AP Government

advice and consent

The power of the United States Senate to be consulted on and approve of treaties signed and appointments made by the President

Bill of Rights

The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution

checks and balances

Ways in which the three parts of government can limit each other

natural law

Philosophy that all humans have certain rights that cannot be taken away

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag on the grounds that such action was a part of free speech and was protected by the First Amendment

Tenth Amendment

Granted any powers not specifically enumerated to the federal government to be "reserved" to the states

Americans with Disabilities Act

Congressional mandate requiring states to make public sector buildings and transportation systems accessible for the disabled

suffrage (franchise)

The right to vote in elections

15th amendment

Gave African-Americans right to vote

literacy test

An exam under the pretense of seeing of one could read in order to intelligently vote…in reality a way to stifle African-American voting

poll tax

A charge in order to vote…outlawed via the 24th Amendment

grandfather clause

Exempted white voters from literacy tests and poll taxes if your grandfather could vote

all white primary

Method to keep African-Americans from voting by not allowing them to vote in primary elections

Civil Rights Act (1957)

Addressed issues with discrimination with regards to African-Americans voter registration

24th Amendment

Outlawed poll taxes

preclearance

If states try to create a new loophole to voting, the federal government could intervene and stop the loophole

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote

23rd Amendment

Gave Washington D.C. citizens the right to vote in presidential elections

26th Amendment

18-20 year olds are legally allowed to vote

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Congressional act that banned literacy tests, addressed racial gerrymandering, allowed federal voter registration to a substantial increase in African-American voting

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Campaign spending by unions and corporations is a protected form of speech--This case started SuperPACs.

Seventeenth Amendment

Empowered citizens to elect their U.S. senators directly as opposed to them being appointed by state legislators

Sixteenth Amendment

Allows for Congress to impose an income tax

Thirteenth Amendment

Outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States

Twenty-sixth Amendment

Grants 18-20 year olds the right to vote in the United States

free press

When newspapers, magazines and television and radio stations are able to express any opinions they want, even if these criticize the government and other organizations

New York Times v. United States (1971)

President Nixon's administration's attempts to stop the New York Times and Washington Post for publishing the Pentagon Papers. The case pitted the rights of the newspapers under the First Amendment against the duty of the Executive Branch to protect the nation during the Nixon administration

Pentagon Papers

A classified study of the Vietnam War that was carried out by the Department of Defense. An official of the department, Daniel Ellsberg, gave copies of the study in 1971 to the New York Times and Washington Post. The Supreme Court upheld the right of the newspapers to publish the documents. In response, President Richard Nixon ordered some members of his staff, afterward called the "plumbers," to stop such "leaks" of information. The "plumbers," among other activities, broke into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist, looking for damaging information on him. Undercut public trust in the federal government

prior restraint

A government preventing material from being published. This is a common method of limiting the press in some nations, but it is usually unconstitutional in the United States, according to the First Amendment and as confirmed in the 1931 Supreme Court case of Near v. Minnesota.

Seventeenth Amendment

Established the popular election of United States senators by the people of the states. Prior to its passage senators were elected by state legislatures

Twenty-Seventh Amendment

No pay increase for members of Congress is permitted until the next election of Congress is conducted

12th Amendment

Each elector gets one vote for and one vote for vice president

20th Amendment

Moved inauguration date to January 20 from March 4

22nd Amendment

Prevents any president from serving more than 2 terms

23rd Amendment

Allowed for presidential electors for D.C.

25th Amendment

An amendment to the Constitution adopted in 1967 that establishes procedures for filling vacancies in the two top executive offices and that makes provisions for situations involving presidential disability.

United States v. Nixon (1974)

Ruled executive privilege unconstitutional except in cases of secret foreign and military affairs.

Dred Scott v. Stanford

Supreme Court case in which it was ruled that black slaves were not citizens of the United States and could not claim any rights or privileges granted to white citizens

in forma pauperis

a petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by an indigent person; the $300 filing fee is waived for such petitions

judicial activism

the tendency of judges to interpret the Constitution according to their own views; often appears with loose constructionism

judicial review

allows the Supreme Court to declare a law or act unconstitutional after the fact; established in Marbury v. Madison

judicial self-restraint

judges should confine themselves to applying rules clearly stated in the Constitution; often appears with strict constructionism

Marshall, John

created the precedent of judicial review; many of his decisions gave the federal government more power

persuasive precedent

precedent which a judge is not obliged to follow, but is of importance in reaching a judgment

petition for certiorari

A formal request by one or more parties in a legal case for a the Supreme Court to grant a writ of certiorari, or to agree to hear the appeal

precedent

A decision in a previous court case that is used as the basis for a decision in a similar case.

Roberts, John

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Warren, Earl

Chief Justice during the 1950's and 1960's who used a loose interpretation of the Constitution to expand rights for both African-Americans and those accused of crimes.

affirmative action

designed to correct the effects of past discrimination; requirement by law that positive steps be taken to increase the number of minorities in business, schools, colleges, and labor

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)

Supreme Court decision which declared school segregation to be unconstitutional.

Civil Rights Act (1875)

prohibited discrimination against blacks in public places and on public transportation; declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court

Civil RIghts Act (1964)

This act made racial, religious, and sex discrimination by employers illegal and gave the government the power to enforce all laws governing civil rights, including desegregation of schools and public places.

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

The Court held that Congress lacked the constitutional authority under the enforcement provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals and organizations, rather than state and local governments.

de facto segregation

segregation "by fact", segregation that results from factors like housing patterns rather than law.

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

the word "marriage" means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. Deemed unconstitutional in U.S. v. Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

de jure segregation

segregation by law, segregation that is required by government

disenfranchise

to take away the right to vote by law or intimidation

"don't ask, don't tell"

Policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. Repealed in 2011.

Equal Pay Act (1963)

An amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act, this act requires equal pay for men and women doing equal work.

equal protection clause

A clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny equal protection of the laws to any individual within its jurisdiction

Equal Rights Amendment

A constitutional amendment originally introduced in Congress in 1923 and passed by Congress in 1972, stating that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." Despite public support, the amendment failed to acquire the necessary support from three-fourths of the state legislatures.

Fifteenth Amendment

prohibited voting restrictions based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude (slavery)

Fourteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil War that states, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; not deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964)

A landmark United States Supreme Court case holding that the U.S. Congress could use the power granted to it by the Constitution's Commerce Clause to force private businesses to abide by the Civil Rights Act of 1964

heightened scrutiny test

Supreme Court test to see if a law denies equal protection because it doesn't serve a compelling state interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that goal.

Jim Crow laws

laws enacted by southern states that discriminated against blacks by creating "whites only" schools, theaters, hotels, and other public accommodations

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

The Supreme Court struck down anti-sodomy laws in various states thus making same-sex activity legal nationwide.

literacy test

an arbitrary test used to prevent black citizens from registering to vote

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

An interest group representing the issues of racial equality, drawing most of its influence from litigation

National Organization for Women (NOW)

An interest group representing the issues of gender equality, drawing most of its influence from action-prompted litigation.

Nineteenth Amendment

prohibited voting restrictions based on gender

poll taxes

required payment for voting used to disenfranchise black citizens

preclearance

mandated by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the prior approval by the Justice Department of changes to or new election laws by certain states

quotas

established limits by governments on the number of immigrants who can enter a country each year

reasonableness standard

When the government treats some classes of people differently from others, the different treatment must be reasonable and not arbitrary

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

Supreme Court decision that upheld affirmative action in that race can be a contributing factor for university admissions. However, "set-asides" or quotas are not allowed…meaning specific spots can not be set-aside for prospective students of a particular gender or racial/ethnic group.

"separate but equal"

Principle upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public facilities was legal.

strict scrutiny

a Supreme Court test to see if a law denies equal protection because it does not serve a compelling state interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that goal

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolition of Slavery

Title IX

Prohibited gender discrimination in federally subsidized education programs. Largely responsible for the prevalence of female sports at the college and high school level today.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

outlawed the use of poll taxes at any level of government

Voting Rights Act (1965)

federal law that increased government supervision of local election practices, suspended the use of literacy tests to prevent people (usually African Americans) from voting, and expanded government efforts to register voters.

white flight

the movement of whites out of urban centers to the suburbs.

white primary

practice of keeping black citizens from voting in southern states' primaries through the arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation

clear and present danger test

A test established by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in 1919 to define the point at which speech loses the protection of the First Amendment.

due process

14th amendment clause stating that no state may deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law

establishment clause

the First Amendment guarantee that the government will not create and support an official state church

exclusionary rule

a rule that provides that otherwise admissible evidence cannot be used in a criminal trial if it was the result of illegal police conduct

Fifth Amendment

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

free exercise clause

the First Amendment guarantee that citizens may freely engage in the religious activities of their choice

libel

a tort consisting of false and malicious publication printed for the purpose of defaming a living person

obscene speech

Quality or state of a work that taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex by depicting sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

prior restraint

A government preventing material from being published. This is a common method of limiting the press in some nations, but it is usually unconstitutional in the United States, according to the First Amendment and as confirmed in the 1931 Supreme Court case of Near v. Minnesota.

procedural due process

Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power.

right to privacy

right to be free of unsanctioned intrusion

search and seizure

obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner, a practice prohibited by the 4th amendment; probable cause and a search warrant are required for this to be legal

selective incorporation

The process by which provisions of the Bill of Rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments

substantive due process

Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; limits what a government may do.

symbolic speech

nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the first amendment.

wall of separation

An interpretation of the establishment clause embraced by the Supreme Court that allows no government involvement with religion, even on a non preferential basis.