What word means beliefs or principles?
Answer
Values
Explanation
The word that means beliefs or principles, on the USCIS reading vocabulary list, is Values. Values are deeply held beliefs about what is important, right, or worthwhile, and American civic values are the shared principles that the founding documents articulate and that public institutions try to embody.
Among the most important American values are liberty, equality, democracy, the rule of law, individual rights, popular sovereignty, justice, and respect for diversity. The Declaration of Independence asserts the value of equality ("all men are created equal") and natural rights ("life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"), and asserts that legitimate governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights translate those values into structural commitments: the separation of powers among three branches, federalism's division of authority between the federal government and the states, and the protection of individual rights against government interference. The Pledge of Allegiance ends with the values phrase "liberty and justice for all."
Civic values are reinforced in many American institutions: free public education, an independent press, an independent judiciary, the right to vote in regular elections, and the freedom to associate, worship, and dissent. The motto E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) on the Great Seal of the United States expresses the value of unity drawn from diversity, while In God We Trust, made the national motto by an act of Congress in 1956, reflects the religious heritage of many Americans alongside the constitutional separation of church and state.
On the reading test Values may appear in a sentence about American principles, the founding documents, or the duties of citizenship.
Why this matters for your test
Values is the abstract word that names the underlying commitments of American civic life. Recognizing it in print prepares the applicant for sentences about the principles of democracy, the founding documents, and the ideals embedded in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, all of which appear on the civics test.
Source: USCIS Reading Vocabulary (2025)
