gov final exam review

Civil Liberties

Protections from government power; freedoms the government cannot take away.

Incorporation

The method by which the Supreme Court applies the Bill of Rights to the states.

Barron v. Baltimore

Established that the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government.

14th Amendment

Includes the due process clause and equal protection clause.

Due Process

A legal procedure that must be followed.

Equal Protection Clause

States must apply equal protection under the law.

Areas of Incorporation

Includes freedom of speech, press, religion, rights of the accused, and right to privacy.

Civil Rights vs. Civil Liberties

Civil rights protect against government power; civil liberties protect from government power.

Schenck v. United States

Established that threatening speech is not protected by the government.

Brandenburg v. Ohio

Protected free speech for the KKK.

Texas v. Johnson

Protected flag burning as free speech.

Roth v. United States

Established the standard for obscenity.

Near v. Minnesota

Addressed government censorship of the press.

New York Times v. Sullivan

Public figures largely forfeit their right to sue for libel and slander.

Establishment Clause

Congress must not establish a particular religion.

Lemon Test

Three rules to determine if a law violates the Establishment Clause.

Free Exercise Clause

The government cannot interfere with your right to practice religion.

Mapp v. Ohio

Established the exclusionary rule regarding illegal searches.

Miranda v. Arizona

Established Miranda rights for arrested individuals.

Gideon v. Wainwright

Established the right to counsel for defendants.

8th Amendment

Prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

Right to Privacy

No explicit right to privacy in the Constitution; asserted through penumbras.

Roe v. Wade

Established women's rights to have abortions.

Dobbs v. Jackson

Overturned Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 vote.

Lawrence v. Texas

Addressed sodomy laws and sexual freedom.

D.C. v. Heller

Established the individual right to bear arms.

Watchdog

The role of the media in scrutinizing the actions of government officials.

Media consolidation

The process of a small number of companies coming to own an increasingly large share of media outlets by purchasing or merging with others.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Federal agency set up to regulate media companies with an eye toward ensuring competition and protecting consumers.

Wire services

Organizations (such as the Associated Press and Reuters) that gather and distribute news to other news organizations.

Infotainment

The merging of hard news and entertainment in news presentations.

Pundits

Individuals who offer commentary on political news.

Beat

The assigned location where a reporter regularly gathers news stories.

Leak

Inside or secret information given to a journalist or media outlet by a government official.

Self-selection

People's tendency to consume news from sources that fit with their existing political preferences.

Agenda setting

The way media outlets can affect people's opinions about which issues are important.

Priming

The way heavy media coverage of a particular topic can lead citizens to give greater weight to that topic when evaluating politicians and making political judgments.

Framing effects

The way news organizations can affect how people think about an issue by presenting it in a particular way or in a particular context.

Bias

Deviation from ideal standards such as representativeness or objectivity.

Hard news

Reporting focused on presenting factual, unbiased information about important political issues.

Editorial content

News content where the person producing the content presents their personal views or interpretation of a political matter.

Objective journalism

News reported with no evaluative language and with opinions quoted or attributed to a specific source.

Confirmation bias

Tendency to seek out information that confirms one's existing beliefs and to view confirming information as more credible.

Misinformation

Reports that unintentionally include false information.

Disinformation

False information that is intentionally spread, often with the goal of damaging a person or group's reputation.

Echo chamber

Media environment that supports a person's existing beliefs and excludes alternative perspectives.

Civil liberties

Freedoms found primarily in the Bill of Rights, whose enjoyment is protected from government interference.

Bill of attainder

A law that declares a person or group guilty of a crime or punishes them without a trial.

Ex post facto law

A law that retroactively declares some action illegal.

Privileges and immunities clause

Part of the Fourteenth Amendment saying that states may not make laws that abridge the rights granted to people as U.S. citizens.

Selective incorporation

The gradual and piecemeal spread of the protections of the Bill of Rights to the states by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Imminent lawless action test

Supreme Court standard stating that government may prohibit speech only if it is likely to lead directly and immediately to lawbreaking.

Prior restraint

Government action blocking the publication or broadcast of materials (rather than punishing publication afterward).

Free exercise clause

First Amendment clause prohibiting Congress from interfering with religious observance or beliefs.

Establishment clause

First Amendment clause that bars Congress from establishing an official religion; basis for separation of church and state.

Probable cause

Reasonable belief that a crime has been committed.

Exclusionary rule

Supreme Court rule preventing evidence obtained through an illegal search from being used in court.

Capital crime

Any crime for which the death penalty is possible.

Original intent

Doctrine stating that courts must interpret the Constitution according to the framers' intentions rather than contemporary needs.