Word Bank

Brush up on your vocabulary

You memorized these political phrases and vocabulary terms in school, but only for a quiz back in freshman year. Let’s refresh your mind and apply them to real life.

  • 3 Branches of Government - Executive, Judicial, Legislative
  • Bill of Rights - Is the name by which the first 10 ammendments to the United States Constitution are known.
  • Bi-Partisan - A meeting of party members within a legislative body to select leaders and determine strategy.
  • Censorship - The act of stopping a message from reaching its recipient. This can refer to literature, music or any time of media.
  • Conservative - Represented by the Republican Party, or political right. Think you sway right?
  • Declaration of Independence - The public act by which the Congress on July 4, 1776 declared the colonies to be free and independent of England.
  • Democracy - A form of government to which the power is vested in and exercised directly by the people or by their representatives elected under a free electoral system.
  • Democrat - The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party.
  • Impeachment - A formal process (The first of two stages) in which an official is accused of unlawful activity. It does not necessarily result in removal from office.
  • Independent - Someone who has more of a centrist or moderate viewpoint than the two main parties (Republican and Democrat).
  • Left-Wing - Refers to the Democratic Party. Think you sway left?
  • Legislation - A law which has been enacted by a governing body, or in the process of making it.
  • Liberal - Represented by the Democratic Party, or political left. Think you sway left?
  • Lobbyist - A person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby.
  • Politically Correct - A term which denotes words, ideas and behaviors as socially appropriate in order to minimize offense in gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, disability, age-related contexts, etc.
  • Polls - The place where votes are taken.
  • Propoganda - A form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.
  • Recession - A slowdown in economic activity over a period of time, generally believed to be caused by a widespread drop in spending.
  • Republican - The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party.
  • Right-Wing - Refers to the Republican Party. Think you sway right?
  • Swing Vote - A voter who is not affiliated with any political party and whose decisions can swing the outcome of an election one way or the other.