Making Political Jargon Explicit
With your group members, please review the definitions of the following terms.
Your group will be tested on them!
Government: (N) The officials comprising the governing body of a
political unit; they are responsible for directing and overseeing public
affairs. “The federal government has made a historic deal with the
NDP.”
Governance: (N) The act or process of governing. “Effective
governance requires listening to the voices of the people.”
Legislate: (V) To make or enact laws. “The government will soon
legislate universal pharmacare.”
Legislature: (N) A group of people who vote for new laws. “During the
pandemic, the legislature passed a law requiring people to wear face
masks in all public spaces.”
Legislative: (Adj) Having the power to make laws. “Their legislative
duties required them to study the processes involved in creating
universal childcare.”
Politics: (N) The activities of governments, members of law-making
organizations, or people who try to influence the way a country is
governed. “Understanding politics is the basic responsibility of all
members within any given society.”
Ideology: (N) A set of shared beliefs or principles within a group, such
as a nation, political party or social class. “To understand what a
political party stands for, one must research the ideology of the
party.”
Political Party: (N) A group of like-minded individuals with a shared
vision and political ideology whose intention is to achieve power and
create meaningful change. “Having legitimate political parties is
essential for a healthy democracy.”
Policy: (N) A set of ideas or a plan of action by a group of people,
government or a political party. “The social policies developed by a
government can function to help or hinder their citizens.”
Party platform: The statements of political parties, expressing their
values, principles, goals and beliefs, for which they stand, on various
issues. “Before voting in an election, it is important to become familiar
with the competing political parties’ platforms.”
Partisan: (Adj.) Strongly supporting a person, principle, or political
party, often without considering or judging the matter carefully. “You
need to be careful of political advertisements, as they are often
partisan!”
Bipartisan: (Adj.) Involving or having the support/cooperation of both
sides, especially of political parties that usually oppose each other.
“There was great bipartisan agreement among various political parties
during the early part of the pandemic.”
Fiscal: (Adj.) Relating to government revenue, especially taxes. “If a
government is not fiscally responsible, they could effectively bankrupt
their nation.”
Deficit: (N) The total amount by which money spent by a government is
more than the money it receives, and must borrow money to cover the
gap. “If a government has a large deficit, this often causes inflation
and/or taxes to rise and it usually requires spending cuts.”
Official Opposition: (N) The party that has the second-highest
number of seats becomes the official opposition. Any other party is
called an opposition party.
