Other Programs

The Social Security Act provides money to states to help pay costs of programs for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and of Medicaid for those who cannot afford the costs of medical care. Medicaid and AFDC programs are administered by the states. Under the Supplemental Security Income program (SSI), the federal government provides payments to needy aged, blind, and disabled individuals. The federal government also provides money to the states for maternal and child health, crippled children's services, child welfare services, and various social services.

Sovereignty ['sPvrIntI] is the supreme power of a country over its own affairs. Sovereignty, autonomous, absolute political and military power embodied in a ruler or governmental body. In international relations, a sovereign state is equal to other states, with the power to govern its own territory and to declare war. In terms of the authority a nation exercises over its own citizens, sovereignty stands in direct opposition to political expression. In modern democracies, therefore, the exercise of sovereignty is restricted to times when the state's survival is at stake, as in wartime.

State, in political science, generally a group of people inhabiting a specific territory and living according to a common legal and political authority; a body politic or nation. In this definition, the term state includes government; in another usage, the two terms are synonymous. The modern nation-state, which consists of a group of people with the same or similar nationality inhabiting a definite territory, emerged by a gradual process extending over centuries.

Strategy, ['strxtIdZI] art of employing all elements of a nation or nations to accomplish the objectives of a nation or an alliance in peace or war; also the art of military command in combat. Strategy involves the use and close integration of economic, political, cultural, social, moral, spiritual, and psychological power.

Suffrage, ['sAfrIdZ] (право голосу, виборче право) right or privilege of voting. Suffrage is a political institution that dates from the city-states of ancient Greece and from ancient Rome. However, the idea that people under a government should have a voice in selecting their political leaders did not gain substantial support until the 17th and 18th centuries, when philosophers argued that self-government is a natural right of every person and that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed. This idea has not entirely superseded the competing view that suffrage is a political privilege, subject to qualifications. Although modern governments have generally liberalized the qualifications for suffrage, literacy is often a requirement, and in many countries persons convicted of serious crimes are deprived of voting rights. There are also several countries in which women may not vote.

The Constitution of the United States originally specified that each state would determine the qualifications for its voters. However, amendments to the Constitution have prohibited states from denying suffrage to any citizen based on race or sex or requiring the payment of a poll tax as a condition for voting.

Syndicalism, ['sIndIk(q)lIz(q)m] revolutionary trade unionist movement advocating control of government and industry by trade unions. Syndicalism envisions a stateless society in which production is administered by a federation of industrial unions and associations of nonindustrial workers. Syndicalist doctrines were formulated in the 1860s by German revolutionist Karl Marx and further developed by Russian revolutionist Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin. True syndicalism, however, originated in France in the late 1870s. It was strongly influenced by the writings of French anarchist Pierre Joseph Proudhon and French social philosopher Georges Sorel. Syndicalism achieved its greatest impact in the years before World War I (1914-1918), when a related movement called guild socialism had some impact in England and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) formed a comparable program in the United States. Syndicalism declined after World War I, except in Spain, where the Confederaciуn Nacional de Trabajo (National Confederation of Labor) achieved a membership of 1 million workers.

Technocracy, [tek'nPkrqsI] theoretical system of government and management based on principles devised by scientists and professional technicians and also administered by them. The technocratic movement started in the United States after World War I and was based on the belief that the advent of science and technology had made the traditional economic system obsolete. It offered instead a political system based on scientific and physical laws and an economic system based on units of "productive energy."

Territory ['terIt(q)rI], partially self-governing section of the United States that has not been granted statehood. The territories are the District of Columbia, the Samoa Islands, and Guam. Puerto Rico, now a commonwealth, was a U.S. territory until 1952. The states of Alaska and Hawaii were territories until 1959. The territories are not regularly represented in the U.S. Congress but are allowed to send a delegate, who is given a seat in the House of Representatives with a right to take part in debates but not to vote.

Terrorism, use of violence, or the threat of violence, to create a climate of fear in a given population. Terrorist violence targets ethnic or religious groups, governments, political parties, corporations, and media enterprises. Organizations that engage in acts of terror are almost always small in size and limited in resources. Through the publicity and fear generated by their violence, they seek to effect political change on a local or international scale.

Terrorist acts date from as early as the 1st century, when the Zealots, a Jewish religious sect, fought against Roman occupation of what is now Israel. In the 12th century in Iran, the Assassins, a group of Ismailis (Shiite Muslims), conducted terrorist acts against religious and political leaders of Sunni Islam. Beginning in the 19th century terrorist movements acquired a more political and revolutionary–rather than religious–orientation.

In the latter half of the 20th century terrorist acts multiplied, facilitated by technological advances in transportation, communications, microelectronics, and explosives. The conflict between Arab nations and Israel following World War II (1939-1945) produced waves of terrorism in the Middle East. In the 1970s and 1980s organized terror spilled into Western Europe and other parts of the world, as supporters of Palestinian resistance to Israel carried their war abroad and domestic conflicts gave birth to terrorist organizations in countries such as West Germany (now part of the Federal Republic of Germany), Italy, and Japan. In the United States, terrorism has chiefly consisted of attacks by isolated individuals who violently oppose state and corporate power.

Theocracy, [TI'PkrqsI] constitution, or polity, of a country in which God is regarded as the sole sovereign and the laws of the realm are seen as divine commands. By extension a theocracy is a country in which control is in the hands of the clergy.

Third World, ["TE:d' wE:ld] general designation of economically developing nations. The term arose during the Cold War, when the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) appeared to lead two power blocs of nations that dominated world politics. Within this bipolar model, the Third World consisted of economically and technologically less developed countries that were not committed to either bloc. The countries of the Third World are located in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Political instability and precarious economic conditions are widespread in the Third World. The countries concerned generally prefer to create their own institutions based on indigenous traditions, needs, and aspirations. The Third World is divided by race, religion, culture, and geography, as well as frequently opposite interests. It generally sees world politics in terms of a global struggle between rich and poor countries. Some nations, such as those of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), have found ways to assert their economic importance as sources of raw materials indispensable to advanced societies.

Totalitarianism [tqV"txlI'te(q)rIqnIz(q)m] is a form of government in which the state claims control of all the activities of the people. Totalitarianism, system of government and ideology in which all social, political, economic, intellectual, cultural, and spiritual activities are subordinated to the purposes of the ruler of a state. Totalitarianism is a form of autocracy (rule by a single person with unlimited power) peculiar to the 20th century. Under a totalitarian dictator, each individual in the society is responsible to another in a position of higher authority–with the single exception of the dictator, who is answerable to no one. All nongovernmental social groupings are organized to serve the purposes of the state. Among the features of totalitarian dictatorships are a monopoly of mass communications, a secret-police apparatus, a monopoly of all effective weapons, and a centrally controlled economy.

The ruling party controls all newspaper, magazine, and book publishing, as well as radio and television broadcasting, theater productions, and motion pictures. All writers, actors, composers, and poets are licensed by the government and usually are required to belong to the ruling party. The secret police terrorizes the populace through institutions and devices such as concentration camps, predetermined trials, and public confessions. Totalitarian dictatorships provide no legal means of effecting a change of government.

Tyranny ['tIrqnI] is a term used throughout history to describe various forms of government by rulers who have unrestricted power.

United Nations (UN), international organization of nation-states based on the sovereign equality of its members. Members are pledged to settle international disputes by peaceful means, to refrain from the threat or use of force, to assist the UN in actions ordered under the charter, to refrain from assisting any country against which such UN action is being taken, and to act according to the charter's principles.