Thesaurus of Political Science Indexing Terms

A thesaurus provides a standard language or set of terms with which to describe a subject area. The thesaurus terms are used by indexers to describe the contents of publications in a consistent, comprehensive, and concise manner. These terms are listed in the Descriptors field (DE=) of each record added to the database. A searcher uses these terms to retrieve the most precise set of relevant documents.

Using our interactive Thesaurus Search you can browse for terms via a hierarchical, alphabetical, or rotated index display. These display formats allow you to navigate the thesaurus alphabetically or through the hierarchical relationships between terms. After finding appropriate terms, you can submit a search for those terms in the database descriptor field.

Introduction

The Thesaurus of Political Science Indexing Terms contains an alphabetical listing of Main Term descriptors used for indexing and searching the PS database and printed index, beginning with the May 2002 issue. Efforts were made to preserve the terminology of the controlled vocabularies used in the backfiles of ABC POL SCI and IFI/Plenum Political Science Abstracts. Associated term relationships are displayed under each Main Term. These may include a Descriptor Code, Scope Note, Use For and Use references, Broader Terms and Narrower Terms, and Related Terms. Each of these elements of the Thesaurus display is explained below.

Main Terms

Main Terms appear in boldface letters. Nouns and noun phrases are preferred for Main Terms, with plural word forms used with nouns that can be quantified (Constitutions, Politicians, Values) and singular word forms used with nouns representing processes, properties, and conditions (Employment, Globalization, Validity). The gerund or verbal noun is also used with process terms (Data Processing, Marketing).

Main Term descriptors are limited to 60 characters. Punctuation is used minimally. Hyphens are used where needed for clarity. In cases where ambiguity may occur, and to distinguish the meaning of homographs, Main Terms and Use reference terms appear with qualifying expressions in parentheses.

Authoritarianism (Political Ideology)
Authoritarianism (Psychology)
Ministers (Clergy)
Ministers (Political)

Descriptor Codes

Descriptor Codes are seven-character, alphanumeric authority numbers for Thesaurus terms. Descriptor Codes have been assigned to all Main Terms. These are distinguished by the "P" prefix. Since a Descriptor Code is a unique number representing a specific Main Term, it may be used in online searching as an alternative to specifying the Main Term itself.

Arms Trade P046400

Scope Notes

Scope Notes are brief statements of the intended meaning or usage of a Main Term. They may provide definitions, user instructions, or both.

Censure
A power vested in a legislative body by which each chamber can discipline its own members or other public officials.

Checks and Balances
A principle of the US constitution whereby branches of the government have some controlling authority over the actions of other branches.

Incumbency
The sphere of action or period of office of an elected official.

Representative Democracy
A form of democracy in which people elect a small number of people to represent their interests and views in legislative bodies.

Use For

Terms referenced by the Use For designation are nonpreferred terms. They include synonyms and variants of the Main Term and specific terms indexed under a more generic descriptor. For every Use For term, a reciprocal Use reference is generated, pointing to the preferred Main Term.

Legislators

Use For

Congressmen
Member of Parliament
Senators

Use

"Use" references direct the user from synonyms and other nonpreferred expressions to the preferred Main Term. They are the reciprocal entries of terms referenced by the Used For designation.

Munitions

USE Armaments

Broader Terms & Narrower Terms

Broader Terms indicate the more general class or classes to which the Main Term logically belongs. Narrower Terms indicate the more specific sub-classes of the Main Term. The Broader Term/Narrower Term relationship is reciprocal: for every Broader Term reference there is a corresponding reciprocal Narrower Term reference.

Central Government

Broader Terms Government

Government

Narrower Terms Central Government

Broader Term/Narrower Term relationships create thesaurus hierarchies, i.e., sequences of class relationships that may extend upward more generally or downward more specifically through several levels. At any point in the hierarchy, Broader Term/Narrower Term designations refer upward or downward only to the next most general or specific level. However, by tracing these references, a complete hierarchy or "family tree" can be approximated.

Broader .Social Institutions

..Government

...Central Government

Narrower ....Federal Government

Related Terms

Terms referenced by the Related Term designation bear a close conceptual relationship to the Main Term, but they do not share the direct class/sub-class relationship described by the Broader Term/Narrower Term relationship. Related Terms are always entered reciprocally. They should be considered for use as other appropriate search terms.

Class Politics

Related Terms

Class Relations

Labor Relations

Social Class

Syndicalism

Worker Consciousness

Working Class