Did You Know?

big mo - Significant momentum in an election campaign often gained by a key primary victory or a good performance in a televised debate. Ever since George Bush used the phrase in 1980, all presidential candidates have been seeking big mo on the campaign trail.



Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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cult of the robe - The notion that the lawyers who become judges, once they put on their judicial robes, are suddenly somehow wiser, purer, and better than the ordinary mortals in other parts of government. Supreme Court justices in particular have been accused from time to time of believing too much in the "cult of the robe."



Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

Did You Know?

stagflation - High unemployment and inflation at the same time. This was something new in the 1970s because historically high unemployment tended toward deflation.


Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

So, that's what it's called! 

Did You Know?

anomie - A social condition in which previously established norms or behavior have been dissipated or rejected; consequently, there is no effective social control of individual behavior. The concept was named an explicated by French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858-1917). 



Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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annuit coeptis - A Latin term meaning "he [G-d] has favored our undertakings." This motto is on the Great Seal of the United States and on the back of the one-dollar bill.



Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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adjournment sine die - The adjournment of a legislature that does not fix a day for reconvening. (Sine die is a Latin term meaning "without a day.") It is used to indicate the final adjournment of a session of the Congress or of a state legislature.




Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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de minimus - Short form of de minimus non curat lex, Latin for "the law does not bother with trifles." This means a court will not waste its time on a matter it considers ridiculously trivial.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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Gypsy moths - Those liberal and moderate Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who tended to deny support to President Ronald Reagan's domestic and foreign policies. They were called gypsy moths, in contrast to boll weevils, after a leaf-eating moth found in the north, because most of these House members represented congressional districts from the Northeast and Midwest.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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Paper tiger - A Chinese expression for someone or some institution that is not as strong or powerful as appearances or reputation would suggest.



Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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Amicus curiae- A Latin term meaning "friend of the court"; any person or organization allowed to participate in a lawsuit who would not otherwise have a right to do so. Participation is usually limited to filing a brief on behalf of one side or the other.




Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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Certiorari - An order or writ from a higher court demanding that a lower court send up the record of a case for review. Except for a few instances of original jurisdiction, most cases that reach the Supreme Court do so because the Court itself has issued such a writ, or has granted certiorari. If certiorari is denied by the Court, it means that the justices are content to let the lower court's decision stand. Frequently, a U.S. court of appeals case citation will include "cert.denied," meaning that certiorari has been denied by the Supreme Court, which has reviewed the case to the extent that it has made a judgment not to review the case further. It takes the votes of four justices to grant certiorari. However, at least five votes are normally needed for a majority opinion on the substance of a case.



Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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Jus sanguinis - Latin meaning "right of blood"; the legal principle that a newborn child's nationality or citizenship is the same as that of the parents.

Jus soli - Latin meaning "right of land"; the legal principle that a newborn child's nationality or citizenship is determined by where the birth occurred. This is the case in the United States; anyone born here is automatically a citizen.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993  

Oh, so this is where this idiotic idea came from?


Used in a sentence - Jus soli needs to be removed from the United States.

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Bailiwick - 1. A bailiff's office or jurisdiction. 2. The dimensions of a public official's jurisdiction whether expressed as a set of responsibilities or a physical district. The expression "stay in our own bailiwick" means narrowly to stay within your legal jurisdiction; broadly, to mind your own business.



Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993 

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Lulu- A corruption of "in lieu of"; legislative slang for payments made to state legislators in lieu of expenses. Such lump-sum payments made it unnecessary for state lawmakers to suffer the inconvenience of submitting receipts for their expenses.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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Vox populi - A Latin phrase meaning "the voice of the people." The original saying, from a eighth-century letter to the Emperor Charlemagne from Alcuin, an English theologian, is vox populi, vox dei -  "the voice of the people is the voice of G-d." Even then it was disputed.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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Fait accompli - 1. Something that has been accompliced, is in place, and is unchangeable without extraordinary effort. 2. A one-sided act that creates a new political and diplomatic situation.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

Hmmm...sound familiar? 

Did You Know?

Cloture- The process by which a filibuster can be ended in the U.S. Senate, other than by unanimous consent. A motion for cloture can apply to any measure before the Senate, including a proposal to change the chamber's rules. It requires 16 senators' signatures for introduction and the votes of three fifths of the entire Senate membership (sixty, if there are no vacancies), except that to end a filibuster against a proposal to amend the standing rules of the Senate, a two-thirds vote of senators present and voting is required. Cloture is put to a roll-call vote one hour after the Senate meets on the second day following introduction of the motion. If voted, cloture limits debate on the matter for a total of 30 hours more.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

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Voir dire - 1. A French term meaning "to speak the truth." 2. The formal examination of potential jurors by the judge and lawyers for the defense and prosecutions to learn if they are acceptable for jury service in the case hand. 3. The preliminary examination of witnesses in a case to learn if they should testify. 4. An examination, out of the presence of the jury, of some issue or fact in a case.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993 

So, used in a sentence: Liberals do not voir dire.

Did You Know?

Did you know what the term "burgess" means?

1. An elected member in the lower house of the legislature in colonial Virginia or Maryland. Burgess simply means a citizen of an English borough. 2. A modern-day member of the governing board of some boroughs.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993

Did You Know?

Stalwarts - 1. Faithful party followers. 2. Republican party loyalists during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. When Charles Guiteau show President James A. Garfield in 1881 because the President had not given him a patronage appointment, he is supposed to have shouted, "I am a stalwart and Arthur is president now." Obviously, Guiteau, who was hanged the next year, felt that Chester Arthur, the vice President, would be more receptive to his petitions for office than Garfield had been. He wasn't.

Source - American Government & Politics, Harper Collins Dictionary - Jay M. Shafritz-1993