AP US Government and Politics Unit III Vocabulary Terms

Civil Liberties

Fundamental rights and freedoms protected from infringement by the government.

Civil Rights

Protections from discrimination as a member of a particular group.

Bill of Rights

A list of fundamental rights and freedoms that individuals possess. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are referred to as the Bill of Rights.

Judicial Review

Power of the SCOTUS to invalidate laws or actions by the legislative and executive branches that they find to contravene the Constitution.

Selective Incorporation

The process through which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights to the states on a case-by-case basis.

Establishment Clause

First Amendment protection against the government requiring citizens to join or support a religion.

Free Exercise Clause

First Amendment protection of the rights of individuals to exercise and express their religious beliefs.

Symbolic Speech

Protected expression in the form of images, signs, and other symbols.

Clear and present danger test

Legal standard that speech posing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected by the First Amendment.

Due Process Clause

The clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that restricts state governments from denying their citizens their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards.

Miranda Rights

The right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning; these rights must be given by police to individuals in custody suspected of criminal activity.

Patriot Act

Allows US government to freely spy on the citizenry.

Exclusionary Rule

A rule that evidence obtained without a warrant is inadmissible in court.

Equal Protection Clause

A clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that requires the states to treat all citizens alike with regard to application of the laws.

National Organization for Women

An interest group that lobbies for gender equality in the United States.

Civil Rights Act 1964

Legislation outlawing racial segregation in schools and public places and authorizing the attorney general to sue individual school districts that failed to desegregate.

Voting Rights Act 1965

Legislation outlawing literacy tests and authorizing the Justice Department to send federal officers to register voters in uncooperative cities, counties, and states.

Title IX of the Education

Legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in schools receiving federal aid, which had the impact of increasing female participation in sports programs.

Amendments Act of 1972

Prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally-funded education programs or activities.

Separate but Equal

The doctrine that racial segregation was constitutional so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.