Authority The right and power of a government
or other entity to enforce its decisions and compel
obedience.
Authorization A formal declaration by a legislative
committee that a certain amount of funding may
be available to an agency. Some authorizations
terminate in a year; others are renewable
automatically without further congressional action.B
Bias An inclination or a preference that interferes
with impartial judgment.
Bicameral Legislature A legislature made up of
two parts, called chambers. The U.S. Congress,
composed of the House of Representatives and the
Senate, is a bicameral legislature.
Bicameralism The division of a legislature into two
separate assemblies.
Bill of Rights The first ten amendments to the U.S.
Constitution.
Block Grant A federal grant that provides funds to
a state or local government for a general functional
area, such as criminal justice or mental-health
programs.
Budget Deficit Government expenditures that
exceed receipts.
Bureaucracy A large organization that is structured
hierarchically to carry out specific functions.C
Cabinet An advisory group selected by the president
to aid in making decisions. The cabinet includes the
heads of fifteen executive departments and others
named by the president.
Cabinet Department One of the fifteen major
departments of the executive branch.
Capitalism An economic system characterized by
the private ownership of wealth-creating assets, free
markets, and freedom of contract.
Capture The act by which an industry being
regulated by a government agency gains direct or
indirect control over agency personnel and decision
makers.
Case Law Judicial interpretations of common law
principles and doctrines, as well as interpretations
of constitutional law, statutory law, and
administrative law.371
A
Actual Malice Either knowledge of a defamatory
statement’s falsity or a reckless disregard for the
truth.
Advice and Consent Terms in the Constitution
describing the U.S. Senate’s power to review and
approve treaties and presidential appointments.
Affirm To declare that a court ruling is valid and
must stand.
Affirmative Action A policy in educational
admissions or job hiring that gives special attention
or compensatory treatment to traditionally
disadvantaged groups in an effort to overcome
present effects of past discrimination.
Agenda Setting Determining which public-policy
questions will be debated or considered.
Amicus Curiae Brief A brief (a document containing
a legal argument supporting a desired outcome in
a particular case) filed by a third party, or amicus
curiae (Latin for “friend of the court”), who is not
directly involved in the litigation but who has an
interest in the outcome of the case.
Anti-Federalist An individual who opposed the
ratification of the new Constitution in 1787. The
Anti-Federalists were opposed to a strong central
government.
Appellate Court A court having jurisdiction to
review cases and issues that were originally tried in
lower courts.
Appointment Power The authority vested in the
president to fill a government office or position.
Appropriation The passage, by Congress, of a
spending bill specifying the amount of authorized
funds that actually will be allocated for an
agency’s use.
Arraignment The first act in a criminal proceeding,
in which the defendant is brought before a court to
hear the charges against him or her and enter a plea
of guilty or not guilty.
Australian Ballot A secret ballot prepared,
distributed, and tabulated by government officials
at public expense. Since 1888, all states have used
the Australian ballot rather than an open, public
ballot.
Authoritarianism A type of regime in which only
the government itself is fully controlled by the ruler.
Social and economic institutions exist that are not
under the government’s control.Glossary
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