Politics Unit 4 & 5 Vocab

Civil liberties

Those rights, such as freedom of speech and religion, that are so fundamental that they are outside the authority of the government to regulate

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the Constitution, which provide basic political rights

Natural rights

Rights that every individual has and that government cannot legitimately take away

Writ of habeas corpus

Right of individuals who have been arrested and jailed to go before a judge, who determine whether their detention is legal

Incorporate

To apply provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states

Selective incorporation

doctrine used by the Supreme Court to make those provisions of the Bill of Rights that are fundamental rights binding on the states

Compelling interest test

standard frequently used by the Supreme Court in civil liberties cases to determine whether a state has a compelling interest for infringing on a right and whether the law is narrowly drawn to meet that interest

Marketplace of ideas

idea that the government should not restrict the expression of ideas because the people are capable of accepting good ideas and rejecting bad ones

Clear and present danger test

first amendment test that requires the state to prove there is a high likelihood that the speech in question would lead to a danger that congress has a right to prevent

Symbolic speech

actions, such as burning the flag, that convey a political message without spoken words

Content-neutral

free speech doctrine that allows certain types of regulation of speech, as long as the restriction does no favor one side or another of a controversy

Prior restraint

government restrictions on freedom of the press that prevent material from being published

Miller test

supreme court test for determing whether material is obscene

Free exercise clause

first amendment clause protecting the free exercise of religion

Valid secular purpose

supreme court test that allows states to ban activites that infringe on religious practicies as long as the state has nonreligious rationale for prohibiting the behavior

Establishment clause

first amendment clause prohibiting government establishment of religion

Lemon test

test for determining whether aid to religion violates the establishment clause

Expectation of privacy test

supreme court test for whether the fourth amendment protections apply

Exclusionary rule

supreme court rule declaring that evidence found in violation of the fourth amendment cannot be used at trial

Right to privacy

constitutional right inferred by the supreme court that has been used to protect unlisted rights such as sexual privacy and reproductive rights, plus the right to end life-sustaining medical treatment

Roe v wade

1973 supreme court case extending the right to privacy to abortion

Lawerence v texas

2003 supreme court case extending the right to privacy to homosexual behavior

Political tolerance

willingness of people to put up with ideas with which they disagree

Civil rights

set of rights centered around the concept of equal treatment that government is obliged to protect

Public discrimination

discrimination by national, state, or local governments

Private discrimination

discrimination by private individuals or businesses

Equality of opportunity

expectation that citizens may not be discriminated against on account of race, gebderm or national background and that every citizen should have an equal chance to succeed in life

Equality of outcome

expectation that equality is achieved if results are comparable for all citizens regardless of race, gender, or national background or that such groups are proportionally represented in measured of success in life

Dred Scott v Sandford

the 1857 supreme court decisions declaring that vblacks could not be citizens and congress could not ban slavery in the territories

Citizenship

full-fledged membership in a nation

Reconstruction

the period from 1865-1877 in which the former confederate states gained readmission to the union and the federal government passed laws to help the emancipated slaves

Equal protection clause

prevents states from denying any person the equal protection of the laws (fourteenth amendment)

Jim crow laws

southern laws that established strict segregation of the races and gave their name to the segregation era

Poll taxes

tax on voting; prohibited by the twnety-fourth amendment (1964)

Separate-but-equal doctrine

supreme court doctrine that upheld segregation as long as there were equivalent facilties for blacks

Women’s suffrage movement

movement to grant women the right to vote

State action

action by a state, as opposed to a private person, that constitutes discrimination and therefore is an equal protection violation

Brown v Board of Education

the 1954 supreme court decision striking down segregated schools

Civil rights act

prohibits discrimination in employment, education, and places of public accommodation (1964)

Voting rights act

gives the federal government the power to prevent discrimination in voting rights (1965)

Black lives matter

movement that grew out of the perceived discounting of black lives by police and juries

Equal pay act

prohibits different pay for males and females for the same work (1963)

Stonewall riots

street protest in 1969 by gay patrons agaisnt a police raid of a gay bar in New York; the protest is credited with launching the gay rights movement