Introduction to Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and Elections Review

Practice vocabulary flashcards based on the final exam review covering federal elections, the electoral college, civil rights, and civil liberties.

Primary Election

An election held to select party nominees who will represent their party in the general election.

Open Primary

A type of primary flavor where a voter can choose which party's primary to vote in on election day without having to designate a party preference ahead of time.

Closed Primary

A type of primary where a voter can only vote in their designated political party's election.

Texas Primary System

Texas is categorized as an open primary state.

Federal General Election Date

The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November on an even-numbered year.

Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

The legal standard used by the Supreme Court to determine if privacy rights apply, based on whether an individual should reasonably expect their actions or property to be private.

HIPAA

A law protecting the privacy of an individual's health information, prohibiting doctors from disclosing it without permission.

FERPA

A law that protects the privacy of student records, preventing the disclosure of grades to anyone other than the student and the registrar.

Civil Liberty

Legal protections predicated on the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, focusing on the procedure government must follow to take away life, liberty, or property.

Civil Rights

Legal protections based on the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause, focusing on preventing discrimination under the law.

Strict Scrutiny

The standard of judicial review applied to discrimination involving race, religion, or creed, which requires the government to show a compelling interest.

Intermediate Scrutiny

The standard of judicial review applied to physiological categories like gender, age, and handicap, requiring the government to show an important reason.

Rational Basis

The standard of judicial review applied to all other classes of people not covered by strict or intermediate scrutiny, requiring only a rational reason for the discrimination.

Electoral College Calculation

A state's total electoral votes are determined by adding their number of House members to their two Senate members ($House + Senate = Electoral College Votes$).

$$538$$

The total number of electoral college votes altogether, representing $100$ Senators, $435$ House members, and $3$ votes for Washington D.C.

$$270$$

The simple majority of electoral college votes required to win the presidency of the United States.

Spirit

The specific airline mentioned in the transcript as having recently gone bankrupt.

White House Correspondence Dinner

The event noted in the current events portion where an unsuccessful attempt on the president and officials was mentioned as a test scenario.