Social issues, law and politics - IELTS lexical resource
IELTS vocabulary and collocations. These could be useful for essays related to this theme.
Vocabulary
Government
- Coup: Pronounced "coo". A group of taking power to overthrow a government
- Seize: Taking something forcibly
- Monarch: King/Queen
- Regime: Negative connotation to a reigning party.
- Constitution: The law
- Autonomy/Sovereignty: Self-government region/country. E.g. The team leads need to be autonomous in their decision-making.
- Legislature: Law-makers
Opinions/Beliefs
- Dogma: Some, especially religious, beliefs that people are expected to accept. E.g. Her political dogma ruined the country during her reign.
- Catastrophe
- Secular: To describe things unrelated to religion.
- Conjecture: A hypothesis/conclusion based on incomplete information. E.g We can only conjecture about what went through the burglar's mind.
- Contention
- Propaganda: Manipulative information spread by an organization to influence people.
- Brainwashing
- Assertion: Very firmly making a statement whether there is any evidence or not. E.g. There is concrete evidence to support this assertion.
- Speculation
- Sceptic: A person who regularly questions/doubts accepted beliefs/opinions
- Ideology: A manner of thinking/set of beliefs, especially for a political group
- Fascism/Fascist: Dictator with strong control of society with powerful armed forces (by force)
- Liberal: Politically promotes individual rights and democracy
- Pluralism: Recognizes diversity of severy parties
- Feminism: A belief that women should have the same rights as men.
Social issues
- Inequality
- Elite
- Multicultural
- Deprived
- Redistribute
- Underprivileged
- Ethics/Morals: Beliefs of what is right and wrong
- Humanitarian: Helping suffering people
- Philanthropist: Someone who donates especially money to help create a better world
- Refugee: A person who had to flee due to danger/war
Law
- Civil rights
- Advocate/lawyer: A person who defends someone in the court
- Jurisdiction: The power that a law enforcement official has over an area. E.g. The CIA has no jurisdiction here.
- Prosecute: A law authority who prosecutes someone charges them with a crime.
- Exempt
- Prevention
- Protection
- Punishment
- Sanction: Approve/give permission. E.g. To sanction a law
- Violate
- Comply/Abide by
- Invoke: Apply/enforce. E.g. The president invoked a particular law against a competitor.
- Litigate: To take legal action. E.g. To litigate because of personal injury
- Uphold: Support
- Consequences
- Ratify: Make it official. E.g. The 2 parties have ratified the treaty.
- Criminal offense
- Convicted: Officially announce that someone is guilty. E.g. he was convicted of fraud
- Victim
- Violation
- Guilty
- Innocent
- Law-abiding citizen
- Unintentional
- Abolish: To officially end a law
- Perpetrate
- Deterrent: Something that discourages someone from doing something. E.g. The death penalty is not necessarily a good detergent.
Crime
- Arson: A crime via fire
- Crime rate
- Burglary
- Murder
- Pickpocketing
- Smuggling
- Vandalism
- Drug-related
- Fraud
Collocations/sayings/idioms
- Refute an assertion: Proving it wrong
- Religious dogma
- Government/military regime
- Political dogma
- Propaganda machine
- Political pluralism
- Religious pluralism: Every individual has the right to worship/believe what they want
- Humanitarian aid/relief
- Uphold the law: Support the law
- Secular state: The state is neutral regarding religion
- Commit a crime
- Convict a criminal
- Pass a law
More vocabulary
IELTS lexical resource study material
Links to grouped vocabulary lists common to IELTS topics for letters, essays and even the speaking tests.
