| Bureaucracy | government administrators |
| Civil Society | a complex network of voluntary associations, economic groups, religious organizations, and many other kinds of groups that exist independent of government |
| Constituent | a person whom a member of Congress has been elected to represent |
| Democracy | a general description of a government in which the people rule |
| Diplomacy | the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations without arousing hostility |
| Due Process of Law | principle in the 5th Amendment stating that the government must follow proper constitutional procedures in trials and in other actions it takes against individuals |
| Federalism | a system in which power is divided between the national and state governments |
| Government | the institution through which the state maintains social order, provides public services, and enforces binding decisions on citizens |
| Ideology | a set of basic beliefs about life, culture, government, and society |
| Incumbent | elected official that is already in office |
| Interest Group | a group of people with common goals who organize to influence government |
| Judicial Review | the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws and actions of local, state, or national governments unconstitutional |
| Jurisdiction | the authority, power, or right of a court to interpret or apply the law on certain cases |
| Lobbying | direct contact made by an interest group representative in order to persuade government officials to support the policies their interest group favors |
| Naturalization | the legal process by which a person is granted citizenship |
| Patronage | the practice of granting favors to reward party loyalty |
| Political Party | a group of individuals with broad common interests who organize to nominate candidates for office, win elections, conduct government, and determine public policy |
| Politics | the effort to control or influence the conduct and policies of government |
| Republic | a specific description of a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them |
| Sovereignty | the supreme and absolute authority within territorial boundaries |