Civil Rights and Constitutionalism
Civil Rights: Foundations, Dynamics & Change
Key Definitions & Distinctions
Civil Rights: Government‐guaranteed entitlements to equal protection, regardless of race, sex, religion, ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, etc.
Require government action to uphold.
Civil Liberties: Freedoms from government interference (speech, press, religion, etc.).
Positive vs. Negative Rights
Positive: Government must provide/act (e.g., education, healthcare).
Negative: Government must refrain from action (e.g., no censorship).
Constitutionalism: The doctrine that government legitimacy depends on adherence to constitutional limits and rule of law.
7.1 Civil Rights & Constitutionalism
Constitutions vary globally in the quantity & type of rights (Comparative Constitutions Project: from 2 rights in Brunei/Thailand to \approx 90 in Portugal/Serbia/Ecuador).
Voting (Suffrage) as a Core Right
US expanded via Amendments: 15th (race), 19th (gender), 26th (age 18).
Voting age even lower elsewhere (Austria, Brazil: 16 yrs).
Ongoing voter‐suppression tactics (ID, purges, limited early voting).
Examples of Constitutional Variation
India bans caste discrimination; protects language rights.
Mauritania recognises 4 national languages; mandates gender parity.
North Macedonia lists prohibited discrimination categories.
International Frameworks
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) – 30 articles (e.g., Art 4 slavery ban, Art 21 political participation).
Human Freedom Index (Cato): New Zealand highest, Syria lowest (2020).
7.2 Political Culture & Majority–Minority Relations
Political Culture: History + geography + religion + conflict ⇒ nation-specific norms affecting rights.
Majoritarianism: Majority wields power; minorities rely on institutions/allies for protection.
Disability Rights Examples
Zimbabwe constitution explicitly outlaws disability discrimination.
US lacks explicit constitutional text; relies on statutes: Rehabilitation Act (1973), ADA (1990).
Case Study – Qatar
Criminalises homosexuality; tensions with FIFA 2022 hosting.
Path to Change: Cultural shifts via movements + legal action (e.g., US same‐sex marriage from 1993 Hawai‘i ruling to 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges).
Attitude data: support for same‐sex marriage <40\% (2004) → >60\% (2019).
7.3 Civil Rights Abuses
Mechanisms of Oppression: Disenfranchisement, segregation, violence, forced labour, denial of adoption, etc.
LGBTQ+ Discrimination
Same-sex adoption legal in only \approx16\% of countries (32 of 193; 2019 map).
Voter Suppression in US
Post‐Shelby County v. Holder (2013): States enact ID laws, cut early voting.
2021: 19 states, 34 laws restricting access.
Religious/Ethnic Exclusion
Sri Lanka constitution gives Buddhism “foremost place.”
Bhutan’s policies expelled Lhotshampa Hindus → refugee crisis.
Native American Injustices
>1.5 billion acres seized (1776-1887); 374 broken treaties.
Boarding-school era (1860-1978) erased languages/culture.
Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women crisis (homicide 3rd-leading cause for AI/AN females 12-30).
Japanese American Internment (1942-45)
120 000 displaced; upheld in Korematsu v. US (1944). Formal apology + 20 000 reparations per survivor (1988-90).
Modern Slavery
ILO 2016: 40.3 million enslaved, 15.4 million forced marriages.
Only 7 countries have anti-slavery supply-chain laws.
Nobel Peace 2018: Nadia Murad, Dr Mukwege – spotlight on sexual enslavement.
Three-Fifths Compromise legacy: representation distortion; nullified by 13th Amend. Census counts “persons,” not citizens.
7.4 Civil Rights Movements
Civil Disobedience (Thoreau 1848) → inspired Gandhi, MLK.
Historical Catalysts
1892 Plessy challenge → “separate but equal.”
1953 Baton Rouge bus boycott; 1955 Montgomery; 1963 March on Washington.
Legislative wins: Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965).
Velvet Revolution (1989 Czechoslovakia) – non-violent student protests toppled communist rule.
Arab Spring (2010-12) – sparked by Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolation; leaders resigned in 4 states.
Black Lives Matter (2013-)
Mission: dismantle white supremacy, end state violence.
2020 protests: est. 15–26 million participants (largest US movement).
Mainstreamed term “structural racism.”
Me Too (2006 coined; 2017 viral)
Global sharing of sexual-harassment stories; reforms in NDAs, legal aid, workplace policies.
Ongoing struggle in India, elsewhere.
7.5 Governmental Paths to Change
Institutional Racism: Entrenched discriminatory practices within branches.
Intersectionality (Crenshaw): Overlapping identities create compounded discrimination.
Legislative/Judicial Tools
Public Interest Litigation (India): any citizen can petition higher courts directly.
Paralegal programs (Sierra Leone, Malawi) to bridge “justice gap” (1.5 billion lack access).
Historic missteps: Dred Scott (1857) denied citizenship; One-drop rule, anti-miscegenation until Loving v. Virginia (1967).
14th Amendment introduced birthright citizenship + Equal Protection Clause.
Executive Power
Formal: executive orders, signing statements.
Informal: symbolism, appointments (e.g., VP Biden 2012 marriage-equality stance; PM Ana Brnabić Serbia’s 1st openly gay head of govt; Canada GG Mary Simon, Indigenous).
Executive apologies + reparations (e.g., Japanese American internment, 1988).
Interest Groups, Parties & Elections (Introductory Overlap w/ Ch 8)
Interest Groups
Definition: Organized bodies seeking to inkuence policy.
Types
Economic (business, labor, agricultural, professional): e.g., US Chamber of Commerce, SEIU, Irish Farmers Association, AMA.
Noneconomic (public interest, single-issue, civil-rights, ideological): e.g., Greenpeace, Trust for Public Land, NRA, NAACP, Democratic Socialists.
(Demographic group is not a type of interest group)
Formation Theories
Pluralist: collective action for diverse interests.
Disturbance: external changes spur creation.
Transaction: elite exchange; free-rider obstacle (Olson).
Lobbying Modalities
Inside: direct contact, testimony, drafting bills.
Outside (grass-roots): mobilise public, protests, social media.
Judicial: amicus briefs, litigation (e.g., Sierra Club v. Trump).
Campaign Finance
PACs: \le 5\,000 per candidate; disclose donors.
Super PACs: unlimited ; no coordination; >\$2\text{ billion} spent 2020; dark money concerns.
Regulation: Honest Leadership & Open Government Act (2007); Biden 2021 executive order – 2-year revolving-door ban.
Political Parties (Preview)
Purpose: organise ideology, recruit & elect candidates, mobilise voters, fundraise (2 billion each party in 2020 US cycle).
US two-party vs. UK multiparty vs. China single-party.
Party decline: rise of candidate-centred campaigns (Ross Perot, Donald Trump), global trend of falling membership & populism.
Elections (Preview)
Elections = formal choice mechanism; enable popular sovereignty.
Issues: adverse selection (information asymmetry), moral hazard (post-election behaviour), voter suppression.
US turnout 52–66 % (OECD rank 30/35); barriers: registration, weekday voting, voter fatigue.
\boxed{\text{Civil rights progress = Constitutional guarantees }+\text{ cultural change }+\text{ institutional enforcement}}
Key Terms
adverse selection
the concept, borrowed from economic theory, that voters cannot fully educate themselves on everything they must vote on and that this information asymmetry can often benefit the candidate or issue group that controls the distribution of information
agricultural groups
economic interest groups that work on behalf of agricultural interests
ballot initiative
a mechanism by which voters can directly introduce pieces of legislation and vote to enact them
business group
an economic interest group that works on behalf of business interests
candidate-centered campaign
the idea that the declining influence of political parties and their decreased ability to mobilize voters’ opinions and actions has set voters politically adrift and that candidates themselves have stepped in to fill the power vacuum
civil rights groups
noneconomic interest groups that work to promote and defend the civil rights of a particular group
collective goods
goods or services that all members of a group can share
congressional district method
a method of allocating electoral votes, used in Maine and Nebraska, where the winner of each congressional district is awarded one electoral vote and the winner of the statewide vote is awarded the state’s two remaining electoral votes
dark money
money received by super PACs from shell corporations or donors who do not disclose their identities
direct democracy
a democratic system in which citizens make direct policy choices rather than leaving them to elected officials
disturbance theory
a political theory that suggests that interest groups form in response to the changing complexity of government and society
economic bias
a system in which interests that may be very narrow or seemingly obscure enjoy considerable influence the more socially, monetarily, or institutionally resourced they are
economic groups
interest groups that focus on economic issues such as wages, industry protections, job creation, and profit maximization
Election Day holiday
where voting day is a national holiday or voters vote on a weekend
elections
formal group decision-making processes that elect individuals to public office or, in certain states and countries, allow citizens to select among policy preferences
Electoral College
the system of electors, based on the total number of United States Senators, House members, and electors from Washington, DC, by which the president of the United States is chosen
electoral districts
in the United States, districts of roughly equal population size in which Americans vote
eligible voters
those United States citizens who are aged 18 and older and meet state residency requirements and rules for voting
factionalism
when groups of individuals work collectively to promote a narrow, shared interest, possibly at the expense of the majority
free rider problem
the phenomenon that occurs when individual members of an interest group benefit from the group’s activities even if they do not personally participate
golden parachutes
exit bonuses that reward executives leaving private companies upon entering federal government positions
grassroots lobbying
lobbying that involves groups utilizing public pressure to force governmental action; also called outside lobbying or indirect lobbying
ideological group
a noneconomic interest group that focuses on promoting interests that align with a particular ideology
indirect lobbying
lobbying that involves groups utilizing public pressure to force governmental action; also called outside lobbying or grassroots lobbying
inside lobbying
lobbying in which interest groups cultivate contacts and relationships within government in order to seek to influence a political outcome
interest group
a group of people who organize in order to seek to influence a political outcome
interest group liberalism
the theory that officials respond to well-organized groups not because they are good for society, but because well-organized interests simply do a better job of demanding governmental action
labor groups
economic interest groups that work on behalf of workers’ interests
lobbying
the attempt by a group to influence a political outcome
majority rule
a system in which candidates for statewide office must win at least 50 percent of the vote to win an election
moral hazard
the risk a voter takes that a chosen candidate may not, once elected, act in the way the voter hopes
multiparty system
a system of government where multiple political parties take part in national elections
noneconomic groups
interest groups that work to advance noneconomic issues such as the environment or education
outside lobbying
lobbying that rallies public support in order to pressure political actors to consider a cause; also known as indirect or grassroots lobbying
patronage
the act of hiring or using state resources in a partisan manner in order to reward political support
pluralist theory
a political theory that posits that multiple and diverse interests compete for attention and resources and that political power is distributed among these various interests
plurality rule
an election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins an election
political action committee (PAC)
an interest group’s official fundraising arm
political parties
groups that organize around a shared political ideology, with the primary goal of electing party members to positions in government
populism
the appeal on the part of public leaders to the belief of ordinary people that established elite groups disregard their concerns
professional groups
economic interest groups that work in the interests of a particular profession
proportional representation
an electoral system in which votes cast by the electorate are reflected by the same proportions within the governing body
public interest group
a group that benefits a narrow constituency or policy issue (such as the American Association of Retired People) and works to achieve benefits for the larger population, not just for their own members
recall
an election in which voters decide whether or not to end the term of an elected official
referendum
an election in which voters decide whether to overturn existing law or policy
registered voters
voters who have fulfilled the necessary requirements set by the government in order to be able to cast a vote
single-issue groups
groups that focus their work on a single issue in order to acquire or maintain benefits for their members (for example, the National Rifle Association)
single-party system
an electoral system where one party makes up the government
snap election
in Britain, an election the prime minister can call at any time
social capital
relationships forged in political and other social networks, resulting from citizen mobilization, that help citizens resolve collective problems
super PACs
independent political action committees that can raise unlimited funds in order to campaign for candidates but are barred from directly coordinating with either candidates or parties
transaction theory
a political theory, espoused by Robert H. Salisbury, that argues that political actors are not influenced by groups that have mobilized to enact change so much as they are responding to the interests of narrowly focused elites, and that the relationship between interest groups and government is that of an exchange
two-party system
an electoral system where two main parties control power in government
vote of no confidence
a way for a legislative body to indicate that they no longer support the leader of the government (such as a prime minister) and their cabinet
voter fatigue
a phenomenon in which the demands of multiple elections leave voters feeling apathetic or disengaged
voter registration requirements
a set of conditions voters must meet and be able to prove in order to be eligible to vote
voter suppression
a strategy or in some instances local laws that work to prohibit certain groups from voting
voter turnout
the number of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election
voting eligible population (VEP)
the population that is eligible to vote, regardless of registration status, not including persons that are not eligible to vote, such as noncitizens and, in certain US states, convicted felons
Review Questions
What is the definition of an interest group?
A group of people who work to get a candidate elected from a certain party
A group of people who work to influence policy and support candidates regardless of party
A group of bipartisan voters
None of the above
Which of the following is not a type of interest group?
Economic groups
Labor groups
Civil rights groups
Demographic groups
What do pluralist theory, transaction theory, and disturbance theory all have in common?
They explain why candidates need interest groups.
They explain why interest groups are no longer important in politics.
They explain how interest groups are formed.
They explain whether and how interest groups hurt politics.
Which of these is an advantage of interest groups?
They argue against substantive policy change.
They allow people with strong opinions on relevant issues to try to affect policy.
They increase the amount of dark money in politics.
None of the above
Which of these is a disadvantage of interest groups?
Interest groups represent multiple viewpoints about how people want government to act.
Interest groups raise money for candidates so that their policies can be implemented.
Interest group activity can lead to a minority rather than a majority being heard in government.
Interest groups play no role in government.
Which of these activities are examples of the ways in which interest groups influence government?
Inside lobbying, outside lobbying, and ballot initiatives
Inside lobbying, outside funding, and electoral reform
Outside lobbying, log-rolling, and vote counting
Outside lobbying, electoral reform, and vote counting
Which of these does not describe a political party?
A group that forms based on a political ideology
A group that forms to make sure as many members of their own party get elected as possible
A group that forms to influence policy outcomes in government
A non-partisan group that forms to educate voters
Which combination of activities do political parties engage in?
Printing ballots, drawing district lines, and recruiting candidates
Fundraising, recruiting candidates, and registering voters
Registering voters, purging registration rolls, and counting ballots
Recruiting candidates, discouraging incumbents from running, and creating polls
Which of these is an example of a current party system?
Multiparty system
Single-party system
Two-party system
All of the above
Which of these trends best illustrates the declining influence of political parties?
The rise of the media
The rise of fundraising demands
The rise of candidate-centered campaigns
The rise of liberal candidates
Which of these is the best example of a current weakness of the US party system?
The inability to mobilize voters’ opinions
The inability to raise enough money
The inability to garner media attention
The inability to differentiate the major parties
Party decline around the world can be seen through:
Economic factors such as deindustrialization
Rise of communication technologies
Decline of class as a factor in political mobilization
All of the above
Which of the following does not describe an election?
A time when people vote for who they want to hold office
A formal decision-making process involving a group of voters
A way in which groups try to achieve formal goals
A tool parties use to guarantee the status quo
Why are elections important for a democracy?
They allow members of society to express opinions and preferences to elected officials.
They allow candidates to raise and spend money to get elected.
They are important for the media to report on.
They distract the public.
What do adverse selection, moral hazard, and voter suppression have in common when it comes to elections?
They show how important elections are to parties.
They explain the weaknesses of ballot initiatives.
They illustrate some problems of elections in general.
They speak to the growing concerns around fundraising in elections.
Which of these groups is most likely to vote in an election?
A group of minorities who have frequent elections
Nonminority males with higher incomes
People who have not yet registered to vote
None of these groups are likely to vote
In the United States, national elections do not involve:
Electoral districts
The Electoral College
Plurality or majority rule
Ranked-choice voting
Around the world, elections:
Look very different from those in the United States
Look exactly like elections in the United States
Are always held on the same day
Are only held in democracies
In the United States, elections are mostly regulated by:
The federal government
Cities and localities
State governments
A nonpartisan, nongovernmental body
Which of the following characterizes elections in Britain?
Snap elections
Brief election periods
Non-fixed election dates
All of the above
Which of the following is a reason to make voter registration more difficult?
Make elections less expensive to run
Shape who is able to vote to gain political advantage
Make it easier for people to vote
Decrease election fraud
Which of the following is an example of political participation outside of voting? Check all that apply.
Ignoring a political ad
Attending a protest
Participating in a riot
Donating to a candidate