| plebiscite | a vote by the electorate determining public opinion on a question of national importance |
| referendum | a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate |
| Royal National Eisteddfod | an eisteddfod with competitions in music and drama and poetry and the fine arts |
| national service | compulsory service in the military during peacetime |
| national censorship | censorship under civil authority of communications entering or leaving of crossing the borders of the United States or its territories or possessions |
| national insurance | social insurance program in Britain, based on contributions from employers and employees, provides payments to unemployed and sick and retired people as well as medical services |
supplementary benefit
social assistance
national assistance | benefits paid to bring incomes up to minimum levels established by law |
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations
NASDAQ | a computerized data system to provide brokers with price quotations for securities traded over the counter |
| National Baseball Hall of Fame | a Hall of Fame and museum in Cooperstown, New York, honoring great baseball players |
National Library of Medicine
United States National Library of Medicine
U.S. National Library of Medicine | the world's largest medical library |
| national monument | memorial consisting of a structure or natural landmark of historic interest, set aside by national government for preservation and public enjoyment |
Higher National Diploma
HND | a diploma given for vocational training that prepares the student for a career in a particular area, good students may progress to a course leading to a degree |
trade policy
national trading policy | a government's policy controlling foreign trade |
national flag
ensign | an emblem flown as a symbol of nationality |
| national anthem | a song formally adopted as the anthem for a nation |
| Grand National | an annual steeplechase run in Liverpool, England |
Irish National Liberation Army
INLA
People's Liberation Army
People's Republican Army
Catholic Reaction Force | a radical terrorist group dedicated to the removal of British forces from Northern Ireland and the unification of Ireland |
National Liberation Army
ELN
Nestor Paz Zamora Commission
CNPZ | a terrorist organization in Bolivia that acts as an umbrella for numerous small indigenous subversive groups, a revival of a group with Marxist-Leninist ideologies originally established by Che Guevara in the s |
| National Liberation Army ELN | a Marxist terrorist group formed in by Colombian intellectuals who were inspired by the Cuban Revolution, responsible for a campaign of mass kidnappings and resistance to the government's efforts to stop the drug trade, ELN kidnappers target foreign employees of large corporations |
National Liberation Front of Corsica
FLNC | a terrorist group formed in to work for Corsican independence, attacks on Corsica are aimed at sabotaging public infrastructure and symbols of colonialism |
National Trust
NT | an organization concerned to preserve historic monuments and buildings and places of historical interest or natural beauty, founded in and supported by endowment and private subscription |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA | an independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight |
National Archives and Records Administration
NARA | the independent agency that oversees management of federal government records including presidential libraries and historic collections |
National Labor Relations Board
NLRB | an independent agency of the United States government charged with mediating disputes between management and labor unions |
National Science Foundation
NSF | an independent agency of the federal government responsible for the promotion of progress in science and engineering by supporting programs in research and education |
National Security Council
NSC | a committee in the executive branch of government that advises the president on foreign and military and national security, supervises the Central Intelligence Agency |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA | an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources, predicts changes to the earth's environment, provides weather reports and forecasts floods and hurricanes and other natural disasters related to weather |
National Climatic Data Center
NCDC | the part of NOAA that maintains the world's largest active archive of weather data |
| National Weather Service | the federal agency in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that is responsible for weather forecast and preparation of weather maps |
National Institute of Standards and Technology
NIST | an agency in the Technology Administration that makes measurements and sets standards as needed by industry or government programs |
National Technical Information Service
NTIS | an agency in the Technology Administration that is a primary resource for government-funded scientific and technical and engineering and business related information |
National Institutes of Health
NIH | an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services whose mission is to employ science in the pursuit of knowledge to improve human health, is the principal biomedical research agency of the federal government |
| National Park Service | an agency of the Interior Department responsible for the national parks |
National Institute of Justice
NIJ | the law enforcement agency that is the research and development branch of the Department of Justice |
Air National Guard
ANG | a civilian reserve component of the United States Air Force that provides prompt mobilization during war and assistance during national emergencies |
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
National Volunteers Association | an all-male organization begun in to foster nationalism in India's Hindus |
National Socialist German Workers' Party
Nazi Party | the political party founded in Germany in and brought to power by Hitler in |
| National Academy of Sciences | an honorary American society of scientists created by President Lincoln during the American Civil War |
Palestine National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
Palestine Authority | combines the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under a political unit with limited autonomy and a police force, created in by an agreement between Israel and the PLO |
Intelligence Community
National Intelligence Community
United States Intelligence Community
IC | a group of government agencies and organizations that carry out intelligence activities for the United States government, headed by the Director of Central Intelligence |
National Reconnaissance Office
NRO | an intelligence agency in the United States Department of Defense that designs and builds and operates space reconnaissance systems to detect trouble spots worldwide and to monitor arms control agreements and environmental issues and to help plan military operations |
National Security Agency
NSA | the United States cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect United States information systems and to produce foreign intelligence information |
Nazism
Naziism
national socialism | a form of socialism featuring racism and expansionism and obedience to a strong leader |
National Rifle Association
NRA | a powerful lobby that advocates the right to own and bear arms and rejects any gun regulation by the government |
Federal National Mortgage Association
Fannie Mae
FNMA | a federally chartered corporation that purchases mortgages |
National Guard
home reserve | United States military reserves recruited by the states and equipped by the federal government, subject to call by either |
National Guard Bureau
NGB | the agency that administers the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard, provides liaison between the Army and the Air Force and various National Guard units |
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
NGA | a combat support agency that provides geographic intelligence in support of national security |
Army National Guard
ARNG | a civilian reserve component of the United States Army comprised of guardsmen who serve during overseas peacekeeping missions and during local emergencies |
Iraqi National Congress
INC | a heterogeneous collection of groups united in their opposition to Saddam Hussein's government of Iraq, formed in it is comprised of Sunni and Shiite Arabs and Kurds who hope to build a new government |