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1. Interest group--Private organization that tries to influence public policy
2. Public policy--All of those things a government decides to do.
3. Public affairs--Events and issues that concern the people at large.
4. Trade association--Interest group representing a segment of the business community.
5. Labor union--Organization of workers who share the same type of job or who work in the same industry
6. Public-interest group--An organization that seeks to influence public policies on behalf of the "public good," as distinguished from those groups that serve a private interest.
7. Propaganda--A technique of persuasion, aimed at influencing public opinion to create a particular popular belief.
8. Single-interest group--Political party that concentrates on a single public policy issue.
9. Lobbying--Activities of an agent (lobbyist) for a pressure group, usually to influence public policy
10. Grass roots--Of or from the common people, the average voter; used to describe opinion and pressure on public policy.
1. Term--The specified length of time served by elected officials in their elected offices.
2. Session--The regular period of time during which a legislative body conducts business.
3. Special session--An extraordinary session of a legislative body.
4. Apportion--Distributing seats in a legislative body among electoral districts.
5. Reapportion--Redistribution of political representation on the basis of population changes, usually after a census.
6. Single-member district--Electoral district from which one person is chosen by the voters for each office on the ballot.
7. At-large--Election of an officeholder by the voters of an entire governmental unit rather than by the voters of a district, a subdivision of that area.
8. Gerrymander--Drawing of electoral district lines to the advantage of a party or group.
9. Continuous body--Governing unit such as the Senate whose seats are never all up for election at the same time.
10. Constituents--All persons represented by a legislator or other elected officeholder.
11. Oversight function--Review by legislative committees of the policies and programs of the executive branch.
1. Due process--Constitutional guarantee, set out in the 5th and 14th amendments to the Constitution and in every State's constitution, that government will not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property by any unfair, arbitrary, or unreasonable action, and that government must act in accord with established rules.
2. Police power--Power of a State to act to protect and promote the public health, safety, morals, and welfare.
3. Search warrant--Court order authorizing a search of a suspect's property or person.
4. Probable cause--Reasonable ground, a good basis for the belief that something is true (that a crime has been committed).
5. Exclusionary rule--Evidence gained by illegal or unreasonable means cannot be used at the court trial of the person from whom it was seized; based upon Supreme Court interpretation of the 4th and 14th amendments.
6. Writ of habeas corpus--Court order that a prisoner be brought before the court and that the detaining officer show cause why the prisoner should not be released; designed to prevent illegal arrests and unlawful imprisonments.
7. Bill of attainder--Legislative act that inflicts punishment upon a person or group without a trial.
8. Ex post facto law--Criminal law applied retroactively to the disadvantage of the accused; prohibited by the Constitution.
9. Grand jury--Body of 12 to 23 persons convened by a court to decide whether or not there is enough evidence to justify bringing a person to trial.
10. Indictment--Accusation by a grand jury; a formal finding by that body that there is sufficient evidence against a named person to warrant his/her criminal trial.
11. Presentment--Formal accusation of crime brought by a grand jury of its own motion
12. Information--Formal charge of crime brought against a named person by the prosecutor directly, rather than by a grand jury.
13. Double jeopardy--Trial a second time for a crime of which the accused was acquitted in a first trial; prohibited by the 5th and 14th amendments.
14. Bench trial--A trial held without a jury; civil or criminal proceeding at which the judge decides questions of fact as well as questions of law.
15. Miranda Rule--A listing of the Constitutional rights that suspects must be advised of before police questioning: