Political Terms Glossary — A Plain-English Reference

Most political news assumes you already know the vocabulary. You don’t have to. The terms below are the ones that come up most often when local councils, state legislatures, and Congress make decisions — defined the way a friend would explain them at the kitchen table.

Organized into six sections: How Laws Get Made, Who’s in the Room, Elections and Districts, Executive Powers, Money and Budgets, Influence and Advocacy.

How Laws Get Made

Bill

A proposed law. Until it passes both chambers (where applicable) and is signed by the executive, it is just a draft. Most bills die in committee.

Ordinance

A local law — the city or county version of a bill. Zoning rules, parking regulations, noise rules, and most local taxes are ordinances.

Resolution

A formal statement of position by a legislative body. Resolutions don’t have the force of law — a city council resolution “opposing” something does not actually ban it.

Statute

A law that has been passed and codified. The word you’ll see in legal references — “under state statute X.”

Code

The compiled set of all statutes (federal code, state code, municipal code). The South Carolina state code is where every active state law lives.

Reading

A formal step in passing a bill. Most legislatures require three readings — usually a first reading to introduce, a second to debate and amend, and a third to vote. Local councils often do two.

Committee

A small group of legislators who study a bill before it goes to the full body. This is where most of the actual work happens — and where most bills are killed without a public floor vote.

Markup

The committee meeting where a bill is debated, amended line by line, and voted on to advance or kill.

Amendment

(1) A change to a bill before it passes. (2) A change to a constitution, which usually requires a much higher threshold to pass.

Veto

The executive’s rejection of a bill the legislature has passed. The legislature can usually override a veto with a supermajority (commonly two-thirds).

Line-item veto

The power to strike specific parts of a bill (usually budget items) while signing the rest. Most state governors have it; the U.S. president does not, and the U.S. Supreme Court struck the federal version down in 1998.

Pocket veto

What happens when an executive simply doesn’t sign or return a bill within the deadline and the legislature has adjourned. The bill dies without a formal veto.

Filibuster

A delay tactic in the U.S. Senate (and in some state senates) where a senator extends debate to block a vote. Today most filibusters are procedural — the threat alone forces a 60-vote supermajority on most legislation.

Cloture

The vote to end a filibuster. In the U.S. Senate, cloture requires 60 votes for most matters, 51 for judicial and executive nominations.

Unanimous consent

A streamlined process where the body agrees to skip a step (debate, a vote, a reading) because no member objects. One objection breaks it.

Who’s in the Room

Quorum

The minimum number of members who have to be present for a body to legally do business. Usually half plus one. Below quorum, no votes count.

Caucus

(1) A meeting of one party’s members within a legislative body. (2) In some states, a party’s nomination process for an election. Caucuses are usually closed to members of other parties.

Chamber

One half of a bicameral (two-house) legislature. The U.S. Congress has the House and the Senate; the South Carolina legislature has its own two chambers.

Floor

The full chamber, as opposed to committee. “The bill is on the floor” means all members can debate and vote.

Whip

The legislator whose job is to count votes and corral the party’s members. The whip’s count is usually how leadership decides whether to bring a bill up at all.

Speaker

The presiding officer of a lower chamber (Speaker of the House at the federal and state level). Controls the floor schedule.

President pro tempore

The senior member of a senate who presides when the official president (often the governor or vice president) is absent.

Council-administrator (or council-manager)

The form of city or county government where an elected council sets policy and a professional administrator (hired, not elected) runs day-to-day operations. Common in South Carolina.

Mayor-council (strong mayor)

The form of city government where the elected mayor is also the chief executive — runs the staff, sets the budget, has veto power.

Elections and Districts

Primary

The election within a party to choose its nominee for the general election. In an open primary any registered voter can vote in any party’s primary; in a closed primary only registered party members can.

Runoff

A second election when no candidate clears the threshold (often a simple majority) in the first round. Used in South Carolina primaries among other places.

Referendum

A ballot measure that lets voters approve or reject a specific law or policy directly. Different from a candidate election.

Initiative

A ballot measure placed there by citizen petition rather than by the legislature. Not all states allow them.

Recall

A vote to remove an elected official from office before their term ends. Rules vary widely by state.

Redistricting

Redrawing the geographic boundaries of legislative districts, usually after the decennial census. Done by state legislatures in most states; by independent commissions in some.

Gerrymandering

Drawing district lines to favor one party or group over another. Common shapes are packing (concentrating opposing voters into one district to waste their votes) and cracking (splitting opposing voters across many districts so they can’t win any).

At-large

An election where every voter in a city or county votes on every seat, rather than each seat being tied to a specific district. Affects who can win in racially or politically divided places.

Provisional ballot

A ballot cast when there’s a question about the voter’s eligibility — held aside and counted later if the eligibility checks out.

Absentee ballot

A ballot cast by mail or in person before election day. Rules on who can request one vary by state.

Down-ballot

The races lower on the ballot — state legislature, county council, school board, judges. Where most of the decisions that touch daily life actually get made.

Executive Powers

Executive order

A directive from an executive (president, governor) to the agencies they oversee. Has the force of law within the executive branch but cannot create new statutes — the legislature still controls that.

Proclamation

A formal statement by an executive, often ceremonial (declaring a day of recognition) but sometimes carrying real legal effect (a state of emergency).

State of emergency

A formal declaration that activates expanded executive powers — typically allowing the executive to redirect resources, suspend certain regulations, and access emergency funds.

Pardon

An executive’s power to forgive a criminal conviction. The federal president pardons federal offenses; governors pardon state offenses. Different states put different limits on the power.

Appointment

An executive’s selection of a person to fill an unelected office — judges, agency heads, commissioners. Often requires legislative confirmation.

Recess appointment

An appointment made by the executive while the legislature is in recess, bypassing immediate confirmation. Recess appointees usually serve on a time-limited basis.

Money and Budgets

Appropriations

The legislative act of allocating money. “Appropriating $X for Y” means actually setting aside the funds, separate from authorization (giving permission for a program to exist).

Authorization

The legislative act of creating or extending a program. A program can be authorized but unfunded — meaning it legally exists but has no money.

Continuing resolution

A temporary funding bill that extends current spending levels because Congress (or a state legislature) hasn’t passed a new budget by the deadline. Keeps the lights on; doesn’t change priorities.

Earmark

A specific spending item directed at a specific project or recipient, usually inserted by an individual legislator. Banned in Congress from 2011 to 2021; partially reinstated under the name “community project funding.”

Pork (or pork-barrel spending)

The pejorative term for spending that benefits a specific district at the expense of broader priorities. One legislator’s pork is another’s economic development.

Fiscal year

The 12-month accounting year for a government. The federal fiscal year runs October 1 through September 30. South Carolina’s fiscal year and most local fiscal years run July 1 through June 30.

Millage

The property tax rate, expressed in mills (one mill = $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed property value). City and county budgets are funded primarily by millage.

Bond

Government borrowing. A school bond, a road bond, a sewer bond — the government issues debt to fund capital projects, and taxpayers pay it back with interest over years or decades. Bonds usually require voter approval.

TIF (Tax Increment Financing)

A tool where future increases in property tax revenue from a designated district are diverted to pay for improvements in that district. Controversial because it can siphon revenue away from schools and other general-fund services.

Influence and Advocacy

Lobbyist

A person paid to influence legislation on behalf of a client. Registered lobbyists are required to disclose their clients and (in most jurisdictions) their spending.

PAC (Political Action Committee)

A committee that raises money to support or oppose candidates. Subject to contribution limits.

Super PAC

A PAC that can raise unlimited sums from individuals, unions, and corporations, but is legally prohibited from coordinating directly with a candidate’s campaign.

501(c)(3)

A tax-exempt charitable organization. Cannot endorse candidates or engage in substantial lobbying. Donations are tax-deductible.

501(c)(4)

A tax-exempt social welfare organization. Can lobby and engage in some political activity. Donations are not tax-deductible, and donors are not required to be publicly disclosed — the origin of the term “dark money.”

Astroturfing

Manufactured grassroots support — a paid campaign designed to look like spontaneous public sentiment. Watch for identical talking points appearing across many “independent” voices at once.

FOIA / Open Records / Sunshine Law

The federal Freedom of Information Act and its state counterparts (in South Carolina, the Freedom of Information Act covers state and local government records). The legal mechanism by which citizens request government documents and emails.

Public comment

The portion of a legislative or board meeting reserved for citizens to speak. Time per speaker is usually capped (often 2-3 minutes). Showing up matters more than people think — small councils and boards often have very few speakers.

A few terms that get misused

“Unconstitutional.” A law is not unconstitutional because a commentator says so — only a court can rule it unconstitutional. Until then it is enforceable.

“Bipartisan.” Technically just “having members of both parties.” A bill with one Republican supporter is technically bipartisan. The more useful question is the actual vote margin in each party.

“Mandate.” Often used by winning candidates to claim broad public support for their entire agenda. Mathematically, the size of a victory only tells you the size of a victory — not what specifically the voters were endorsing.

“Activist judge.” Almost always means “a judge who ruled against the speaker’s preferred outcome.” Judges across the spectrum can be — and are — described this way by whichever side just lost.