Look for the definitions for common social studies terms in this list.  If you don't see what you are looking for then email us to make a suggestion or go to the public forum for homework help.  The list will be updated frequently. Or use the following link to look up the term you are looking for.

Ad hoc - something created especially for a particular occasion, usually a committee

Ad nauseam - to go on endlessly

Alma Mater - the school or university from which one graduates

Altruism - selfless concern for others

Amendment – a revision or a change; usually referred to as an addition to the Constitution, proposed by Congress or a national convention and ratified by the states

Anarchist – a person who opposes all organized government

Appeasement – the policy of giving in to the demands of a hostile power to prevent conflict. Usually associated with World War II and European leaders giving Hitler what he wanted to avoid a war that eventually occurred anyway.

Assimilation - to take in or to absorb into a culture

Balance of trade – the difference in value between a nation’s imports and exports

Bible Belt - an area in the United States including the South and the Mid-West that is dominated by Protestants

Bicameral legislature – a legislature that has two chambers or houses

Blitzkrieg – German word for “lightning warfare” in which a swift, large-scale attack was used to win a quick victory in war.

Blue collar - workers who usually work manual labor jobs or are associated with wearing uniforms rather than suits

Bond – a certificate issued to a person who lends money to a business or a unit of government. The certificate earns interest and is redeemed for cash on a given date.

Capital – money invested in a business

Capitalism - an economic and political system characterized by a free market for goods and services and private control of production

Carpetbagger – a northerner who settled in the South after the Civil War and supported Radical Reconstruction

Cash crop – a crop grown to be sold at a profit rather than to be consumed by the farmer. Tobacco and cotton were key examples of a cash crop in the South during the Civil War.

Caucus – a meeting in which a few members of Congress decided on their party’s presidential candidate. The process was replaced by a nominating convention during the mid-1800’s.

C'est La Vie - that's life

Checks and balances – a system established under the Constitution by which each branch of government can check or control the power of the other branches

Civil disobedience – a form of nonviolent protest in which the protester violates the law but is willing to accept the penalties for his/her acts

Closed shop – a business in which union membership is a requirement for employment

Collective bargaining – a process in which a union represents a group of workers in negotiations with management, usually for better pay or working conditions.

Concurrent powers – powers shared by the national and state governments

Constituents – people whom an elected official represents

Containment – foreign policy first outlined by the United States in 1947 stating that the United States would contain Soviet influence within its existing limits.

Conservative - one who adheres to traditional methods or views

Contraband - goods or merchandise who importation, exportation, or possession is forbidden

Coup De Grace - the final blow

Coup d'etat - a quick and decisive seizure of governmental power by a strong military or political group

Culture - all things that make up a person's way of life.

Deficit spending – a spending plan in which government spending exceeds tax revenues.

Deflation – an economic condition in which the price of goods and services declines

Delegated powers – powers given by the Constitution exclusively to the national government and forbidden to the states

Demagogue - a politician who seeks to win and hold office by appeals to mass prejudice

Depression – an economic condition marked by drastic decline in production and sales and a severe increase in unemployment

Deregulation – a reduction in the amount of government regulation of an industry

Détente – a relaxation of tensions between two warring nations. This is usually in reference to the relaxation of tensions between the United States and Soviet Union during the 1970’s.

Devalue – to reduce the value of the dollar in relation to other currencies

Dictatorship - form of government in which a ruler holds power by force

Diffusion - the movement of customs or ideas from one place to another

Disenfranchise – to take away the right to vote

Dividend – a share of a company’s profits issued to stockholders on a periodic basis

Dogma - a teaching or set of teachings laid down by a religious group

Due process – protection that guarantees individuals accused of crimes a fair and open legal process

Durable good – a product designed to last several years before being replaced

Economic - pertaining to the production, development, and management of the wealth of a nation

Economic sanction – a refusal to trade with a nation until it changes its policies

Electoral college – an assembly elected by voters to formally elect the President and Vice-President of the United States.

Embargo – a ban on trade with another country

Ethnic cleansing - forced removal of minority ethnic groups

Ethnocentrism - judging other cultures by the standards of one's own culture

Expatriate – an individual who gives up his or her homeland to live in another country

Ex post facto law – a law that makes an act a crime after it has been committed

Extended family - includes several generations living together

Federalism – a system of government in which authority is divided between national an state governments

Feminism - the belief that women should have the same economic, social, and political rights as men

Free enterprise – a system in which individuals make economic decisions, such as what products to make, how much to produce, and how to set prices
Free state – a state in which slavery was not permitted before the Civil War

Gold standard – a system in which a nation’s currency is based on the value of gold

Graduated personal income tax – a system in which the tax rate is proportionate to a person’s income. In other words, the more an individual earns, the higher his/her income tax rate.

Grandfather clause – voting regulation adopted by a number of southern states after Reconstruction that allowed a man to satisfy voting requirements if his father or grandfather had been eligible to vote in 1867.

Gross National Product – often referred to as the Gross Domestic Product. The total of all the goods and services produced in a country.

Habeas corpus – the right not to be imprisoned without a trial

Humanitarianism - concern for the well-being of others

Humanities - one of the main branches of learning.  A person who is interested in the humanities studies history, literature, and fine art.

Hyperbole - an exaggerated expression

Ideology - a system of beliefs or theories usually political, held by an individual or group

Impeachment – the process by which the House of Representatives makes an accusation of wrongdoing against the President or other high federal official

Inalienable rights – natural rights that governments cannot take away from citizens

Inflation – an economic condition in which prices rise substantially over a significant period of time

Initiative – a procedure that allows citizens to propose a bill by collecting a specific number of signatures from registered voters

Interdependence - mutual dependence of countries on goods and resources from other parts of the world

Isolationism – the belief, widely held during the 1920’s and 1930’s, that the United States should minimize its involvement in foreign affairs

Ivy League - a group of eight, old, distinguished colleges and universities in the Eastern United States known for their ivy-covered, brick buildings, such as Yale and Harvard

Judicial review – the power of the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of acts of the legislative and executive branches of the government

Kamikaze – a World War II Japanese fighter pilot who sacrificed his life by deliberately crashing his plane into Allied ships

Laissez-faire – a policy by which the government minimizes its regulation of industry and the economy

Lame duck – an elected official who has been defeated at the polls but whose term of office has not yet expired

Left Wing - a term for an individual or party that advocates very liberal policies

Liaison - a means of communication between two organizations, countries, or people

Liberal - broad-minded, favors civil liberties

Life of Riley - a life of luxury

Lip service - insincere agreement to "pay lip service" is to consent in one's words while dissenting in one's heart.

Literacy - ability to read and write

Manifest destiny – commonly held belief in the first half of the nineteenth century that the United States had a mission to expand its borders to incorporate all land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Militant - aggressively active

Monopoly – complete control of a product or service in a particular market by a single company

Monotheism - belief in one god

Moral diplomacy – term given to President Woodrow Wilson’s approach to foreign policy in which negotiation and arbitration were pursued rather than force to settle international disputes

Moratorium - a period of delay

Muckrakers – early twentieth-century American journalists who tried to improve society by exposing political corruption, health hazards, and other social problems

Narcissism - a consuming self-love

Nationalism - pride or loyalty to one's nation

Naturalization – the process by which a citizen of one country becomes a citizen of another

Nepotism - favoritism granted to relatives or close friends without regard to their merit

Nobel Prizes - prizes given annually for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Economics, Medicine, and Physiology

Noveau Riche - one who has recently become rich

Nuclear family - includes wife, husband, and children

Nullify – to declare a law invalid and therefore unenforceable

Party platform – a political party’s declaration of its principles and programs

Peace Corps - agency of the U.S. government that sends volunteers to developing countries to provide aid

Political - pertains to government or politics

Poll tax – a fee that had to be paid in order to vote. It was instituted in the South after the Civil War to prevent African-Americans from voting and rendered unconstitutional by the Twenty-fourth Amendment.

Polytheism - belief in many gods

Primary election – an election held before the general election to choose candidates for office

Prohibition – the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages resulting from ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919

Protective tariff – a tax on imports designed to discourage their sale and to favor the development of domestic industry

Protestant - a Christian belonging to the sect that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century

Protestant work ethic - a view that promotes hard work and self discipline as a means to material prosperity

Proxy - authority or power to act for another

Public domain – land that belongs to the nation rather than to individuals or corporations

Ratification – the process of officially approving a proposal

Recall election – a special election that allows voters to remove an elected official before the completion of his or her term

Recession – an economic condition characterized by a mild increase in unemployment and a moderate decline in production and sales

Red tape - procedures that delay progress or action

Referendum – the process by which people can vote directly on a bill

Republic - form of government in where people choose their own leaders

Reserved powers – powers retained by the states because they are not expressly given to the federal government nor denied to the states

Rhetorical question - a question posed with exception of an answer but merely to make a point

Right Wing - a term for an individual or party that advocates very conservative policies

Secede – to withdraw from a large political body

Sect - society of a few people usually with a preacher as a leader

Segregation – the practice of separating people on a racial basis

Self-determination – the freedom of separating people on a racial basis

Separation of powers – a system in which the branches of government exercise distinct powers

Slave state – a state in which slavery was permitted before the Civil War

Social - pertains to society or communities

Sovereignty – the source of a government’s power or authority

Status quo - the existing order of things

Stock certificate – a document stating that the holder owns a share of a corporation

Strict construction – a literal interpretation of the Constitution, holding that the federal government has only those powers explicitly delegated to it in the Constitution

Strike – an organized work stoppage by employees, conducted for the purpose of improving pay or working conditions

Temperance movement – campaign against the consumption of alcohol

Totalitarian state – a country in which the government is supreme and individuals have few rights

Trade deficit – a situation in which the value of a nation’s imports exceeds the value of its exports

Unconstitutional – refers to a legislative act or executive action that violates the Constitution

Underground railroad – the network of people who helped slaves escape to the northern states or to Canada

Union – an association of workers formed to improve wages and working conditions

Urban renewal - the cleaning and rebuilding of urban slums

Veto – an action by which a chief executive rejects a bill submitted to him or her by the legislature

Vigilantes - volunteer citizens who organize to suppress crime

Writ of assistance – a document issued during the colonial period by British authorities that allowed officials to conduct unrestricted searches

Writ of habeas corpus – a court order directing authorities to bring a prisoner to court to explain the basis for his or her detention

Yellow journalism – a style of newspaper writing in the late 1800’s that featured sensational headlines and stories