Government Procedures

noun A civil ceremony is a non-religious ceremony that is legally recognized, typically used for weddings or other official events.

• The couple opted for a civil ceremony at the courthouse to legalize their marriage.
• They decided to have a simple civil ceremony at city hall.
• They went and got hitched in a quick civil ceremony.
• The signing of the contract marked the official start of their partnership, like a civil ceremony.

adjective properly or fittingly

adverb in a proper or appropriate manner

• The report was duly submitted to the board of directors for review.
• I duly reminded her about the meeting tomorrow.
• I made sure to duly hit up the party last night.
• The seeds were duly planted for future success.

noun a law or act of officially making something into law or putting it into practice

• The enactment of new legislation requires thorough review and approval by the governing body.
• The enactment of these new rules means we have to follow them from now on.
• The enactment of these crazy laws is really messing things up for everyone.
• The enactment of change can be a powerful catalyst for progress in society.

verb to speed up the progress of something; to make something happen sooner or more quickly

• We need to expedite the approval process in order to meet the deadline.
• Can you expedite this order so it arrives by tomorrow?
• Let's hustle and expedite this project to finish early.
• His quick thinking helped expedite the decision-making process.

noun a tactic used in the U.S. Senate to delay or block legislation by making long speeches or introducing irrelevant issues

verb to engage in a filibuster

• The senator used a filibuster to delay the passing of the bill in the legislative assembly.
• The politician talked for hours to filibuster the discussion on the proposed law.
• The congresswoman pulled a filibuster to stall the vote on the controversial policy.
• His endless anecdotes acted as a filibuster, preventing any progress in the meeting.

noun a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term in office

• The inauguration of the new president will take place next week.
• Are you going to the inauguration ceremony this weekend?
• I heard the inauguration party is going to be lit!
• The inauguration of the new project marked a new beginning for the company.

noun a person's first speech in a legislative assembly or other formal setting

• The new member of parliament delivered her maiden speech with poise and eloquence.
• I heard that Sarah is nervous about giving her maiden speech in front of the whole class.
• Did you catch Jake's maiden speech at the meeting? It was pretty impressive.
• The artist's first exhibition was like a maiden speech, showcasing her unique style to the world.

noun a decision made by someone in authority that rejects or disallows something

verb to reject or disallow by exercising one's authority

• The judge has the authority to overrule objections during the trial.
• I hope the teacher will overrule the homework assignment for tonight.
• I can't believe my mom overruled my plans to go out with friends.
• Sometimes our emotions can overrule our logical thinking.

verb to put an end to; suppress; quell

• The judge decided to quash the subpoena due to lack of evidence.
• I heard they were trying to quash the rumors about the company going bankrupt.
• I can't believe she tried to quash our plans for the weekend.
• His determination to succeed was strong enough to quash any doubts in his mind.

noun a minimum number of members required for a group to conduct business or hold a meeting

adjective related to or constituting a quorum

• The meeting cannot proceed without a quorum of at least 50% of the members present.
• We need at least half of the group to show up for the meeting to start.
• We can't start the meeting until we have enough people here.
• In order for the decision to be valid, we must have a sufficient number of participants present, known as a quorum.

verb to officially approve or confirm

• The treaty was ratified by all member states of the United Nations.
• The committee finally ratified the decision to move forward with the project.
• I heard they finally ratified that new rule at work.
• Her actions ratified her commitment to the cause.

noun a voting system used to elect a single winner from a field of more than two candidates

• Instant-runoff voting is a preferential voting system used to elect one candidate from a pool of multiple candidates.
• Have you heard about instant-runoff voting? It's a way to rank your choices in an election.
• IRV is a cool voting system where you can pick your favorite candidate without worrying about wasting your vote.
• Using instant-runoff voting is like having multiple chances to vote for your preferred candidate until one emerges as the winner.

noun a formal proposal or plan for a course of action, especially in a political context

• The committee has proposed a programme motion to expedite the legislative process.
• They're trying to speed things up with a programme motion.
• Let's push things along with a programme motion.
• The programme motion is like hitting the fast forward button on this process.

noun a method used for allocating seats in proportional representation voting systems

• The political party used the d’Hondt method to allocate seats in the parliament.
• They decided to use the d’Hondt method for dividing the resources.
• Let's just go with the d’Hondt method for splitting the bill.
• In a way, life sometimes operates like the d’Hondt method, distributing opportunities based on certain criteria.

noun a type of primary election in which only registered party members can vote for their party's candidates

adjective describing the type of primary election

• In a closed primary, only registered party members can participate in selecting the party's candidate.
• You have to be a member of the party to vote in a closed primary.
• No outsiders allowed in a closed primary!
• It's like a private club where only members get to choose in a closed primary.

noun a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea

adjective contested - involving conflict or disagreement

• The party may end up with a contested convention if no candidate receives a majority of delegates.
• If no one wins outright, we could be looking at a contested convention.
• Looks like it's gonna be a showdown at the contested convention.
• The battle for the nomination turned into a contested convention, with each candidate fighting tooth and nail.

noun SOTU stands for State of the Union, which is a speech delivered annually by the President of the United States to Congress, giving an overview of the nation's current condition and future plans.

• The President delivered the SOTU address to a joint session of Congress.
• Did you watch the SOTU last night? What did you think?
• I heard the SOTU was lit this year, did you catch it?
• The SOTU was like a roadmap for the country's future.

adjective describing something that does not follow established procedures or protocols

• The committee found the decision to be unprocedural and not in accordance with established rules.
• Skipping steps in the process was totally unprocedural and could cause problems later on.
• It was so unprocedural of them to just do whatever they wanted without following the rules.
• His unprocedural approach to problem-solving often led to innovative solutions that others had not considered.

verb to discontinue a session of a parliament or other legislative assembly without dissolving it

• The Prime Minister decided to prorogue Parliament in order to end the current session.
• The government is planning to prorogue the Parliament soon.
• I heard they're gonna prorogue the whole thing and start fresh.
• Sometimes we need to prorogue our thoughts and start with a clean slate.

noun refers to the greater part or number; more than half

adjective describing the majority as complete or total

• In order to pass the resolution, we need to secure an absolute majority of votes.
• We need more than half of the votes to win, it's called an absolute majority.
• We gotta crush the vote and get that absolute majority!
• Achieving an absolute majority in the election was like reaching the summit of a mountain.

verb to suspend a meeting or session with the intention of resuming it at a later time

• The meeting was adjourned until next week to allow for further research on the topic.
• They adjourned the game because of the rain, but we'll continue playing tomorrow.
• Let's adjourn this study session and grab some coffee instead.
• After a long day of work, I adjourned to my favorite spot in the park to relax and unwind.

verb to temporarily end a meeting or session with the intention of resuming it at a later time or place

• The meeting will be adjourning to the conference room for further discussion.
• Let's adjourn to the break room for some coffee.
• We're adjourning to the park to chill for a bit.
• After a long day of work, I enjoy adjourning to my favorite spot in the garden to relax.

noun a suspension of the proceedings in a court or legislature

verb not applicable

adjective not applicable

adverb not applicable

pronoun not applicable

preposition not applicable

conjunction not applicable

interjection not applicable

article not applicable

• The judge granted an adjournment to allow more time for evidence to be presented.
• Let's call for an adjournment so we can grab some lunch.
• I'm so tired, I could really use an adjournment right about now.
• Sometimes we need to take an emotional adjournment to process our feelings before making a decision.

verb A verb is a word that expresses an action or a state of being. In this case, 'adjourns' is a verb that means to suspend a meeting or session with the intention of resuming it later.

• The meeting adjourns at 5 PM sharp.
• Let's wrap it up, the meeting adjourns soon.
• I can't wait for this boring meeting to adjourn.
• As the sun sets, nature's meeting adjourns for the day.

noun a person who judges or decides the outcome of a dispute or competition

• The adjudicator carefully reviewed all the evidence presented during the trial.
• The adjudicator is going to decide who wins the case.
• I heard the adjudicator is a tough cookie when it comes to making decisions.
• In the game of life, we are all our own adjudicators, determining right from wrong.

verb to manage or supervise the execution of something, such as a task or responsibility

• The medication was administered by a trained nurse.
• The nurse gave me the medication.
• The meds were handed out by the nurse.
• The remedy was applied to the situation.

adverb a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb, expressing manner, place, time, or degree

• The witness answered affirmatively when asked if they saw the suspect at the scene of the crime.
• She nodded affirmatively when I asked if she wanted to go to the movies.
• He totally said affirmatively to going to the party tonight.
• The artist's use of bold colors affirmatively expressed their emotions in the painting.