Polity

1. Abdication: If a King or a ruler voluntarily surrenders his throne or seat of the power to his successors, it is called an act of abdication. 
2. Adjournment Motion: The Legislature carries on its business according to the given agenda, but a matter of urgent public importance can be brought before the Legislature and discussed through Adjournment Motion by interrupting its regular business. An Adjournment Motion should be supported by not less than 50 members of the House for being accepted. If accepted, it results in the holding the ongoing business of the House and discussing the matter raised in the Adjournment Motion. The basic idea behind this motion is to give an opportunity to the House to discuss a matter of urgent public importance. The matter should be of definite nature and should have factual basis. The discussion on the matter takes place at 1600 hours and continues for two and half hours. At the end of the discussion, voting takes place. Since voting exposes the Government's strength in the House, the ruling party tries not to allow the acceptance of the Adjournment Motion in the House. 
3. Administrative Law: Administrative law is the legal code, or set of rules and precedents, governing relations between the individual citizen and the state. Many such interactions, for example a contractual dispute between the administration and a company supplying it service, naturally fall within ordinary civil law but even in cases like this there may be special rules that would not apply in a conflict between two private companies. The extent to which administrative law is distinct from national civil law, and the mechanisms for handling disputes vary widely. It is important to distinguish between administrative law and constitutional law because the former never deals with the legitimacy of legislation per se, but with that of administrative acts carried out under legislation.
4. Adult Franchise: In democratic countries, all the adult citizens of certain age without any distinctions of caste, creed, colour, religion or sex are given the right to vote. This is called an adult franchise. The prescribed minimum age for the citizens to avail the voting right may differ from country to country. For example, it is 18 years in the USA and Russia. The minimum age has been reduced in India from 21 years to 18 years by the 61st Constitutional Amendment. The assumption behind prescribing the minimum age is that after this age a person gets discretionary capacity to exercise his/her vote in a prudent manner. In a way the adult franchise is also a universal franchise as there is no distinction with respect to giving the voting rights to all the adult citizens. 
5. Amnesty: Amnesty refers to a condition when the Government grants pardon, in general way, to criminals and imprisoned and they are absolved of criminal accusations. In most of the cases, Amnesty is granted to the political prisoners.
6. Anarchism: There are political thinkers who advocate the view that the State, the Government, law or any organized authority stifles the individual liberty and thus are obstacles in the free development of the individual and the society. Thus, they support a view of society where there will be no State, no Government or no organized authority at all. The emerging situation is similar to anarchy. This set of ideas is referred to as Anarchism. The Anarchism is of two types. First in which the future society is established through violent means and the second in which only peaceful means are accepted to establish such society. Mahatma Gandhi is known as a 'Philosophical Anarchist'. 
7. Anarchy: In literal terms, this refers to a situation where there is no Government worth the name or there is not the rule of law. Consequently, lawlessness, disorder or anarchy prevails. In the society, might becomes right and the weak suffers.
8. Apartheid: Apartheid was the official doctrine of the South African government, and the ruling National Party, between 1948 and 1991. Meaning 'separateness', it was in practice nothing more than an excuse for domination by the white minority population of blacks and 'coloureds'. The word 'coloured' is used here in the South African legal sense as someone who cannot be classified as black, but is not 'purely' white. Apartheid consisted of a set of legal inequalities. 
9. Arbitration: Arbitration is a method of conflict resolution which, with more or less formalized mechanisms, occurs in many political and legal spheres. There are two main characteristics to arbitration. The first is that it is a voluntary process under which two parties in conflict agree between themselves to be bound by the judgement of a third party which has no other authority over them; the judgement, however, is not legally binding. The second is that there is usually no clear body of law or set of rules that must apply; the arbitrator is free, subject to any prior agreement with the conflicting parties, to decide on whatever basis of justice is deemed suitable.
10. Armistice: Armistice refers to a situation of agreement between two or more nations who were at war. In armistice, two parties which are in the condition of hostility or war arrive at an agreement to end the hostility to engage in mutual exchange of ideas and viewpoint. The term 'ceasefire' differs from armistice in the sense that the former is temporary and includes only the end of military hostilities following war or aggression, whereas the latter is a peace agreement between the two nations. 
11. Authority: Authority means the right to give an order, which will be obeyed with no question as to that right, or, if not an order, the right to evoke legitimate power in support of a decision. Thus someone may have the authority to instruct soldiers to fire on a crowd, the authority to sign a binding legal document, or the authority to pass a security perimeter or frontier.
12. Autonomy: Autonomy is a status of a unit or a province in relation to the whole or the central authority, where the unit enjoys the scope and authority to the extent that it can manage its internal affairs on its own without any outside interference. 
13. Ballot: Ballots are votes cast in an election contested by two or more individuals or parties. By extension the ballot box is the box into which the votes are put, and to ballot denotes the process of voting. There are many different kinds of voting procedure. In modern democracies ballots must be cast in secret and an effective and impartial machinery must be established to prevent any tampering with the ballot. 
14. Bamboo Curtain: Bamboo curtain refers to those restrictions and prohibition imposed by the Chinese Government and the Communist party over the Chinese people, which isolate them from the rest of the world. Because of the Bamboo Curtain, the outside world remains unaware of the Chinese affairs and so also the Chinese people do not come into contact with the outside world. 
15. Bandh: This is a pressure technique to highlight some issues, in which a political party or a pressure group gives call for the closure of shops, Government offices, schools and other activities for a certain period. Bandh is organized to protest against the policies and programmes of the Government. 
16. Bi-cameral Legislature: Bi-cameral Legislature means a Legislature which consists of two Houses, the Upper House and the Lower House. The Lower House is also called a popular house as its members are elected directly by the people. In modern times, most of the Legislatures are Bi-cameral Legislatures. The concept of Bi-cameral Legislature originated and developed in the Great Britain. 
17. Bilateral Agreement: The agreement or the understanding arrived at between only two parties is called bilateral agreement. Similarly if such agreement is made among more than two parties, it is called multilateral agreement. Also, when some announcement or declaration is made by single party without the reference of other party or group, it is called a unilateral declaration. 
18. Bill of Rights: Many constitutions have bills of rights, often under different names, protecting certain vital civil liberties. The most imitated bills of rights are the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which has survived into the constitution of the Fifth Republic, and the first ten amendments to the US Constitution ratified in 1791, although the English bill of rights, enacted in 1689 to establish parliament's sovereignty in relation to the monarchy, is earlier. A typical bill of rights will contain provisions guaranteeing the basic natural rights, such as the freedoms of speech, religion and assembly and the right to own property. It will usually also contain a set of more legalistic civil rights, including, for example, the right to a fair trial, perhaps by jury and with representation, prohibitions on cruel and excessive punishment and protection against double jeopardy. 
19. Bolshevism: Bolshevism comes from a Russian word 'Bolshevik', which literally means 'majority'. The Russian Revolution of 1917 is called the Bolshevik Revolution because it was supported by the majority of the people. Bolshevism, thus stands for the ideals and principles of the communist revolution as propagated by the revolutionaries in Russia. 
20. Boot Legging: This refers to an illegal practice of manufacturing and sale of alcohol and wine without a Government license to do so.
21. Bourgeoise:Bourgeoise means a rising middle class consisting of the the businessmen, industrialists, etc. which replaces the the feudal class and becomes instrumental in the development of capitalism. Karl Marx popularized the concept of bourgeoise to refer to a class which controls the means of production and distribution and exploits the working class called proletariat. 
22. Boycott: The declaration of non-participation in the affairs or meeting of a the group or individuals is called Boycott. It signifies that the person or group making declaration of Boycott do not agree with the activities of the groups of the persons which are boycotted. 
23. Brain Drain: Brain Drain is a situation in which the qualified and trained human resources such as technicians and scientists migrate to other countries in search of better opportunities and careers. Thus, the country which has invested heavy amount in development of these human resources suffers and its development is undermined. 
24. Brain Washing: Brain washing means those activities which are employed by a group of Government officials to wield undue influence over the minds of the people. The result is that the people become void of their own ideas and come under the sway of influencing ideas and principles and thus, their brains are washed off. 
25. Buffer state: Buffer State is that State which is located in between two States which are not on good terms. Buffer State tries to play a neutral role in the situation of hostilities between the two States. The location of a buffer state becomes useful in preventing armed hostilities between the two States. For example, Nepal happens to be a buffer State between India and China. 
26. Bureaucracy: Bureaucracy, in its most general sense, describes a way of organizing the activities of any institution so that it functions efficiently and impersonally. The major theorist of bureaucracy was Max Weber, and most subsequent research and theorizing has closely followed his analysis. For Weber, and most subsequent writers, bureaucracy is characterized by a set of basic organizational principles. 
27. By-election: By-election is a mid-term election to fill up one or few constituencies which have become vacant due to resignation, death or otherwise before the completion of the full term of the representatives. 
28. Cabinet Government: This is another name of the parliamentary form of Government in which real executive powers lie with the cabinet which is responsible to the popular House of the Parliament. The Government is, however, run in the name of the nominal executive or Head of the state. Since, the ruling party has the majority in the popular House, the cabinet occupies a dominant position in the Government. Hence it is also called the cabinet Government. 
29. Capitalism: At its most simple and value-free, the term capitalism is used to describe any economic system where there is a combination of private property, a relatively free and competitive market, and a general assumption that the bulk of the workforce will be engaged in employment by private (non-governmental) employers engaged in producing whatever goods they can sell at a profit. Capitalism has its own ideology and economic theory, like all politico-economic systems. The original theory of capitalist was essentially that an entirely free market of small-scale entrepreneurs, hiring individual labourers at the minimum possible cost, would produce the maximum output, at the cheapest possible price given the cost of the other inputs necessary for production. This is often called the 'perfect competition model' of economics. 
30. Casting Vote: In case of equality of votes in a House on a matter, the decisive vote cast by the Chairman or the Speaker, as the case may be, is called, casting vote.
31. Censure Motion: This is a motion moved by the Opposition against the Government or a Minister criticising its policies and programmes on the floor of the House. In the censure motion, the specific cause of censuring the Government or a Minister has to be mentioned. The passing of censure motion by the House means lack of confidence in the Government and thus the ruling party opposes the passing of such motion in the House.
32. Chauvinism: In the social field, it means a tendency of showing excessive loyalty to other men and prejudice against the women. In political terms it stands for excessive feeling of nationalism or patriotism towards one's nation or a cause. On the other hand it also means showing hatred and bellicose tendency towards other nations and societies. 
33. Civil Disobedience: This refers to the practice of peaceful and non¬violent opposition of laws and policies of the Government by the people and willingly inviting and suffering the punishment attached to such an opposition. This is, actually, the opposition of unjust laws and policies of the Government through moral force. During the National Movement, Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 to oppose certain laws of the British Government. It is said that Gandhiji was influenced by the ideas of Henry Thoreau on civil disobedience. 
34. Civil Law: Civil law can have two distinct meanings. One meaning, in Anglo-American usage, refers to the continental European tradition of 'code law', which is often called civil, or even 'civilian', law, as distinct from the common law so important in the Anglo-American tradition. The prime distinction is between the gradual accretion of precedents, statutes, rulings and even traditional legal customs which characterizes common law, and the conception, not entirely accurate, of civil law consisting of formal rules deliberately created, codified and passed by a legislative body. 
35. Civil Liberties: Civil liberties are freedoms or rights which are thought to be especially valuable in themselves and vital to the functioning of a liberal and democratic society. Emphases vary, but most lists of basic civil liberties will include freedom of speech, freedom of religion and of thought, freedom of movement, freedom of association, the right to a fair trial and freedom of the person. These rights and liberties are essential protections against the arbitrary acts of government and are fundamental to free political association. 
36. Civil Rights: Civil rights are those rights which are, or which it is argued should be, protected constitutionally or legally as fundamental rights that everyone should enjoy, irrespective of his or her status. They fall essentially into two categories: basic human rights to fair and decent treatment for the individual; and political rights which are seen as vital for a healthy and liberal society, whether or not they are actually desired by many people. 
37. Civil Service: The civil service of a country is its public administration, the body of men and women employed by the state to implement policy and apply the laws and regulations made by the executive and legislature. It usually also includes a small elite group of senior public officers who help the official political leaders to draft laws and translate policies into practical forms. All governments rely on a civil service of some sort, but finding a clear operational definition that distinguishes the public administrators from the politicians is often extremely difficult. 
38. Civil Society: Civil society was central to the work of some of the most important political thinkers from the 17th century onwards. Among others, Hobbes, Locke and even Hegel distinguished between the state and civil society, that is the organized society over which the state rules. Such a distinction is not entirely valid, since the state is itself part of society. However, we are aware that, as well as institutions bound up with formal authority and political control, there exists a set of interlinked and stable social institutions which have much influence on, or control over, our lives. 
39. Coalition: Coalitions are groupings of rival political units in the face of a common enemy; they occur in situations where protection from that enemy, or the furtherance of some shared goal, overrides differences and potential conflicts between the members of the coalition. Coalitions usually occur in modern parliaments when no single political party can muster a majority of votes. Two or more parties, who have enough elected members between them to form a majority, may then be able to agree on a common programme that does not require too many drastic compromises with their individual policies, and can proceed to form a government. 
40. Co-existence: The concept of co-existence signified the principles of mutual recognition by the nations, of each others identity and existence and the equality of nations in international relations. The idea of peaceful co-existence was one of the five principles called 'Panchsheel' which were agreed upon by China and India in 1954 to guide their foreign policies. In fact, the principle of co¬existence is the cornerstone of the modern international relations, without which the simultaneous existence of a variety of small and big nations would not be possible in the civilised world. 
41. Cold War: The cold war is a condition of hostility between the two nations or the groups of nations, where both engage in vicious propaganda against each other at various levels. Though the actual military confrontation is absent during the cold war, the relations between the two groups are so much characterised by hostility and mistrust that it may lead to an actual war at anytime. The tension between the capitalist bloc led by the USA. and the communist bloc led by Russia during 1950s and 1960s was the result of ongoing cold war between the two blocs. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the communist bloc in 1991, the cold war had come to an end.
42. Colonialism: Colonialism is a condition of subjugation and rule of a country by an external colonial country. The subject nation is the colony of the controlling power. Under the condition of the colonialism, the external colonial power holds total control over the polity, economy and culture of the subject nation and exploits the same for its own benefits. For example, India was subject to the British colonialism before 1947 for a long period. As a result of national movements in the subject countries, almost all colonies gained independence after the second world war and thus colonialism in its classical form had come to an end. 
43. Common Law: Common law is the name usually given to the main system of laws and legal practices in England and Wales, most of North America, and other countries that were once part of the British Empire. It is the legal system that developed after the Norman conquest of England, based initially on judicial interpretation of local customs, on judicial and royal decisions in important cases, and on the rare acts of formal legislation contained in royal statutes. 
44. Communalism: A society characterized by communalism is one in which ethnicity, language group, religion or other identification largely circumscribes the entire life of the subculture in question. In such a society people will not only marry, reside, speak and carry out their entire private life inside their subculture are likely to exist, as in the linguistically-defined Belgian party system. States may provide for separate education and broadcasting structures to mirror the subcultures, as in the Netherlands where the structures are defined by religion. This refers to a strong feeling of belonging to a community as distinct from and superior to other communities and nations. This feeling of community based on religion is made the basis of advancing the economic and political interests. In practical sense, the uses of religion for non-religious objectives is called Communalism. Communalism is the bane of Indian politics as it leads to polarization of different communities and subsequent tensions and conflict among these communities. 
45. Communism: Communism can mean one of two things: a theoretical ideal found in the writings of Marx, or the actual governing principles of the self-described communist states in the modern world. When used, for example, in the communist parties of France, Italy, Britain, etc., it has typically referred to a combination of Marxist ideals and support for the communist governments. Clearly the collapse of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1991, hitherto the leading party, must have severe repercussions on communist parties elsewhere. As far as Marxist theory goes, communism is a slightly shadowy state in which private property has been abolished, equality reigns, and the state has 'withered away' because all men live in harmony and co-operation, without classes or any social divisions requiring the exercise of authority. This term communism stands for the ideology, propounded by Karl Marx and later modified and practiced by Lenin in Russia and Maotse-tung in China.
46. Condominium: Condominium refers to an arrangement where two countries simultaneously exercise sovereignty over a country, which is not independent. For example, sometimes back, Sudan was subject to the condominium of the Britain and Egypt. 
47. Confederacy: A confederacy, or confederation, is a political system originating in an agreement made between several independent entities that wish to retain a high degree of autonomy. The idea of confederacies is usually contrasted with that of federalism, which also involves independent entities but in which the central authority has a considerable degree of power which may be capable of expansion, for example through interpretation of the federal constitution. In a confederacy, by contrast, certain specified powers are surrendered by the component units to the central government, and all other powers remain with the original states. 
48. Calling Attention: It is a notice by which a member, with prior permission of the Speaker, calls the attention of a Minister to any matter of urgent public importance. The Minister may make a brief statement or ask for some time- an hour or a day-for the reply.
49. The 'Calling Attention' procedure does not exist in the Rajya Sabha, which has, instead the 'Motion of Papers'. 
50. Care-taker Government: A Government during the inter-regnum comes as soon as the Council of Ministers goes out of the office. Usually, the outgoing Government is allowed to continue in the office and run the Government. This Care-taker Government lasts till a new Government, after the elections, takes charge. There are certain moral restrictions on the legislative powers of this Government and it is supposed not to take any major policy decisions. However, the President may refuse to accept any such Bills, if passed by a caretaker Government. For example, in 1996 the then President Dr. S.D. Sharma refused to give assent to the Christian Quota Bill passed by the Caretaker Government of P. V. Narasimha Rao.
51. Coalition Government: The Government formed by two or more political parties, with some common goals to be achieved. It may or may not enjoy the confidence of the Legislature on its own. The present Manmohan Singh Government is a coalition Government. 
52. Conventions: Conventions are those unwritten practices which are regarded legally binding on the three organs of the State (Legislature, Judiciary and Executive). For example, the President, by convention, invites the largest political party in the Lok Sabha after a fresh election to form a Government at the Centre.
53. Categories of the citizen who can vote by post(1) Civil servants on duty.(2) Defence personnel posted in the forward areas.(3) Members of the diplomatic missions and their family members.(4) Persons detained under the preventive detention.(5) Any person authorized so by the Election Commission.
54. Central Services and All-India Services: The Central Services is an expression referring to certain services under the Union, maintained on an All-India basis. They are Indian Foreign Service, Indian Audit and Accounts Services, Indian Customs and Excise Services and the like.
55. On the other hand, the expression "All-India Services" is used in the Constitution to indicate only 'Indian Administrative Service (IAS),'Indian Police Service' (IPS) and 'Indian Forest Service' (IFS). The Parliament is empowered to create other such services on the recommendation of the Rajya Sabha (Art. 312). 
56. Countermanding and Re-poll: The Countermanding means initiating the whole election afresh, while the Re-poll means the re-election for certain specified booths. 
57. Confidence: In countries where the executive is responsible to a legislature rather than elected for a fixed term (as in the USA), the support of the legislature is necessary to sustain a government in office. Such support may be tested by a formal vote of no confidence. If the vote goes against the government, it will usually be required to resign; and then one of two consequences will follow. Either there will be an attempt to form a new government which can command the support of the legislature (a course which is particularly likely where no party has an overall majority), or the legislature will be dissolved and new elections held to ascertain the views of the electorate. 
58. Confrontation: The situation of conflict between two groups, countries or parties is called confrontation. In the situation of confrontation, both the parties adopt contradictory stand or position on some issue or problem. This also includes military confrontation between two nations. 
59. Consensus: Consensus means general consent arrived at by many persons or parties on some principles or issues. In modern democracies, the practice of consensus is often used to reach agreement or consent on some controversial problems. 
60. Constitutional Government: A Constitutional Government is that government in which the exercise of authority is limited by the Constitution and it is run on the basis of provisions of the Constitution. 
61. Constitutional Law: Constitutional law refers to the part of a legal system and legal tradition which is directly concerned with interpreting and applying the fundamental rules that define and delimit the powers, rights and duties of governments, other organs of the state, and the citizens. In some cases constitutional law is based on the interpretation of a fixed, binding and usually written formal constitution. 
62. Consuls: A diplomatic representative of a country appointed in another country to discharge responsibilities with respect to commercial and economic interest of his country is called consuls. The consuls hold a lower rank and position to that of an ambassador. 
63. Containment: It means prevention and check of an ideology or the influence of a nation by other country. For example, the USA deployed the strategy of containment to restrict the influence of the communist Russia and China from spreading to the third world countries.
64. Coup-detat: Violent or illegal change or overthrowing of the Government by a group of people is called coup d'etat. The success of coup depends on as to what extent the Government authority has been captured by the group or the people. This leads to the establishment of a new Government in place of the replaced Government. There are many countries in Asia and Africa where successful coup detats have been organised. 
65. Criminal Law: Criminal law describes the part of a legal system which deals with illegal actions, performed by citizens against other citizens or against the state, which are so serious, or so associated with moral turpitude, as to warrant punishment by the state rather than a civil law judgement involving the resolution of a conflict or some kind of restitution. 
66. Curfew: Curfew is an extraordinary step taken by the Government to impose restrictions on the movements of the people in order to restore law and order in a place. The curfew is imposed for a fixed time or indefinite period and the same is announced to the affected people. 
67. Democracy: According to Abraham Lincon, Democracy is a Government of the people, by the people and for the people. Democracy is the most valued and also perhaps the vaguest of political concepts in the modem world. Political systems as diverse as the USA, various one-party states in Africa and communist states all describe themselves as democracies. The word 'democracy' is derived from two ancient Greek words: demos ('the people') and kratos ('strength'). By itself democracy means little more than that, in some undefined sense, political power is ultimately in the hands of the whole adult population, and that no smaller group has the right to rule. 
68. Democratic socialism: It literally means the establishment of a socialist society by the democratic methods. Under the socialism, the ownership of the means of production and distribution is socialised and are under the control of the Government. If this purpose is achieved through the revolution, it is called a revolutionary socialism and if the objective of socialism are realised gradually by the peaceful and democratic means, it is referred to as a democratic socialism. The methods of democratic socialism are nationalization of the industries, progressive taxation, planned development etc. Democratic Socialism aims at providing socio-economic justice and equal opportunities to all for the development and progress. 
69. Detente: It refers to a situation of reduction of tensions between the two nations or groups due to downward swing of the cold war relations. In Detente, normalcy is restored in place of cold war tensions and hatred among nations. The reduction in tensions between the superpowers in late 1960s and early 1970s, after the climax of the cold war in 1962 during the Cuba Crisis is mentioned as an example of detente in the international relations. 
70. Doctrine of Necessity: The doctrine states that even though there is a reasonable ground to suspect that a public authority may be biased, the authority may exercise his power to break a stalemate. This doctrine was evolved by the Supreme Court in the Jayalalitha case. 
71. Distributive Justice: It means that the profits of the economic development shall be shared by all and not appropriated by a few. Also, there shall be no concentration of wealth. This intention is embodied in Art. 39 (a) and (b) of the Constitution. 
72. Dialectical Materialism: The concept of dialectical materialism was given by Karl Marx to understand the process of development. In terms of Dialectical materialism, the matter, which is self propelled, is the basis of social development, which moves ahead through a dialectical process consisting of three stages-thesis, antithesis and synthesis. Antithesis is opposed to thesis and synthesis tries to reconcile the contradictions inherent in both. Marx used this technique to emphasis that the economic structure forms the base of the social development and which would move ahead through the dialectical manner till the final stage of communism is reached.
73. Diarchy: A form of Government in which the functions and powers of the executive are divided into two parts. One part of the executive is responsible to the Legislature while the other part is not responsible to the Legislature. The diarchy was introduced in the Indian States by the British Government in India under the provisions of the Government of Indian Act, 1919. Under this system, the powers and responsibilities of the State Governments were divided into two sections. Some powers were to be exercised by the popular Ministers responsible to the State Legislatures, while the rest of the powers were exercised by the Governors of the States, who were not responsible to the Provincial Legislatures. 
74. Dictatorship: Dictatorship is a form of government in which one person has sole and complete political power. In antiquity, a temporary dictator was often appointed as an emergency measure by states which were normally organized in some other fashion. The Roman Republic appointed dictators during military crises (the term actually originates from this practice), and the ancient Greek city states sometimes gave supreme law-making power to individuals. 
75. Dinner Diplomacy: If some leaders or individuals, invited to a dinner party discuss and try to find a solution to some problems, it is referred to as a dinner diplomacy. 
76. Diplomacy: The idea of 'diplomacy' is used in a variety of rather vague ways in political language, all deriving from the techniques and styles developed by European foreign affairs representatives during the 18th century, though, of course, diplomacy as behaviour and political strategy is as old as politics. Technically the diplomatic corps consists of all the men and women professionally engaged in representing the interests of their countries abroad. This activity varies from the gathering of information and evaluation of the politics of the host country, via the direct protection of the legal interests of any fellow nationals who are in trouble in that country (the consular function) to international negotiations and the delivery of special messages to the host government.
77. Disarmament: Disarmament stands for the process of elimination of the weapons of war by the nations in order to ensure peace. Disarmament is technically distinct from Arms control as in the latter, only the future growth of arms is prohibited whereas in the disarmament, the existing arms and weapons are to be eliminated. 
78. Discrimination: Discrimination in politics refers to the singling out—usually for unfavourable treatment—of certain groups which are defined by such characteristics as race, language, gender or religion. As a practice it is endemic in most societies; but during the 20th century, especially in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust, most democracies have made serious efforts to combat it through legislation and judicial decisions. 
79. Electoral College: An electoral college is a group of people who have been specially appointed, nominated or elected in order that they should hold an election for a political office. It thus constitutes a way of making election to some significant position of power indirect rather than direct. The most important example of a modern electoral college is perhaps that which elects the American president. Lists of electors ties to particular presidential and vice-presidential candidatures appear on the ballot paper, and once the votes have been counted the list with the most votes on a simple plurality basis takes all that state's electoral college votes. The candidates with a majority in the electoral college become president and vice-president respectively. 
80. Embargo: It refers to imposing the restrictions on the movements of the ships of other countries by a country in her territorial seas and harbours. The Embargo is imposed during the war against the ships of the enemy country. There are specific rules of the International Law which regulate the imposition of Embargo. 
81. Electoral Offences: Offences by the private individual or an authority against the electoral laws made by the Acts of the Parliament.
82. Electoral Malpractices: This is the violation of a code of conduct, fixed by the Election Commission, by an authority, social miscreants or a political party. 
83. Emergency Powers: Emergency powers are special powers granted to a government or executive agency which allow normal legislative procedure and/or judicial remedies to be by-passed or suspended. In democracies such emergency powers are usually strictly controlled by the legislature and are permitted only for the duration of the emergency. Although the primary association of emergency powers legislation is with wartime, or a national security crisis of similar dimensions, governments in fact retain some such powers for domestic crises.
84. Envoy: The diplomatic representative of a country in another country nominated for specific purpose for the time being is called Envoy. 
85. Equal Protection: Equal protection is a term which describes the idea that the legal system should protect all citizens from arbitrary discrimination and guarantee them equal rights. Initially it seemed that this idea was very similar to the guarantees of procedural fairness and due process offered in many societies. 
86. Ethnicity: Ethnicity refers to a sometimes rather complex combination of racial, cultural and historical characteristics by which societies are occasionally divided into separate, and probably hostile, political families. At its simplest the idea is exemplified by racial groupings where skin colour alone is the separating characteristic. 
87. Euthanasia: It is a deliberate infliction of death to a patient, by a medical expert, who is terminally ill and cannot be revived. Euthanasia is done in order to relieve unbearable pain suffered by the patient before his/her death. Netherlands is the first country in the world where euthanasia has been legalised. 
88. Executive: The 18th-century French political theorist Montesquieu divided the political system into three distinct elements: the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. The executive is defined as the part of a governmental system which takes decisions as opposed to making laws, although modern political systems in fact allow their executives to legislate both in the sense of determining which laws ought to be passed and, as in France, allowing them some autonomous law-making capacity. 
89. Extradition: Extradition is a legal arrangement between the two countries under which an accused is sent to another country for the purpose of prosecution, where such person is accused of committing some crime. Extradition is possible only if the countries have entered into an agreement to that effect under the rules of the International Law. The purpose of extradition is to facilitate the prosecution of a person in a country where he is accused of committing some crime. 
90. Fascism: The term fascism is derived from the fasces of ancient Rome, a bundle of rods with a projecting axe symbolizing unity and authority, which was adopted by Benito Mussolini for his new Italian political movement in the 1920s. The other important fascist parties created in the years between the First and Second World Wars were those led by Hitler in Germany and Franco in Spain. Fascist governments were also installed in much of central Europe before and during the Second World War.
91. Federal State: Federalism is a constitutional arrangement in which the powers and responsibilities of the Government are divided between the Union or the Federal Government and the Provincial or the State Governments through the written Constitution. Both the Governments are autonomous in their respective jurisdictions. The United State of America is the first Federal State in the world, which came into being in 1789. The other characteristics of a Federal State are: rigid Constitution, independent federal Judiciary, double citizenship, etc. Indian Constitution also provides for a Federal System of Government, but the distribution of powers is tilted in favour of a strong Central Government. Thus, it is remarked that the Indian Constitution is federal in form but it is unitary in spirit.
92. Fifth Column: It refers to a group or persons within a country, which conspire with foreign countries against the national interests of their own country. The fifth column is found involved in such clandestine activities as inciting violence and disaffection among the people, organising rebellion against the Government or sending vital strategic information to the foreign enemy country. 
93. Filibustering: The practice of filibustering is frequently used by the members in the Legislative process of the American Senate. It means a practice of prolonging a debate on a bill or a matter by speaking unduly long time by members so that the voting on the bill would not be held and the Bill shall be dropped, as its allocated time has lapsed in the discussion, without passing the same. This practice is possible because there is no time limit for the members to speak in the House.
94. Floor Crossing: The practice of floor crossing refers to the defection of a Member of Parliament from the party he was elected to another political party. The practice of defection indicates the lack of ideological hold of the party over its members and it leads to instability in the Government or disregard to the people's mandate. 
95. Fourth Estate: The term Fourth Estate refers to the press and media and it was used for the first time by Edmund Burke. In England, the three classes sharing power in Government were called the Three Estates - Lord Spiritual, Lord Temporal and Commons. Eventually with the growing influence of the press in public affairs, it was recognised as the Fourth Estate. In the French political society before the revolution of 1789, the Pope, the King and the rising bourgeoisie were termed as the Three Estates. 
96. Fourth World: The term Fourth World is used for those poor countries of the Third World, which are at the bottom of the development scale. These countries are either less developed or the development process is yet to start. Some of the characteristics of the countries included in the fourth world are, a very poor economic base, lack of industrial development and high share of agricultural production in GNP, excessive dependence on foreign financial resources and resulting acute problem of debt trap. 
97. Free Trade: It means reduction in and gradual elimination of the tariff and quota restrictions imposed on the foreign trade (imports) by different countries. With the elimination of such restrictions, the flow of the foreign trade in both the directions becomes smooth and easy. The present phase of globalisation supports the practice of free trade among all the countries. Gallup poll
98. This is a method of surveying and collecting people's opinion on various issues. It was developed by American public opinion expert George Gallup. 
99. Genocide: The organised mass killing of the people belonging to a particular community or ethnic origin by a group or the Government itself is called genocide. In 1970, the Pakistani Army was accused of genocide of the people of Bangladesh as they were demanding liberation from the then Pakistan. The United Nations has declared it as a 'crime against humanity' by enacting a convention of the nations to that effect. 
100. Gerrymandering: This refers to the practice prevalent in the American politics in which the ruling party demarcates the electoral constituencies in a manner which ensures the election of more candidates of the ruling party. This may be termed an unethical political practice, as it involves manipulation of the constituencies in favour of the ruling party, which is detrimental to the election prospects of other parties. 
101. Glasnost: It is a term of Russian origin which literally means 'openness'. The term was used by the President of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev to describe his policy of openness in public and the Government affairs. The policies of Glasnost and Perestroika (meaning reconstruction) were advocated by him to reform economy, polity and society of the Soviet Union but these policies eventually led to the disintegration of the country. 
102. Guerrilla Warfare: It means fighting by small independent groups, characterised by surprise and secret attack on the enemy. The technique of Guerrilla warfare is adopted by a weak and small army in comparison to big army of enemy. The activities of Guerrillas are secret and hidden. Marathas used the technique of Guerrilla warfare against Mughal army. Similarly, the communist revolutionaries led by Mao in China scored success against Chinese defence forces through Guerrilla warfare.
103. Guillotine: In France, before the revolution, Guillotine was a sharp iron weapon used by the State for beheading the criminals who were awarded death sentence. It was named after its inventor who was incidentally its first victim. Thus, it denotes a sudden and short killing of a person. From this analogy, the term in politics refers to a sudden end of a controversy or debate on an issue. In modern Parliamentary practices, it specifically means the sudden closure of a debate on an issue and the matter is put to the vote of the House. 
104. Gun Boat Diplomacy:  It refers to use of military threat by a country against another country to achieve some diplomatic objectives. In fact, it is not the actual use of force but involves arms-twisting by displaying military threat. For example, America used Gun Boat diplomacy against India during 1971 Pakistan war when it sent its 7th fleet of ships in the Indian Ocean to pressurise India to declare ceasefire. 
105. Hegemony: It denotes a position of dominance excercised by one group or a nation over other similar groups or nations. In international relations, it signifies the influencial position of a nation which is capable of influencing the foreign policies of other nations.
106. Hijacking: It means illegal control or capture or forced movement of a plane by a group of terrorists or criminals in order to pressurise the Government to accept their demands by threatening to kill the passengers or to destroy the plane. There are a number of instances of hijacking. In 1999, the Indian plane was hijacked to Afghanistan by Kashmiri militants in order to secure the release of some other militants imprisoned in Indian jails. 
107. Hung Parliament: When in a general election no political party or coalition of the political parties is in a position to form a majority Government, such a Parliament is called a Hung Parliament. 
108. Impeachment: It refers to the provision of removing important public officials from their office by passing a resolution to that effect by the Parliament. In India, the President is removed through impeachment motion passed by a two third majority of total membership in each House of the Parliament. 
109. Imperialism: Imperialism is the policy or goal of extending the power and rule of a government beyond the boundaries of its original state, and taking into one political unit other nations or lands. There are variations in the extent to which the imperial power assumes administrative and political control for the states that make up the empire; some retain degrees of independence and identity, while others are subsumed entirely into the institutions of the imperial state. Neither is it necessary that an empire has any specific form of central government, though there must be one central and ultimately overwhelming force, otherwise it is more likely to be an alliance, league or loose federation. In the modern world many dictators have come to power as leaders of mass movements. 
110. Insurgency: It means organisation of secret clandestine activities to destabilise or overthrow the Government by a group of persons. Such persons are called insurgents and more often, they get support from some foreign countries which are not in good term with the concerned nation. In lighter form, insurgents may act as an illegal pressure group which employ tactics of violence and arm struggle to seed their goals. 
111. Interim Government: This Government is formed during the transitional phase of the history of the the country. It is a full-fledged Government and can take any policy decisions. In India, the interim Government came to power with the Independence of India Act on 15th August and lasted till March, 1952. 
112. Iron Curtain: This term is used with respect to the communist countries like the former Soviet Union or China to signify their policy of restriction and control over the freedoms of their respective citizens to ward off any external influence on their thoughts and behaviour. The net result of the Iron Curtain is that the external world is totally unaware of the political happenings in these countries and the rule of the Communist Party is firmly entrenched. 
113. Isolationism: Isolationism is a foreign policy strategy in which a nation announces that it has absolutely no interest in international affairs, nor in the affairs of other nations, as long as they do not affect any vital interest of its own; this implies a neutrality in most possible conflicts. The most famous example is the foreign policy of the USA during much of the 19th century and in the inter-war period of the 20th century, where isolationism as regards any part of the globe other than the western hemisphere was a corollary of the Monroe Doctrine enunciated in 1823. 
114. Jacobins: The Jacobins were a revolutionary group during the French Revolution of 1789 onwards, and their principal fight was for the creation of a single national parliament, democratically expressing the will of the people and solely symbolizing the sovereignty of the state. Revolutionary leaders, such as Lenin, who have ruled through centrally-imposed decision, as they maintain for the good of the populace, have also been described as Jacobin. 
115. Judicial Review: Judicial review is a method whereby a superior judicial body may decide whether an executive or legislative action is constitutional. It is most frequently used when a court decides that an act of the legislature is unconstitutional and hence void, as in the USA where the Supreme Court has, over the past 200 years, declared invalid some significant acts of Congress as well as pronounced unconstitutional certain congressional procedures, such as the legislative veto.
116. Judicial Benches:Supreme Court(a) Constitutional/Full Bench - constitutes of five or more Judges of the Supreme Court.(b) Divisional Bench - constitutes of two or more Judges of the Supreme Court but in case of participation of the Chief Justice, three or more Judges of the Supreme Court.High Court(a) Full Bench - 3 or more Judges.(b) Divisional Bench - 2 or more Judges.(c) Single Bench - only one Judge. 
117. Laissez-faire: Laissez-faire is the doctrine that the government of a state should have no control at all over economic matters. It is especially associated with 19th-century Liberalism, but is by no means absent from the modern world. In origin it was a liberal opposition to traditional, semi-feudal, monopolistic patterns in which the state involved itself in direct control of aspects of the economy for general purposes of policy. It later came to signify opposition to any governmental infringement on the absolute freedom of contract, because it was believed that maximal economic performance was possible only where the market forces of supply and demand were allowed to find their own balance, under which conditions everyone, whether entrepreneur or unskilled worker, would be better off. 
118. Lame-Duck session: It refers to the last session of an existing Parliament when the elections to the new Parliament are announced and are shortly due. In fact, those members of the existing Parliament are called Lame-Duck, who could not find place in the new Parliament. 
119. Mandate: Mandates are typically claimed by successful parties in national elections even when they have actually gained only a smallish plurality of votes. If a party, or a candidate, has stood for election on a particular set of policies, then, having won election, a 'mandate' from the people has been gained to implement those policies. Thus governments often claim that they are 'mandated' to carry out some action even if there is no good reason to believe that the policy in question had very much to do with their electoral victory. The original meaning is where some body, perhaps a constituency division of a political party or a trade union branch, on being required to send a representative to a national conference, gives the chosen representative binding instructions to argue or vote in a fixed way on some particular issue. 
120. Manifesto: If refers to a document of the political parties, listing their policies and programs and their achievements and it is released to the general public before every general elections. 
121. Marital Law: Marital law is a state of affairs declared by a civilian government in which the military forces are empowered to rule, govern and control an area, which can be a small locality or the entire nation, in a way involving .direct force, and without the usual constraints of democratic decision-making or the acceptance of civil rights. It is always seen as a temporary state of affairs and, unlike a military regime, has legitimacy, because it has been decided upon and granted by the civilian government. Martial law is, without doubt, both draconian and unpopular; there have been no instances of marital law being declared in a major Western democracy since the Second World War, though Poland was subjected to marital law in 1981-83.
122. Minority Government: A form of Government which does not enjoy the confidence of the Lok Sabha on its own and survives on support of other political parties from outside the Government. For example, the Chandrashekhar Government in 1990-1991, the Deve Gowda and the I.K. Gujral Governments during 1996-1997 survived on the Congress support from outside. 
123. Marxism: The ideology of scientific socialism adopted by Karl Marx (1818-1883) is called Marxism. Marxism holds that economic relations of productions are fundamental to the society and social development; the class struggle is found between those who own the means of production and distribution and those who are deprived of this control; the capitalism contains the seed of destruction and the revolution would lead to the establishment of the final stage of the communism characterized by a class-less, exploitation-less and the State-less society. 
124. Mid-term poll: If the popular House of the Parliament is not able to complete its full term, it is dissolved and mid¬term elections are held to constitute a new House. Such elections are called mid-term poll. 
125. Monarchy: A monarchy is a state ruled by an individual who has a position at the apex of an aristocratic pyramid of honor and authority which is generally inherited through a family connection. Monarchy is a very ancient system of government (it was, indeed, one a of Aristotle's three basic forms of good government, along with aristocracy and democracy) which developed independently in various continents; many monarchial systems seem to have started with some form of election, with the succession later becoming hereditary by primogeniture and, until recent decades, usually male primogeniture. The most common form of monarchy today is constitutional monarchy, where the monarch has strictly limited powers and must accept the role and power of other bodies, such as parliaments and cabinets. 
126. Monarch: It is a form of Government when the ruler/the King of a country comes from a hereditary line. This is opposed to the democratic form of Government as there is no provision of elections to seek people's consent in formation and running of the Government. However, if the King becomes a titular head of the State and the real powers of the Government are vested in the people's representatives, it is called the Constitutional Monarchy.
127. Multilateralism: The political label of multilateralism was introduced into political terminology in the context of nuclear disarmament. Its meaning is taken by opposition to unilateralism, the doctrine that a country should abandon the ownership of nuclear weapons, regardless of the actions or intentions of any other power. As such multilateralism can either mean simply opposition to this doctrine, or. as is more often presented, a different policy of reduction in nuclear weaponry. If given this latter meaning, multilateralism is a preparedness to reduce or abolish nuclear arsenals step by step in combination with similar movements by the perceived enemy, which was traditionally the USSR. 
128. National Government: This is a form of coalition Government with participation of almost all the political parties represented in the Legislature. Essentially there exists no Opposition party in the Legislature. Usually this form of Government comes during the time of national crisis. It is, in fact, a 'Government by consensus' on certain basic issues affecting the country. Such a Government was formed in Britain by Winston Churchill in May, 1940 during the World War II with a common goal of defeating the fascist forces of Germany. 
129. Nationalization: It is a process of acquiring ownership and control of the private properties such as bank, industries etc., by the Government in public interest. The purpose of Nationalization of the private industries is to ensure maximum fulfillment of the public interest in running those industries. For example, the Government of India nationalized 14 private sector bank in 1969 in the public interest. 
130. Natural Justice: By natural justice is meant the ideas that there are some qualities and values inherent in the very concept of law, as opposed to arbitrary decision¬ making, and that individuals should be able to claim certain basic protections in the legal system regardless of whether they are specifically given those protections by statute. The two most common tenets of natural justice in the British legal system are audi alteram partem (that each party has a right to be heard in any dispute) and nemo judex in parte sua (that the judge of a case should have no personal interest in its outcome). 
131. Natural Rights: Natural rights are those human rights or entitlements which are held to stem from natural law, whatever definition may be given to the latter concept. One can probably divide natural rights into two broad categories, as they are encountered in legal and political theory. 
132. Naturalization: This is a method of acquiring the citizenship by a foreign national in a country on the basis of continuous residence in that country for a prescribed period. The concerned foreign national is granted citizenship on the request as a naturalized citizen. 
133. Naxalites: It refers to the members of those revolutionary groups of Marxist genre, who could not adjust with the Parliamentary form of Government and continued to organize subversive and violent activities against the Government. Their final aim is to change the structures of the society through the revolutionary means. Since these revolutionary groups initiated their movement in 1967 at Naxalbari town of West Bengal, such movements are called Naxalbari movements and its supporters are called Naxalites. At present, Naxalites hold positions in some areas of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. 
134. Nazism: The ideology of the Nazi party led by the German dictator Hitler before the Second World War, has come to be known as Nazism. It is characterized by extreme nationalism, extreme hatred towards the other races specially Jews, centralization of the powers in a single hands, faith in imperialism, war and violence etc. This is a Fascist version of Germany coupled with the racial superiority of the German race (the Aryans).
135. Neo-colonialism: The classical colonialism, based on the direct control of the colonies by the colonial powers has gone but it has been replaced by more subtle and indirect forms of control, which is named as the Neo-colonialism. It means those tactics and methods adopted by the developed countries, which exercise various forms of control over the economy and polity of the Third World Countries. Such methods and tools consist of the investment by the MNCs, trade relations, technological assistance etc. These tools are designed and operated in such a manner that the poor countries come under the influence of the capitalist countries. Neo-colonialism as a phenomena has been in existence in the international politics after the Second World War. 
136. Neutrality:It is a position of indifference adopted by a country towards a war between two or more countries in particular and towards controversial international issues in general. The status of neutrality of a country is recognized in the international law. The neutrality assumes significance during a war when the neutral country is totally aloof from both the parties engaged in war. Switzerland is an ideal example of a neutral State. 
137. Non-Agression Pact: It is an agreement between two or more countries, which binds its parties to declare that they would not organize military aggression against each other. The Non-Agression pact reduces the tensions between the countries and facilitates peace and mutual trust in their relations.
138. Nuclear Umbrella: The system of security maintained by a country for protection during a nuclear war is referred to as the Nuclear Umbrella. 
139. Oligarchy: It is a rule of a few persons belonging to the aristocratic background, in their own interests. 
140. Ombudsman: In Sweden, the ombudsman is a high ranking public official responsible for hearing the people's grievances against various Government authorities and the matters of corruption in the Government. Similar public officials have been appointed in other countries to probe the charges of corruption against high-level authorities of the Government.
141. Officers of the Cabinet Rank by the Statute:1) Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.2) Speaker of the Lok Sabha.3) Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
142. Open door policy: This is a trade policy adopted by a nation, which is characterized by the trade relations with all countries on equal and easy terms. There is no discriminative trade with any country. 
143. Opinion Poll: Opinion polls are measures of public attitude, on any sort of issue, carried out by professional polling organizations whose main business is usually in market research. In the mass media a typical opinion poll is a measure of the voting intention of the electorate, of how the voters rank politicians and parties, and of what preferences the electorate has among various policy alternatives; these polls are taken with increasing frequency and assume greater importance as an election approaches. 
144. Ordinance: An ordinance is a law promulgated by the head of the State in a situation of urgency when the Legislature cannot frame the law because either it is not in session or it is dissolved. An ordinance has the same effect as a law made by the Legislature. However, it is a temporary measure and has to be approved by the Legislature within a prescribed period, otherwise it ceases to be in operation. 
145. Ostpolitik: This refers to the foreign policy of the West Germany through which it tried to reduce the cold war tensions with the communist countries and took the measures to establish the normal relations with these countries. 
146. Panchayati-Raj: These are the institutions of local self-Government at village level. In India a three tier structure of the Panchayati Raj - Gram Panchayat Samiti and Gram Sabha at village level, Panchayat at the Block level and Zila Panchayat at District level-has been adopted. The purpose behind establishment of these institutions is to ensure participation of the people at the lower levels in the development process. The suggestions for the establishment of these institutions was made for the first time, in 1957 by the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee. A new system of Panchayati Raj has been enacted and implemented through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992. The new provisions of the Constitution give the Constitutional recognition to these institutions and endow them with more powers and autonomy. 
147. Paramilitary Forces: Paramilitary forces are those uniformed, armed and disciplined bodies that exist in most countries to carry out internal security and policing functions which are beyond the capacity of ordinary police forces. Frequently the boundaries between what would be considered an ordinary police force and a paramilitary force are very blurred. Nevertheless, most countries have found it necessary to retain a force to cope with, for example, serious rioting and disorderly demonstrations, equipped for and allowed to use greater force than even police forces that are normally armed. 
148. Parliamentary System: This is a form of Government in which the executive is responsible for its policies to the Legislature and the former can be removed from the office by passing a vote of no confidence by the popular House of the Legislature. The other features of the Parliamentary form of Government are, provision for two executives-one nominal (President or King) and another real (the Cabinet), collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers to the Parliament, indefinite term of office of the executive, close relations between the executive and the Parliament etc. 
149. Partyless Democracy: It is assumed that the political parties are essential for the functioning of the democracy, but it is also true that the parties are responsible for the evils of the democracy. In a partyless democracy, elections are not contested on the party lines but on the individuals basis. Tai Prakash Narain has propagated the idea of a partyless democracy in order to free the democracy from the evils of the political parties. 
150. Pentagon: This is the name of the building (given as per its design) where the Defence Ministry of the USA is housed. The name Pentagon has become synonymous with the defence department of the USA.
151. Personal Laws: It refers to those laws which are community specific and are based on the cultural and religious evolution of the people. This law regulates the personal laws of the people e.g. marriage, divorce, adoption, succession and inheritance of property.
152. Perestroika: This is a term of Russian language meaning 'Reconstruction'. The term was popularised by Mikhail Gorbachev, the President of the former Soviet Union, to signify the policy of reconstruction in economic and political system of the country. Perestroika along with 'Glasnost' (openness) were the twin principles of the proposed reforms of the Soviet Union. However, the new policy of reform led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. 
153. Personality Cult: It refers to an unqualified loyalty and faithfulness displayed by the people towards an individual or a leader due to his personal qualities. Gandhi, Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Indira Gandhi, etc. enjoyed the status of a personality cult among the Indian people. However, personality cult is not considered good for a healthy democracy as it gives an undue attention to the personality of the leaders and diverts attention from the real issues and critical appraisals. 
154. Picketing: It is a form of Gherao in which a group of persons sits on Dharna in front of an office or establishment to prevent normal activities of the establishment in order to press for the acceptance of its demands. During the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930s, Congress workers held picketing before the shops selling foreign goods and demanded their closure. 
155. Ping Pong Diplomacy: It refers to that practice of the Chinese foreign policy in which it invites the Table Tennis' teams of the foreign countries in order to start the cordial dialogues and develop friendly relations with those countries. In other words, it means using the sports as a tool to achieve the objectives of the foreign policy. 
156. Plebiscite: It means the opinion of the people on an issue, taken by the Government in order to take a decision about an important matter. For example, Pakistan is demanding a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir to decide whether the residents of that State would like to stay with India or with Pakistan. 
157. Plenary Power: This means the absolute, unquestioned and uncontrolled power. Through the 24th Constitutional Amendment, the Parliament tried to assume plenary power but the Supreme Court, under the concept of the 'Basic Structure' of the Constitution, has negated the attempt of the Parliament. According to the Supreme Court, all the Legislations of the Parliament are subject to the Judicial review by the Court. 
158. Plebiscitary Democracy: Plebiscites are referendums, a system for allowing the whole of an electorate directly to give their opinion on some political question. The most successful and long-term experience is that of Switzerland, where a host of ordinary policy questions are routinely put to the electorate, following a tradition dating to the 16th centuiy politics. One quite common use has been to hold a plebiscite for the population of a territory over which two countries have rival claims to sovereignty. 
159. Pluralism: Pluralism is both a technical term in political science, and an evaluative word for a form of government, often used as a defence of what might otherwise be called liberal democracy or representative democracy. Technically a pluralist political system is one that has several centres of power and authority, rather than one in which the state is the sole controller of people's actions. Thus medieval society in Europe, where the monarchy and the church were co-equal rulers in their different spheres, and where craft corporations and feudal landlords also had a claim
160. Point of Order: It is an extra-ordinary process which when raised, has the effect of suspending the business before the House and the member who is on his legs gives way. This is meant to assist the Presiding Officer in enforcing the Rules, Directions and Provisions of the Constitution for regulating the business of the House. 
161. Polarization: The excessive feeling of groupism and unity by some people with respect to some ideology, issue or matter is called the polarization. In politics, political parties, more often, get polarised around some issue or against a political party or ruling party. For example, during the National Emergency, all the opposition parties were polarised against the Congress party and formed a new party known as the Janata party. 
162. Politburo: Technically the Politburo, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) (or other communist party organized along Soviet lines), was just a committee no more than, for example, the National Executive Committee of the British Labour Party. In practice the Politburo was as near as the USSR came to having a cabinet, a body continuously directing policy and making all urgent, and many day-to-day, decisions. Its exact role and power, as well as its membership, varied enormously over the period from 1917 to 1991.
163. Political Sabotage: When a political group or the Government tries to harm or finish its opponents through the conspiracies and clandestine activities, it is called a political sabotage. 
164. Power politics: It means the participation in political activities with the sole objective of capturing the political power and showing disregard to public interest or the people's welfare. Mahatma Gandhi was highly critical of the power politics and advocated a politics based on morality. But in terms of the modern political analysis, all politics is essentially a power politics.
165. Privy Purse: After the independence, many Princely States were merged with the Indian Union on the condition that the Government of India will pay some fixed amount of money on annual basis to the rulers of such Princely States. The payment of this money is called the privy purse. The provision of the privy purse was made in order to compensate the rulers of the Princely States for the loss of revenue suffered by them due to the merger with India. The payment of the privy purse was stopped from 1971 by the Government. 
166. Presidential Government:  This form of government is just the opposite of the Parliamentary form of government. In this form of government, the executive is not responsible to the Legislature for its policies and programmes. The term of office of the executive is fixed. There is no distinction between the real and the nominal executives and the executive does not enjoy a close relation with the Legislature. The United States of America provides an ideal example of the Presidential form of Government. 
167. Proletariat Class: In Marxist ideology, the Proletariat class means a class of the poor persons (workers, labourers) which is deprived of the ownership of the means of production and distribution. The Proletariat class earns its livelihoods by working as labourers in the factories and industries owned by the Bourgeoise class (capitalists). They are subject to perpetual exploitation by the capitalists. Because of conflict of interest, there is continuous class struggle between the Proletariat class and the Bourgeoisie class. 
168. Proportional Representation: This is a system of electoral representation in which every party wins seats in election in proportion to the votes polled to the party in election. For example, if a party gets 11% of the votes in an election of a Legislature, it would get 11 % of the seats in the Legislature. This system is adopted to eliminate the evils of 'first past the post' system (which is prevalent in India) in which the candidate who gets highest number of votes is declared elected and the votes polled to other candidates/parties are wasted. Thus the total seats won by a party in a House are disproportionate to the number of votes polled to it.
169. Protocol: The code of political conduct adopted by the nations in relations to each other is called the protocol. However, in general terms, protocol refers to any code of conduct adopted with respect to the treatment of the public functionaries. 
170. Question Hour: The first one hour period (usually 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.) each day during the meetings of the Parliament is allotted for asking the questions by the members to be replied by the Ministers, is called the Question Hour. A ten days prior notice is required for asking questions in the Parliament by its members. 
171. Quorum: It refers to the required presence of the minimum member of members of a body to hold its meetings and conduct its business. For example, the presence of 1/10 members (quorum of 1/10) is required to hold the meetings of the Parliament. In the absence of the quorum, the meeting is adjourned and no business is conducted. 
172. Ratification: The process of ratification is the formal approval required by many constitutions which set up elaborate systems of checks and balances and which seeks to make certain kinds of constitutional change difficult to achieve without a substantial measure of political unanimity. 
173. Recall System: This is an arrangement for recalling the representatives of the people before the expiry of their prescribed term by the majority votes by the electorates, if the representative fails to discharge his responsibility in the public interest. Thus it is the right of voters to recall their representative any time and elect a new representative. The Recall System is still prevalent in some Cantons (provinces) of Switzerland. 
174. Red Giants: It refers to those Communist countries which are bigger in size and population. The red colour is identified with the communism. Generally, the Soviet Russia and China are referred to as the Red Giants. 
175. Red Guards: Those young Chinese people were called the Red Guards, who used to tie red bands in their hands and propagated the principles and ideals propounded by their leader Mao-tse-tung. Red Guards were instrumental in the success of the Cultural Revolution in China. 
176. Red Tapism: Traditionally the paper files used in the official works of the Government were tied with a red tape. Thus, the red tapism refers to undue delay in the movement of files or official business due to the bureaucratic hurdles at various levels. The undue delay in the official transactions and procedures defeats the very purpose of the Government policies and programs.
177. Referendum: The referendum is a method of referring a question or set of questions to the electorate directly rather than allowing them to be settled by the people's representatives in the legislature. It was used frequently in the USA from the revolutionary period at the state level and was used even earlier, and frequently since, in Switzerland. The policy question may originate from a group of electors directly via an initiative or from an official body such as a state government, legislature or constitutional council. 
178. Repatriation: It means returning back of the people (refugees) or sending back of the war prisoners to their own country from/ by another country. For example, India is gradually repatriating Chakma refugees to Bangladesh.
179. Republic: Republic is unusual among political terms in being one that is actually very easy to give an ostensive definition to, but of which it is rather hard to explain the history. A republic is, very simply, a system of government that does not entail monarchy, nor, at least officially, aristocratic or oligarchical rule.
180. Responsible Government: In general terms, it means a Government which is elected by the people and is responsible to them for its policies and programmes. More specifically, it refers to the Parliamentary form of Government in which the executive (the Council of Ministers) is responsible to the Legislature (the popular House of the Parliament) for its activities and programmes. It is also called the Cabinet Government. 
181. Rightists: Rightists are those persons and groups that subscribe to the conservative views about change and restructuring of the society. They are opposed to the Leftists in ideological spectrum. Rightists have faith in the tradition and advocate gradual change, not revolutionary change. The term 'Rightists' also originated in France after the revolution to refer to those parties and groups who sat on the right of the Chair and opposed the radical socio-economic changes in the French society. Those groups and persons who adopt the middle ideological position between the Rightists and the Leftists are called the Centrists. 
182. Rule of Law: The concept of Rule of Law was given by the British political thinker Dicey. It means that every citizen is equal before the law and will get equal protection of the law. No person shall be discriminated on the grounds of caste, creed, religion, etc. Also, no one should be given special privileges in terms of the legal provisions. Rule of law is the corner stone of the modern democracies and the basis of the Constitutional Government. 
183. Rule of Presumption: It means that the enactments of the Legislature are normally presumed to be constitutionally valid, unless the person who challenges the enactment proves that the law is discriminatory. However, the rule is not absolute in its application and would depend on the facts and circumstances of a particular case.
184. Sanctions: It means imposing restrictions by a country or a group of countries against another country whose policies or practices are not approved by them. Sanctions consist of the restriction on trade flow, supply of technology or armaments, snapping diplomatic contacts, cultural exchanges, etc. For example, many countries imposed sanctions against the white regime of South Africa due to its policy of apartheid against the native black population. 
185. Sarvodaya: It literally means the welfare of all. The philosophy of Sarvodaya was propounded by Gandhiji and Vinoba Bhave. The ideology of Sarvodaya stands for the peaceful and gradual socio-economic changes ensuring the continuous welfare of all the people. 
186. Secularism: The concept of secularism refers to the separation of religion from politics. In a secular State, there is no State religion and every person has freedom to adopt and pursue the religious faith of his/her choice. India is also a secular country. However, the Indian concept of secularism is more positive, which means equal treatment of all the religions ('Sarva Dharma Sambhava') and simultaneously protection of valid interests of the religious minorities. 
187. Sit down Strike: This is a form of strike when the workers/ employees go for work in their respective places of duty but do not perform any work. Thus, they keep on sitting in their place of work without doing any work. This is also known as the pen down strike. 
188. Snap poll: This refers to the mid-term elections which are held within a short notice as a result of a sudden and surprising dissolution of the Legislature. The elections of 1971 after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha is an example of the snap poll. 
189. Social Justice: The idea of social justice denotes a social condition where there is a social equality, and exploitation of the weaker section is absent. In broad terms, it ensures an equal opportunity to all for development and growth. It is one of the principles included in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. In practical politics, it means the amelioration of the weaker sections and the backward classes by providing them a special treatment and facilities.
190. Socialism: The ideology of socialism is just opposed to individualism and capitalism. It strives to socialise the ownership of the means of production and distribution through gradual control by the democratic means. It wants to evolve a society which is characterised by equality, welfare of all and the equal opportunity of development to all. Socialism realizes its objective through the agency of the State. The State is considered the representative of the public interest. Though the right to private property is recognised under the socialism, it is regulated by law in public interest. 
191. Socialistic pattern of Society: The idea and programme of a socialistic pattern of society was enunciated by the Congress party in its Avadi session in 1955. This refers to a society characterised by an equal opportunity and equality of status to all, removal of exploitation, amelioration of conditions of the weaker sections. This is another name of the socialism in India.
192. Sovereignty: Sovereignty means the right to own and control some area of the world It has, nowadays, nothing to do with monarchy, which might seem to be implied by the connotation of sovereign, but entirely refers to the idea of independent rule by a country or institution over a certain territory or set of political concerns. Thus a country might dispute the sovereignty of an island over which another country had established control, claiming that they had the right to rule. 
193. Starred and unstarred questions: When a member wants oral answer to his questions from a Minister in the House, such questions are called the starred questions. Supplementary questions can be asked after the answer to such a question. When the answer is demanded by the members of the House in written, such a question is called the unstarred question. There is no provision of supplementary questions after the written reply. 
194. Shadow Cabinet: It is a notional Cabinet formed by the main Opposition party in the Parliament wherein the members are assigned certain special functions to perform. Such members lead the Opposition during the discussions in the Parliament. It is also known as the 'Cabinet-in-waiting'.
195. This system not only provides a Government but also an effective Opposition. Further, it helps in training the members in the art of Governance even while in Opposition. The system can function only in the Parliamentary form of Government having only two political parties. It functions well in the United Kingdom. 
196. Subordinate legislation: The rules and regulations made by the Government within the purview of the authority delegated by the Legislature are called subordinate legislation. 
197. Split: It means division in a party as some members of the party leave it and they either join an other party or form a new party. The split in a party becomes inevitable when its leaders hold an irreversible position of confrontation. Split is the common feature of the Indian political parties on petty issues. 
198. Stars and Stripes: This is the name of the National Flag of the U.S.A., which depicts many thick lines and as many Stars as there are States in the U.S.A.
199. Syndicalism: This is a form of socialism, which originated in France in later 19th century. Syndicalism aims at giving ownership and controls of the industries in the hands of the workers by adopting a violent means such as general strike and sabotage etc. French thinker Sorel was the chief profounder of the Syndicalism. 
200. Territorial waters: The term refers to the extent of the territorial jurisdiction of a country in adjacent sea waters. In terms of the present principles of the International Law, the territorial waters of a country extends up to 12 Nautical Miles from its land boundary. Thus, a country can exercise all the sovereign rights in the territorial waters up to 12 Nautical miles. 
201. Theocratic state: A theocratic State is opposed to a secular State. In theocratic state, a particular religion is recognized as the State religion and the transaction of the Government affairs is generally carried out in accordance with the canons and rules of the State religion. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nepal etc. are some of the theocratic States, whereas India is a secular State. 
202. Three Language Formula: It is a compromise formula of the language problem evolved by the Union in consultation with the Governments of the States. Under this formula, if Hindi happens to be the mother tongue of the people of that State, then apart from English, a third language preferably a South Indian language should be taught to the students at Standards VI, VII and VIII. The formula has not been successful in India. The only State following this formula is Haryana which has introduced Telugu as the third language. 
203. Two-Party System: When there exist only two parties in a country, sufficiently strong to win major part of the electoral vote and exercise political control, such a country is called working on a two-party political system. This does not mean that the other parties do not exist, but they are without much electoral influence so as to play effective role in the national politics. This system is working well in Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka. 
204. Total Revolution: The concept of 'Total Revolution' was propounded by Jai Prakash Narayan. It refers to a new consciousness and awareness for a change among the people so that the fast and desirable changes and reforms can be brought about in the social, economic and political system. 
205. Totalitarianism: Totalitarianism is a political concept often either combined with, or even confused with, others such as authoritarianism or dictatorship. The confusion arises because there trends to be an empirical connection so that authoritarian or dictatorial societies are often also totalitarian. There is, however, no necessary connection. To call a society totalitarian means that the political rulers control eveiy aspect of private and social life in the society, as well as having so extensive a political power that virtually no liberty or autonomy in decision-making is left to individuals or groups outside the political power system.
206. Treaty: This is a formal and written agreement between two or more Nations, which prescribes certain rules and conditions with respect to some matter. In the modern International Law, the conditions of a Treaty are binding on all the parties to the treaty. A treaty provides some rights and obligations to the member parties. 
207. Ultimatum: It is making a binding declaration of the conditions by a party against its opponent to fulfill those conditions within the time limit mentioned in such a declaration. The ultimatum also mentions the consequences to follow, if the conditions are not met within the time. For example, the UN gave ultimatum to Iraq to remove its army from Kuwait and vacate her territory within a specified time. 
208. Unattached members of the legislature: They are those members whose status vis-a-vis a political party, subsequent to defection or dismissal, is yet to be decided by the Presiding Officer of the Legislature. 
209. War Crimes: The International Law prescribes certain rules for the regulation of the conduct of the States during a war. If a party to war violates these rules and indulges in killing, torturing or inflicting pain the innocent people, it is termed as war crimes. During Second World War, Germany and Japan were convicted of the war crimes by the Nuremberg Tribunal and the Tokyo Tribunal respectively. 
210. Welfare States: The notion of a Welfare State was developed in 20th century. A Welfare State, as distinct from a Police State, performs multifarious activities and functions to ensure the welfare of the people with respect to health, education, social development, creating employment, removal of poverty and hunger, amelioration of the weaker sections of the society. 
211. Whip: This is an official appointed by a political party to regulate and monitor the behaviour of its members in the Legislature. The violation of whip invites the disciplinary action against the erring party members.
212. White Flag: The White Flag is the symbol of peace. It is displayed by a defeated and surrendering army in a war to signify its intention to surrender and request for peace. 
213. Yellow peril: The communist China more often adopts hegemonistic policy towards its small neighbours. This danger emanating from the communist China is termed as the 'Yellow peril'. 
214. Young Turks: Young Turks are those forward looking young
215. Zionism: It refers to the consciousness of unity and nationhood among the Jews. The movement of Zionism started in late 19th century and influenced all the Jews scattered throughout the world. The idea of Zionism aims at uniting all the Jews and establishing their own Nation-State in the territories occupied by the Palestinians. With support of the world powers, the Nation-State of the Jews, called Israel came into being in 1948. 
216. Zero Hour: It is a period which follows after the Question Hour when the members raise any issue of public importance on very short or even without any notice. The procedure is not recognized under the Rules and Procedures of the Parliament, but has become conventional since 1970's.