+
Prefixes
Ms. Hudgins
+
E, ef, ex

Ef- (also ex- ) - “something external or outwardly directed”

E- “out” or “away from”

Ex- “taking or removing out of something”
+
Di-, dia- dis
Dia- “through, apart, between,”

Dis – “away part”

The prefix dis becomes di before consonants d, b, g, l, m, n,r
or v.
+
Co, con, col, cor
With, together
Example: Cooperate
= to work
with, to work together
Co = With
Operate = to work
+
Political Terms
Ms. Hudgins
+
Journal
 What
does it mean to be a Republican or a
Democrat?
 List
attributes of both parties.
 Which
party do you find yourself
sympathizing with most? Why?
+
Republican
Latin
Res
+ Publicus – Public Affairs
+
Democrat

Greek word

Demokratia

Demos - PEOPLE
+
Political Terms
When
we move into the realm of
political terminology we are
entering the land of lost words
Political
words have been so abused
and debased that they are almost
without meaning.
+
Communism
Current
Definition:
Communism
is system of social
organization in which a totalitarian
state, run by a single self-appointed
political party, controls all economic
and social activity.
+
Communism (continued)
 Word
 Old
Origins:
French: Commun meaning “common”
 Latin: Communis

or essential goods.
The most familiar form of communism is that
established by the Bolsheviks after the Russian
Revolution of 1917.
 Communism
has generally been understood in
terms of the system practiced by the former USSR
and its allies in eastern Europe, in China since
1949, and in some developing countries such as
Cuba, Vietnam, and North Korea.
+
Socialism
Definition: noun.
A
system of economic organization in
which the state owns and controls the
basic means of production and where
centralized planning, rather than
market forces, determines the
allocation of resources.
Word
 Latin
Origins:
term: socius (Sharing)
 Socius – comrade a sharer, or an ally.
+
Socialism
 Sentence:
 The
term “socialism” has been used to
describe positions as far apart as anarchism,
Soviet state communism, and social
democracy
 The
socialist parties that have arisen in most
European countries from the late 19th century
have generally tended toward social
democracy.
+
Ballot
 Current
definition:
noun. a process of voting, in writing and typically in secret
 a sheet of paper we put a cross on and drop in a box on
election day, unless we are dealing with voting machines.

 Origins

“Ballota” – Italian - a little ball
 Greeks
– dropped a white ball of stone or metal or
shell in a container when he favored a candidate, a
black ball when he was against—which explains why
the undesirable are still “blackballed” in our clubs.
 Connections

to other words:
Bullet - Bulla – Bubble, Boss, Study
 Bullet
comes down to us through the French boulette –
A small ball
+
Ballot
 Sentence:
 During
the 1900’s there was a contrivance
to deny the ballot to African American
voters.
+
Bribe
Current
Definition:
 Verb, persuade
(someone) to act in
one's favor, typically illegally or
dishonestly, by a gift of money or other
inducement
Origins:
French
– bits odds and ends
Old French Sentence: An
undercover agent bribed
the judge into giving a lenient sentence
+
Candidate
 Current
Definition: Noun. Seeker after office. a
person who applies for a job or is nominated
for election :
 Origin: Clad
in White
 Roman: When a Roman politician went
campaigning he took care that his toga was
immaculately white so that he could make the
best impression possible.
 Latin: Candidatus – Person dressed in white
 Incandescent – white and glowing
 Candid – a frank and honest person.
+
Cartel
 Definition: noun
an association of manufacturers or
suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a
high level and restricting. An agreement in restraint
of trade.
 Origins:
 Latin: Charta
– Paper. A written challenge to fight.
 A libelous statement in writing.
 An agreement concerning the exchange of
prisoners in a war.
+
Fascism
 Definition:
 Noun an authoritarian (favoring or enforcing strict
obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom) and
•
•
•
nationalistic right-wing system of government
and social organization.• (in general use)
extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant
views or practice.
Word Origins
Italian – Fascismo
Latin – Fascis – a bundle, usually of sticks or
rods. This bundle with the ax protruding, was
the symbol of official power that was carried
before all Roman magistrates.
+
Filibuster
 Definition: noun.
 Conducted
by a sometimes irregular sort
of congressman who speaks interminably
to delay legislation.
 historical a person engaging in
unauthorized warfare against a foreign
country for his own gain.
 Word
Origins
 Buccaneers who infested the West Indies and
the Spanish American Coast in the 17th
Century were called filibusters and
freebooters.
 Freebooter – Danish
 Spanish- filibustero
+
Gerrymander
 Definition: verb
– manipulate the boundaries of
(an electoral constituency) so as to favor one
party or class.• achieve (a result) by such
manipulation : a total freedom to gerrymander
the results they want.
 Word
Origins
 Began when a Massachusetts legislature
ingeniously contrived to rearrange the shape
of Essex county so as to better control
elections. The county resembled a
salamander so the governor of the state at
that time time was Elbridge Gerry and a
newspaper editor used it last name to create
gerrymander
+
Governor
Definition:
Noun
the elected executive head of a state
of the U.S.• an official appointed to
govern a town or region.
Word Origins
• Romans borrowed it from guberno
• England turned it into governor.

+
Inaugurate
 Definition:
 Verb. begin
or introduce (a system, policy, or
period)

admit (someone) formally to public office

the new president will be inaugurated on January
20.
 Word
 Latin
Origin
– Inauguratus – (In = in, augur = diviner)
 The augurs (or prophets) of those days studied
the flights and habits of birds to tell the future to
the next emperor or governor.
+
Lobby
Definition
a
room providing a space out of which one or
more other rooms or corridors lead, typically
one near the entrance of a public building.
 Word
Origins
 Began
as an arbor.
 German
 English
 In
– lauba – shelter of foliage.
– lobby – a covered walk
1640 it was first applied to the anteroom of
the House of Commons, and here the lobby
began and the lobbyists went to work.
+
Machiavellian
 Definition: Adj. cunning,
scheming, and
unscrupulous, esp. in politics or in advancing
one's career.

Word Origins
 Niccola
Machiavelli had a brilliant mind. He was
the “idea” man for politicians of the early 16th
century.
 Founded Political Science. Critics dislike him
because he thought he could use any means
necessary to maintain power.
 Machiavellian policy now means a policy of craft,
cunning, and bad faith.
+
Mugwump
Definition: Noun.
a person who remains aloof or
independent, esp. from party politics.
a Republican who in 1884 refused to
support James G. Blaine, the
Republican nominee for president.

Word
Origins:
Indian word meaning, “great man” or
“chief”
Said to have “his mug on one of side of
the political fence and his wump on
the other”
+
Platform
 Definition:
 the
declared policy of a political party or group.
 an opportunity to voice one's views or initiate action :

Word Origins
 French, plat
meaning “flat”.
 Since the 1800’s the word platform, in the U.S. has
signified the basis of a party’s appeal to the public. The
party leaders carry on endless arguments about the
“planks” that are to be put in the platform, and these
“planks” take us right back to the broad pieces of
sawed lumber that make up the speaker’s platform.
 Sentence:
 The
forum will provide a platform for discussion of
communication issues.
+
Poll
 Definitions: noun
(often the polls) the process
of voting in an election : the places where votes
are cast in an election
 Word
Origins:
 Middle
English word
 Polle meaning “top of head” because that was the
part of a person that could be seen above the
crowd when a count of “heads” was being taken.
 Poll tax = head tax.
 Sentence:
 the
country went to the polls on March 10.)
Protocol
+
 Definition:
 Noun. the
official procedure or system of rules
governing affairs of state or diplomatic occasions
 Word
Origins:
 Greek
term
 Protokollon – First leaf glued to the front of a manuscript
with an index of the contents written on it.
 Proto = first, Kolla = glue
 Our word protocol first meant the original draft that laid
down the outline or rules from which an official treaty or
document was eventually drawn.
 Sentence: Protocol
forbids the prince from making
any public statement in his defense.
Radical
+
 Definition:
advocating thorough or complete
political or social reform; representing or
supporting an extreme section of a political party
 Word
Origins
 Latin
 Radicalis, radix
= root. A person who likes to go to the
“root” of a matter. In its original sense, radical meant
“fundamental” or “primary”
 In the 18th century a group of English politicos came to
be known as the radical reformers because they
wanted to go right to the root of things and revamp the
political set-up.
 People hated them, so the word radical eventually held
a negative connotation.
Sentence: He was a radical American activist.
Senate
+
 Definition: Noun
any of various legislative or
governing bodies, in particular• the smaller
upper assembly in the U.S. Congress, most U.S.
states, France, and other countries.
 Word
Origins:
 Roman
 Senaturs, senex
= an old man
 Senate = council of elders
 We Americans are more apt to look upon old age
as a negative thing, senile (loss of mental
capabilities due to old age) is also derived from
senex
Oligarchy
+
 Definition: Noun. a
small group of people
having control of a country, organization, or
institution government by such a group.
 Word
Origin:
 Greek
 Oligarkhia
= government by the few
 Oligoi = few, small, little
 Arkheim = to rule
 Sentence:
 The
ruling oligarchy of military men around the
president kept him safe.