de facto

(adjective)

In fact or in practice; in actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status. (Often opposed to . )

Related Terms

Examples of de facto in the following topics:

  • Separate But Equal

    • There was not legally sanctioned racial segregation in northern states, as there was in southern states, but black residents and other people of color often faced a de facto segregation that limited their ability to, for example, live in certain neighborhoods or hold certain jobs.

  • Informal Methods of Amending the Constitution: Societal Change and Judicial Review

    • Informal amendments mean that the Constitution does not specifically list these processes as forms of amending the Constitution, but because of change in society or judicial review changed the rule of law de facto.

  • Diplomacy

    • Currently, the United States maintains informal relations through de facto embassies, with names such as the American Institute in Taiwan.
    • Similarly, Taiwan's de facto embassies abroad are known by names like the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.

  • Brown v. Board of Education and School Integration

    • Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. " As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S.
    • Summarize the phenomena of de jure and de facto segregation in the United States during the mid-1900s and the significance of the Brown v.

  • The Diversity Debate

    • In affirmative action programs, the state goes beyond ensuring de jure equality for racial minorities in public education and makes strides to create conditions for de facto equality.

  • Leadership

    • Interest groups with a de facto leader may be more successful at sustained political advocacy than those with no clear hierarchy, because a clearly defined leader allows for more efficient organization of fundraising efforts, demonstrations, and campaigns.

  • The Executive Office of the President

    • It is possible that a powerful Chief of Staff with a "hands-off" president can become a de facto Prime Minister.
    • A powerful Chief of Staff with a "hands-off" president can become a de facto Prime Minister.

  • Clarifying Ambiguous Words

    • This kind of segregation is sometimes called de facto, in itself an acknowledgment that the word does not always mean the same thing.
    • This kind of segregation is sometimes called de jure.

  • The Women's Rights Movement

    • Whereas first-wave feminism focused mainly on suffrage and overturning legal obstacles to gender equality (i.e. voting rights, property rights), second-wave feminism broadened the debate to a wide range of issues: sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, de facto inequalities, and official legal inequalities.
    • In 1963 Betty Friedan (), influenced by Simone De Beauvoir's book "The Second Sex," wrote the bestselling book "The Feminine Mystique" in which she explicitly objected to the mainstream media image of women, stating that placing women at home limited their possibilities, and wasted talent and potential.

  • The Cabinet

    • Because the Office of Secretary of Defense is vested with legal powers which exceeds those of any commissioned officer, and is second only to the Office of President in the military hierarchy, it has sometimes unofficially been referred to as a de facto "deputy commander-in-chief. " The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the Secretary of Defense and the President.