Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Nakasone, Yasuhiro

(Encyclopedia)Nakasone, Yasuhiro yäˌso͝ohēˈrō näˌkäsōˈnā [key], 1918–2019, Japanese political leader and prime minister (1982–87). He served in the Diet after 1946. A political ally of Kakuei Tanaka...

gun control

(Encyclopedia)gun control, government limitation of the purchase and ownership of firearms. The availability of guns is controlled by nations and localities throughout the world. In the United States the “right o...

Wolfowitz, Paul Dundes

(Encyclopedia)Wolfowitz, Paul Dundes 1943–, American political figure, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Cornell (B.A. 1965), Univ. of Chicago (Ph.D. 1972). In 1966 he entered government service, and worked for the Arms C...

euthanasia

(Encyclopedia)euthanasia yo͞oˌthənāˈzhə [key], either painlessly putting to death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible coma. The term comes from the Gre...

alien

(Encyclopedia)alien, in law, any person residing in one political community while owing allegiance to another. A procedure known as naturalization permits aliens to become citizens. Each nation establishes conditio...

utility, public

(Encyclopedia)utility, public, industry required by law to render adequate service in its field at reasonable prices to all who apply for it. Public utilities frequently operate as monopolies in their market. In th...

convict labor

(Encyclopedia)convict labor, work of prison inmates. Until the 19th cent., labor was introduced in prisons chiefly as punishment. Such work is now considered a necessary part of the rehabilitation of the criminal; ...

Shinto

(Encyclopedia)Shinto shĭnˈtō [key], ancient native religion of Japan still practiced in a form modified by the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism. In its present form Shinto is characterized less by religiou...

annexation

(Encyclopedia)annexation, in international law, formal act by which a state asserts its sovereignty over a territory previously outside its jurisdiction. Many kinds of territory have been subject to annexation, chi...
 

Browse by Subject