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A principle of constitutional government in which the government's powers are defined and limited by a constitution.

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Limited Government

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A political party's formal statement of its basic principles, objectives, and positions on major issues.

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Party Platform

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The presence of increasingly conflicting and divided viewpoints between the Democratic and Republican Parties on a variety of issues regarding policy or beliefs.

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Polarization

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A political philosophy that advocates free will and maximizes individual rights while minimizing the role of government; the role of government is limited simply protecting the rights of people.

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Libertarian

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Political ideology that generally supports the idea that the federal government should take a less active role in the nation's problems. Favors less intervention on economic issues and more intervention on social issues. Tends to value tradition.

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Conservative

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Political ideology that generally supports the idea that the federal government should take an active role in solving the nation's domestic problems. Tend to support government spending on social issues.

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Liberal

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A political party organized as an alternative to the major parties in a two-party system, formed to address specific issues ignored by 2 major parties, can affect the outcome of elections by taking votes away from one of the major parties.

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3rd Parties

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Political ideology that falls between liberal and conservative and which may include some of both; usually thought of as tolerant of others' political opinions and not likely to hold extreme views on issues.

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Moderate

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One of the two major political parties in the United States - typically associated with more liberal political ideology.

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Democrat

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One of the two major modern American political parties that emerged in the 1850s as an antislavery party, consisting of former northern Whigs and antislavery Democrats. Now the party is conservative (pro-life, anti-affirmative action, anti-too much government intervention, anti-taxing on the rich, pro-death penalty).

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Republican