Law & Politics in the News — Set 1: Meanings flashcards
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The 75 most common of the 150 Law & Politics words, from bail and caucus to martial law and swing state: pronunciation, a plain definition and three news-style example sentences, the most common use first.
Learn deck · part of Law & Politics in the News · written against: 150 words of courts, lawmaking, elections and world affairs; US usage; nonpartisan; not legal advice. Updated 2026-10-10.
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class action (n.) · KLAS AK-shuhna civil case that joins everyone harmed in the same way into one group, with one or a few of them suing in the name of allCourts & Trials
Thousands of customers joined a class action over hidden phone fees.
The judge certified the class action, so it covers all the company's drivers.
The airline settled the class action by refunding each affected passenger. -
due process (n.) · DOO PRAH-sesthe requirement that government follow fair, established legal procedures before taking anyone's life, liberty or propertyCourts & Trials
Ending someone's benefits without a hearing can violate due process.
Even students facing expulsion from a public school are owed some due process.
Under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, government may not take away a person's liberty unless due process is followed. -
custody (n.) · KUHS-tuh-deethe holding of a suspect or prisoner by police or officials; being the one the law makes responsible for a child's care or for keeping property safeCrime & Punishment
Two suspects were taken into custody after the store's alarm went off.
A family court must decide which parent gets custody of the twins.
The defense questioned who had custody of the evidence before it reached the lab. -
bail (n., v.) · BAYLthe price of release from jail before trial: money an accused person, or someone for them, pays or promises to a court; to pay it for someone's releaseCrime & Punishment
The judge denied bail, calling the defendant a flight risk.
Released on bail, she must surrender her passport until trial.
Her cousins put up the money to bail her out.
Watch out: everyday bail means to scoop water from a boat or, informally, to leave suddenly. -
lobby (v., n.) · LAH-beeto make a case to lawmakers or officials in hopes of swaying their decisions on an issue; an outside interest group that works on them this wayLawmaking
Teachers' unions lobbied lawmakers to raise school funding.
Farm groups are lobbying hard against the new water rules.
The powerful insurance lobby helped defeat the measure.
Watch out: the everyday lobby is a building's entrance hall. -
rider (n.) · RIGH-dura provision that rides through the legislature along with a bill, often on a matter far from the bill's main purposeLawmaking
Senators attached a rider to the spending bill blocking new rules on drone flights.
The defense bill passed only after a disputed rider was stripped out.
Lawmakers often tuck riders into must-pass bills that are hard to veto.
Watch out: in everyday use, a rider is someone riding a horse, bike or bus. -
running mate (n.) · RUHN-ing MAYTthe person paired with a top-office candidate on a ticket, seeking the number-two post, such as vice presidentElections & Campaigns
The nominee announced her running mate a week before the convention.
In many states, voters choose a governor and running mate as a pair.
A running mate is often picked to win over a key region or group. -
head of state (n.) · HED uhv STAYTa country's highest-ranking figure, usually a monarch or president, who speaks for the nation as a whole; in some countries the job is mostly ceremonialGovernment & Power
The president welcomed the visiting head of state at the airport.
The US president is both head of state and head of government.
In a parliamentary republic, the head of state is often a ceremonial president. -
sit-in (n.) · SIT-inan occupation of a building or space by protesters, who often sit down and hold their ground to push for what they wantRights & Citizenship
In 1960, students staged sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Greensboro.
Workers held a sit-in at the plant after it announced it was closing.
The tenants' sit-in at city hall lasted three days. -
free trade (n.) · FREE TRAYDa policy of letting goods and services cross borders without tariffs, quotas or other government curbsWorld Affairs & Trade
Negotiators finished a free trade agreement covering cars and farm goods.
Grain exporters backed free trade, hoping to sell more overseas.
NAFTA, a US–Canada–Mexico free trade pact, ran from 1994 to 2020.
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Senses, parts of speech and pronunciations checked against Merriam-Webster.com, the American Heritage Dictionary and the Oxford Learner's, Longman and Cambridge learner's dictionaries; all definitions, notes and example sentences are original.
- Word selection is our own, from general-reader news, textbooks and frequency data (wordfreq, CC BY-SA 4.0); no publisher's list is reproduced.
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