Information & the record
primary source
The original record itself: the bill text, the roll call, the court opinion, the filing, the transcript. Everything else describes it secondhand.
In full
A primary source is created by the participants: an agency's own rule, a member's own vote, a court's own opinion. A secondary source summarizes or interprets it. Checking a claim almost always means locating the primary source, which for federal matters is usually free and public at congress.gov, govinfo.gov, or the agency's own site.
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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.