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ombudsman

(Encyclopedia)ombudsman ämˈbədzmən [key] [Swed.,=agent or representative], public official appointed to deal with individual complaints against government acts. The office originated in Sweden in 1809 when the ...

Ostrovsky, Aleksandr Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Ostrovsky, Aleksandr Nikolayevich əlyĭksänˈdər nyĭkəlīˈyəvĭch əstrôfˈskē [key], 1823–86, Russian dramatist. Ostrovsky's first play, The Bankrupt (1847; reworked as It's a Family Affai...

Słowacki, Juliusz

(Encyclopedia)Słowacki, Juliusz yo͞olˈyo͞osh slôvätsˈkē [key], 1809–49, Polish writer, one of the foremost Polish romantic poets. A revolutionist, he joined the Polish expatriates in Paris and died there ...

Peña Nieto, Enrique

(Encyclopedia)Peña Nieto, Enrique, 1966–, Mexican politician, president of Mexico (2012–18). He earned a law degree from the Panamerican Univ., Mexico City, and an M.B.A. from Monterrey Technological Institute...

states' rights

(Encyclopedia)states' rights, in U.S. history, doctrine based on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to ...

voting

(Encyclopedia)voting, method of registering collective approval or disapproval of a person or a proposal. The term generally refers to the process by which citizens choose candidates for public office or decide pol...

reciprocal trade agreement

(Encyclopedia)reciprocal trade agreement, international commercial treaty in which two or more nations grant equally advantageous trade concessions to each other. It usually refers to treaties dealing with tariffs....

Trans-Dniester Region

(Encyclopedia)Trans-Dniester Region or Transnistria, region (2004 preliminary pop. 555,000), E Moldova, between the Dniester River and the Ukrainian border. A narrow territory some 120 mi (195 km) long but barely 2...

tapir

(Encyclopedia)tapir tāˈpər [key], nocturnal, herbivorous mammal, genus Tapirus, of the jungles of Central and South America and SE Asia. The tapir is somewhat piglike in appearance; however, it is not related to...

Douglas, William Orville

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, William Orville, 1898–1980, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1939–75), b. Maine, Minn. He received his law degree from Columbia in 1925 and later was professo...