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Making laws

lawmaker

Any elected member of a legislature: a member of Congress, a state legislator, a city council member. Legislator means the same thing.

In full

The word is a convenience of coverage rather than a title. Nobody's office is lawmaker; they are representatives, senators, delegates, assembly members, council members. It is worth noticing when a story uses it, because the generic word can blur which body, and therefore which powers, is actually involved.

Also written as: legislator

Where to go next
legislatureconstituentstate legislature

Written from USA.gov, Branches of the U.S. Government

Keep going

Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.

A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.