversight power of Congress, but the Supreme Court has ruled that both are consequences of the Separation of Powers.
Federal Election Commission (FEC): The official body tasked with enforcing Federal election laws.
Federalist Papers: A collection of 85 essays written by the Founding Fathers to help persuade the public to support ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The essays explain the principles of the Constitution, defend it against criticism, and argue for creating a strong, unified government.
Filibuster: A tactic adopted by the Senate that allows a minority of Senators to delay or even block action on a Bill.
First Amendment: The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the cornerstone of American freedom. It guarantees people the right to exercise their religion, to speak freely, to have a free press, to peaceably gather together, and to request the Federal government to remedy problems. The full text of the First Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Founding Fathers: A general term meant to include those who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution, as well as particular military personnel who fought on the side of America during the Revolutionary War, and others who contributed greatly to the formation of the nation. This includes George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, John Hancock, and Patrick Henry, among others.
Framers of the Constitution: The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention who drafted the document. This includes George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison, among others.
Gerrymander: The process of redrawing Congressional districts in a state for the purpose of creating an unfair advantage for one political party. This is generally done once a decade, after the census, and is controlled by state legislatures, which are in turn controlled by the political party in the majority of that State House.
Incumbent: The holder of an office. In an election, the incumbent is the candidate currently in the office.
Inflation: The continual increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over time.
Impeachment: The formal legislative process by which a government body accuses a public official of serious misconduct or wrongdoing. The House of Representatives investigates the official and votes on “Articles of Impeachment,” which detail the charges. A simple majority in the House means that the official has been impeached, and the Articles are then sent to the Senate, which must conduct a trial. A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate is required to convict the official, at which point they are immediately removed from office.
Juice Committee: A nickname given to some committees in Congress because it is easy for lawmakers on those committees to solicit campaign contributions. Such committees often have innocuous-sounding names, such as Government Operations, but they are very powerful because they regulate monied interests (such as gambling enterprises).
Jurisprudence: The legal decisions, writings, and philosophy of a court.
K Street: An actual street in Washington, D.C. that has become home to lobbying firms, trade associations, and think tanks. The term K Street is often used to mean the efforts of such entities to influence government policy on behalf of a company or special interest.
Legislative Gridlock: The inability of Congress to pass laws. See also: Super Majority and Unanimous Consent.
Lobbying: Attempting to influence government officials to support or oppose specific laws or policies on behalf of a company or special interest.
Monopoly: An instance in a market where a single company or entity has exclusive control over the supply of a particular product or service, and therefore faces no competition, resulting in limited consumer choice and potentially higher prices.
National Debt: The total amount of money the federal government owes to its creditors. As of May 2025, the national debt stands at $36.2 trillion, or more than $106,000 per person.
News Desert: A community with limited access to credible, comprehensive news and information.
Omnibus Budget Bill: Bills in Congress for funding the entire government. These days, the passage of such a Bill often faces opposition by one or another faction in Congress, who, if they don’t get what they want, threaten to derail the Bill, thus resulting in a government shutdown.
Party-line Voting: The practice where a voter casts their ballot for the candidates of a single party, rather than for specific individual candidates.
Petition for Writ of Certiorari: A document a losing party files to request review by the Supreme Court of a lower court decision.
Preamble: An introductory statement. The full Preamble of the U.S. Constitution reads: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Predatory Pricing: A strategy by which a dominant company sets prices extremely low in order to drive out smaller competitors, create a monopoly, and then raise prices to make huge profits later.
Ratification: The process of formally approving something (such as a Constitutional Amendment or a Treaty).
Retention Election: An election in which voters are asked if an officeholder, typically a Judge, should be permitted to continue in that office. The officeholder is removed from office should a majority of votes be cast against retention. Also called Retention Referendum.
Revolutionary War: The war fought between the Thirteen Colonies and England between 1775 and 1783, in which American Patriot forces defeated the British Continental Army to establish the new country of the United States.
Small-Contribution Model: Campaign fundraising that relies on a large number of low-dollar donations from individual supporters, rather than from sizable sums from wealthy donors, special-interest groups, corporations, or Political Action Committees (PACs)..
Soft Money: Money contributed to a political party that is not detailed as going to a particular candidate, thereby avoiding campaign-finance limitations.
Stare Decisis: Latin term meaning settled law, employed in legal matters to make determinations based on precedent. The intention of this principle is to prevent courts from repeatedly overturning past decisions simply based on political changes to the makeup of the courts.
Super Majority: The requirement of anything more than a simple majority to pass legislation in Congress. It obviously makes it more difficult to pass legislation when demanding a super majority. This is particularly true in these starkly divisive, hyper-partisan times. See also: Legislative Gridlock.
Unanimous Consent: A practice designed to speed up consideration of non-controversial bills. A process that allows even just a single lawmaker to prevent bills from further consideration. See also: Legislative Gridlock
We the People: These are the first three words of the U.S. Constitution, and an assertion by the Framers that they intended the American government to be, as President Abraham Lincoln would later put it, “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The full Preamble reads: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Whips: Members of a Congressional Leadership team in charge of counting votes and getting Members to support their position. Also, a term describing Members of Congress who spend an inordinate amount of time at so-called Gentleman’s Clubs.
Zombie Bill: A Bill created from a previously introduced Bill that failed to pass at least one Chamber of Congress. Such Bills often have little to do with the purpose of the original Bill, and have been crafted solely to sidestep pesky legislative rules.