Amendment

Changes to a legal doc. 'Nuff said.

Anti-Semitism

Hating on people who practice Judaism—think Islamophobia, only for Jews.

Appeasement

Giving in to demands to avoid a temper tantrum—essentially, to pacify.

Bigotry

We say dogs are better than cats. You disagree. We kick you in the shin and never speak to you again, because we think our opinion is way better than yours. We're being bigots.

Bipartisan

Political parties decide to play nice for a hot minute, giving the illusion of friendship.

Capitalism

Private owners control industry to make their own profit without government interference—every man for himself.

Communism

The exact opposite of capitalism: a system where government controls industry and everyone's equal. There were lots of people who weren't super crazy about this whole system…because it tends to work better in theory than in practice.

Democracy

Ol' Honest Abe said a government "of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth." That's democracy in a nutshell.

Evangelical

Branch of Protestant Christianity focusing on the power of stories in the Bible.

Inalienable Rights

Basic rights that can't be taken away—and they do not come from outer space

Infanticide

Killing of infants, which was scary-common in western culture for way too long. (Source)

Marxist-Leninist

Communist ideology saying the state should control the economy. The name comes from Karl Marx (father of communism) and Vladimir Lenin (first leader of the Soviet Union).

Mercy Killing

Helping a patient end his/her life to avoid suffering from a painful and incurable disease. You might remember Brittany Maynard, who advocated for the right to die when faced with a brain tumor. (Source)

Nuclear Freeze

Negotiations to prevent nuclear war

Phenomenology

Study of self-awareness—like, do you not realize you're clicking that pen, or are you just soulless and intent on making our eyes twitch?

Proletariat

The working class, viewed as a single unit rather than a group made up of individual people.

Racism

Basically, Voldemort and his Purebloods believing they're better than Muggles for no real reason.

Secularism

Separation of church and state—in other words, people are allowed to believe in whatever they want, and the government needs to stay out of it.

Theologians

A person who studies a certain faith, and practices it.

Totalitarianism

Government run by a dictator who makes all the decisions.