Glossary

Plain-language terms for reading laws, documents, and how legislation changes — the everyday citizen's map to Politeia.

A plain-language guide to the terms Politeia uses. These help you read laws, their documents, and how they change over time — without legal jargon.

These definitions are simplified orientation, not legal advice and not authoritative legal text. Always confirm against the linked official law.

How we classify a law (the legal type)

EnactmentAprobación · Verkündung · Promulgation: A law that was passed and enacted as a discrete act — a newly-created statute standing on its own (e.g. a US Public Law like “PL 119-12”). “Enacted” means it is now part of the law, not merely proposed.; e.g. A US Public Law the moment it is signed.
ConsolidatedConsolidado · Konsolidiert · Consolidé: The current, integrated text of a statute pulled together across all its amendments. This is what you read when you want the law as it stands today — one coherent document rather than the original act plus dozens of later changes.; e.g. The US Code title, or the current text of a Canadian consolidated Act.
ConstitutionConstitución · Grundgesetz · Constitution: A jurisdiction's supreme, founding legal instrument — above ordinary statutes and regulations. It sets the framework every other law must respect.; e.g. Germany's Grundgesetz (Basic Law).
RegulationReglamento · Verordnung · Règlement: A subordinate or executive rule made under (and to implement) a statute — not itself a primary law passed by the legislature. Regulations carry detail and procedure.; e.g. A German Verordnung (ordinance) that implements a statute.
Unclassified / Unknown instrument type: A law whose legal type we haven't yet assigned — a data gap, not a real kind of law. It means our records haven't categorised it yet, not that it's unusual.

ActLey · Gesetz · Loi: An enacted/published statute — the final law text as officially issued.
BillProyecto de ley / Iniciativa · Gesetzentwurf · Projet de loi: A proposal for a new law, presented but not yet enacted (proposed legislation). A bill becomes an Act if the legislature passes it. It is called an “Iniciativa” in Mexico and a “Gesetzentwurf” (draft law) in Germany.; e.g. US bill 119-S629; an Irish Oireachtas Bill; a Mexican Iniciativa.
GazetteDOF (Mexico) · Bundesgesetzblatt (Germany): The official journal where newly promulgated laws are published so they become publicly effective. Many countries make a law official through their gazette.

IniciativaIniciativa (México): A bill as introduced in the Mexican Congress. Anyone holding the constitutional right of initiative may present one: a deputy, a senator, the President, a state legislature, or citizens.; e.g. “Que reforma el artículo 156 de la LGEEPA”.
Turno a comisión (committee referral)Turno a comisión: The Mesa Directiva's decision assigning an initiative to the committee that will study it. Until an initiative is turnada nothing further happens to it, and which committee receives it often decides its fate.
Dictamen (committee report)Dictamen: A committee's formal opinion on an initiative, recommending approval, modification or rejection. Without a dictamen an initiative cannot reach the floor, and most never receive one.; e.g. An initiative with no dictamen after two years has, in practice, died in committee.
Gaceta ParlamentariaGaceta Parlamentaria: The Cámara de Diputados' daily official record. An initiative's text, its referral and its dictamen each appear in a numbered issue, which is the citable source for what happened and when.
Segunda lectura (second reading)Segunda lectura: The second time a dictamen is put to the floor, after which it is debated and voted. A dictamen dispensed from second reading is being moved quickly, usually by agreement of the parliamentary groups.

MarkupMarkup: The committee session where a bill is amended line by line. Most of what ends up in a US statute is decided here, not on the floor.
Reported billReported bill: A bill a committee has voted to send to the full chamber, together with the report explaining it. A bill that is never reported simply dies in committee, which is what happens to most of them.
ClotureCloture: The Senate vote that ends debate, needing 60 of 100 senators. Without it a minority can debate a bill indefinitely, so in practice 60 votes — not 51 — is what most Senate bills require.
Conference reportConference report: The single text a joint House–Senate committee agrees when the two chambers passed different versions. Neither chamber may amend it: it is accepted or rejected whole.
CBO scoreCBO score: The Congressional Budget Office's estimate of what a bill costs or saves over ten years. It is produced by a non-partisan office and routinely decides whether a bill can pass.
Statutes at LargeStatutes at Large: The chronological record of laws exactly as enacted, session by session. This is the authoritative text: where it and the Code differ, this one governs.
United States CodeUnited States Code: The same laws rearranged by subject into titles. It is a restatement rather than the enactment, and only some titles have been re-enacted as law in their own right.

Coming into force / In force: The point at which a law actually starts to operate. Some laws come into force on enactment; others on a specified later date.; e.g. “Commencement” provisions delay parts of a statute.
Repeal: The formal removal of a law or provision so it stops having legal effect. A law can be fully or partially repealed.
Amendment: A change made to an existing law. The current consolidated text shows the law after all its amendments.

Source-first / authoritative source: Politeia traces every record to an official government publisher (Congress.gov, GovInfo, Cámara, Justice Laws, Gesetze-im-Internet, Irish Statute Book…). If we can't point to an official source, we mark the claim unknown rather than invent it.
Law version: Each historical or current edition of a law's text. We keep the full history so you can see how a law changed over time — we never overwrite an older version.
Evidence grade: A transparency label for how strongly a claim is backed by sources — separate from whether a policy is good or bad. High evidence grade means well-documented, not necessarily desirable policy.