Capitalization of Governmental Words
When you write about or to a governmental agency, do you wonder when to capitalize? Here are some simple rules to help you.
Rule: When you use the complete names of departments, capitalize. You may also capitalize a shortened form of a department. Do not capitalize when these words are used as adjectives or generically.
Examples:
the United Nations General Assembly
the General Assembly
Congress
a congressional committee
Rule: Capitalize civil titles only when used with the name following or when used in place of a name.
Examples:
Councilman Harris
the councilman
President Obama
the president
Rule: If you are working on government documents or you are representing a government agency, then you may capitalize words like City, County, and District.
Example: The County will implement the plan approved by the voters last June.
Rule: When you refer back to a proper noun using a shortened version of the original name, you may capitalize it.
Example: The District Water Plan allocates… The Plan calls for…
Example: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken the case. The Bureau has sent out a bulletin to other federal departments to enlist their help in capturing the fugitive.
Posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008, at 2:18 am
8 Responses to “Capitalization of Governmental Words”
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The full name of a U.S. estate tax form is: Form 706 United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return. When referring to an estate tax return and estate tax, what are the rules for capitalization of “federal” and when referring to the Return itself, if never properly named in a paragraph?
Your spouse’s Federal exemption…
… a Federal Estate Tax Return.
… shelter from Federal tax.
… the Federal exemption.
… Federal taxes.
Thank you in advance for your help.
The word federal when used generically as an adjective would not be capitalized. If it refers to a governmental body that uses it as part of its name, such as Federal Trade Commission, it would be capitalized. Regarding the tax return, if you are writing the name of a specific tax return form, it is considered a proper noun and would be capitalized.
Form 706 United States Estate Tax Return
your spouse’s federal exemption
a federal estate tax return
shelter from federal tax
the federal exemption
federal taxes
I question your statement: “Rule: When you refer back to a proper noun using a shortened version of the original name, you may capitalize it.”
Isn’t the phrase “refer back” tautological, because “refer” means to look back?
My copy of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language has a Usage Note specifically dealing with the belief that “refer back” is redundant. In short, the Usage Note explains that the “objection is misplaced. In fact, an expression can refer either to something that has already been mentioned or to something that is yet to be mentioned . . .”
When you refer to constitution, do you capitalize this word?
The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 8.79 states, “Formal or accepted titles of pacts, plans, policies, treaties, acts, programs, and similar documents or agreements are capitalized.” Therefore, write the Constitution of the United States, the United States (or US) Constitution, or the Constitution.
When someone is referring to continuing education hours and says, “It’s forty hours for the State to keep our State certification,” is it capitalized or not?
Our Rule 9 of Capitalization says, “Capitalize federal or state when used as part of an official agency name or in government documents where these terms represent an official name. If they are being used as general terms, you may use lowercase letters.
Example:
The state has evidence to the contrary.”
Since the word state is not used as part of an official agency name but is used in general terms, do not capitalize. Your second use of the word state is an adjective describing the word certification and likewise should not be capitalized. Also, you may wish to consider rewording the sentence to avoid using a contraction and repeating the word state.
Perhaps “We must complete forty continuing education hours in order to keep our state certification.”