AP Government and Politics Unit 3 Vocabulary

Civil Liberties

Individual freedoms protected from government interference, such as speech and religion.

Civil Rights

Protections against discrimination and unequal treatment under the law.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, protecting fundamental liberties.

First Amendment

Protects religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly, and petition.

Establishment Clause

First Amendment provision prohibiting government establishment or sponsorship of religion.

Free Exercise Clause

First Amendment provision protecting religious belief and practice.

Freedom of Speech

The right to express ideas without unconstitutional government restriction.

Symbolic Speech

Nonverbal conduct intended to communicate a message, such as wearing a protest armband.

Freedom of the Press

Protection against unconstitutional government interference with publication and reporting.

Prior Restraint

Government action that prevents speech or publication before it occurs.

Freedom of Assembly

The right to gather peacefully for expressive or political purposes.

Freedom to Petition

The right to ask government to address grievances or change policies.

Second Amendment

Protects the individual right to keep and bear arms, subject to constitutional limits.

Fourth Amendment

Protects against unreasonable government searches and seizures.

Fifth Amendment

Protects due process, against compelled self-incrimination and double jeopardy, and other rights.

Sixth Amendment

Guarantees rights in criminal prosecutions, including counsel and a speedy, public trial.

Eighth Amendment

Prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.

Due Process Clause

Constitutional guarantee that the government must follow lawful, fair procedures; also protects certain fundamental liberties.

Equal Protection Clause

Fourteenth Amendment guarantee that states must provide equal protection of the laws.

Fourteenth Amendment

Requires state due process and equal protection; basis for incorporating many Bill of Rights protections.

Selective Incorporation

Supreme Court process of applying particular Bill of Rights guarantees to states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Fundamental Rights

Liberties considered especially important under constitutional law and given heightened protection.

Right to Privacy

Constitutional protection for certain personal decisions and private matters recognized through judicial interpretation.

Exclusionary Rule

Doctrine generally barring use of evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, subject to exceptions.

Miranda Rights

Warnings generally required before custodial interrogation to protect against compelled self-incrimination.

Right to Counsel

Right of criminal defendants to assistance from an attorney, including appointed counsel in qualifying cases.

Civil Disobedience

Deliberate, nonviolent violation of a law to protest perceived injustice.

Nonviolent Direct Action

Peaceful demonstrations or organized action intended to pressure authorities to address injustice.

Social Movements

Organized collective efforts to achieve or resist social and political change.

Discrimination

Unequal treatment based on a characteristic such as race or sex.

De Jure Segregation

Separation of groups required or enforced by law.

De Facto Segregation

Separation that occurs in practice without an explicit legal requirement.

Affirmative Action

Policies intended to expand opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups; their legal limits vary by context.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Federal law prohibiting specified discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and other settings.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Federal law aimed at preventing racial discrimination in voting.

Title IX

Federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal financial assistance.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 defense of nonviolent direct action against segregation and unjust laws.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln's 1863 wartime order declaring enslaved people free in designated areas in rebellion.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Supreme Court decision holding that government-sponsored prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Decision protecting Amish families' religious exercise against compulsory high-school attendance on the facts presented.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Wartime speech decision using the historical clear-and-present-danger test; later First Amendment doctrine changed.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Decision protecting student symbolic speech absent material and substantial school disruption or invasion of others' rights.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

Pentagon Papers decision rejecting government attempts at prior restraint of publication.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Decision holding that state-imposed racial segregation in public schools violates equal protection.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Decision requiring states to provide counsel to indigent defendants in felony cases.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Decision applying the Second Amendment individual right to states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Material and Substantial Disruption

Tinker standard describing serious interference with school operations that can justify regulating student expression.

Thirteenth Amendment

Amendment abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime after conviction.