Ap gov unit 1 vocab (packet 2)

Free Press

Principle that a person or organization has the right to create and disseminate (publish) information without government interference, restraints on the right.

Prior restraint

Action taken by the government to prevent the press from publishing information the government does not want to have disseminated. The press is thus “silenced” by the government through various means that could include police actions (arrests), closing offices, court actions, various other actions take PRIOR to the target story being published.

Injunction

Court order to force a group or person to stop an action because of the harm that could happen.

Inherent power

Power that naturally exists, and does not need to explicitly granted by a law or Constitution.

Bill of rights

Critics of the Constitution feared the stronger national government would abuse its power without more restrictions. This was added to the Constitution to restrict the power of the national government. (First 10 amendments to the constitution)

Slander

Spoken defamation of character. Not 100% protected by the first amendment, however hard to prove in court of law.

Libel

Published defamation of character. Not 100% protected by the first amendment, can be proven in a court of law because of the evidence of the publication.

Woodward and Bernstein

Two reporters for the Washington Post newspaper whose investigative journalism during the Watergate Scandal in the 1970s was seen as instrumental in ensuring the courts, the Congress acted to investigate the scandal which eventually lead to the resignation of President Nixon.

Watchdog journalism

Principle in journalism that it is the job of the press to be the witness for the people and inform the people of actions taken by the government, ensuring the people are informed or allegations or abuse of power, corruption, lies, ineptness, etc.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Regulates broadcast frequencies for television and radio stations. FCC grants licenses to stations to use certain frequencies for their broadcasts.

Conglomerates

Type of business organization where one large company owns many smaller companies. These are formed via mergers with other companies.

Leviathan

Written by Hobbes to explain and justify the system of absolute monarchy in England. In the work he develops the ideas of social contract theory and the state of nature, which provide the context for the establishment of a man-made government with absolute power in one person

“Two treatises on govt”

Written by John Locke during the Glorious Revolution of 1680s to justify and support the creation of limited monarchy created by Parliament in 1689 with Parliament disposing of King James the II and inviting King William and Queen Mary to become the monarchs if they sign the English Bill of Rights that Parliament had created that protects the liberties and rights of Parliament and Protestants in England.

Common sense (T. Paine)

Pamphlet written in January of 1776 that promoted the idea of the American colonies separating from England. Much of the logic and reasoning of the Paine is centered on how a republican form of government is better at representing and protecting the people than an unelected hereditary monarch.

Virginia declaration of rights (George Mason)

Adopted by the state of Virginia a month before the Declaration of Independence. Created a new government of VA, declared the separation of VA from England and explained how people have inherent rights and governments are formed to promote the safety and happiness of the people.

Civil rights

The rights a person has in a civil society. These rights are often written into constitutions or created by laws.

civil liberties

The liberties a person has in a civil society that should not be imposed upon arbitrarily by the government without due process and consent of the governed.

Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom

Law passed by Virginia Legislature in 1786, authored by Thomas Jefferson and supported by James Madison that stated that the civil rights and liberties of Virginians would not be affected negatively or positively because of their religious beliefs or non-beliefs, and that it would be illegal for the state government to pass any laws that used religion as a basis to extend of deny civil rights to anyone.

Reed V Reed

Supreme Court decision (1971). It was the first time the Supreme Court interpreted the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment as protecting people from sex discrimination by state governments. Prior to the ruling equal protection clause cases dealing with state policies always concerned race or color.

Plessy v Ferguson

A Supreme Court decision in 1896 that decided that state laws that legally segregate the races in public do not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

Wisconsin v Yoder (1972)

Supreme Court decision that dealt with state mandatory school attendance policies and the 1st amendment’s free exercise clause. The court ruled that compulsory education laws were constitutional under the reserve powers of the state, however they may not infringe on the free exercise rights of a minority religious community.

Preamble to the constitution

Introduction of the Constitution that is used by many as the source of power for the Constitution being from the people.

Due process clause of the 5th Amendment

Amendment limits the Congress from passing a law that denies “due process rights” to a person. According to the 5th amendment no person can be deprive of due process, and no person can lose their life, liberty of property without first going through a legal process that is due to them. (ie jury trial, assistance of an attorney, etc)