Chapter 5 Vocabulary

Question 1

Equal Rights/Civil Rights

Answer 1

The right of every person to equal protection under the laws and equal access to society’s opportunities and public affairs.

Question 2

Equal-Protection Clause

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Reasonable-Basis Test

Answer 3

A test applied by the courts to laws that treat individuals unequally. Such a law may be deemed constitutional if its purpose is held to be “reasonably” related to a legitimate government interest.

Question 4

Strict-Scrutiny Test

Answer 4

A test applied by courts to laws that attempt a racial or ethnic classification. In effect, the strict-scrutiny test eliminates race or ethnicity as a legal classification when it places minority-group members at a disadvantage.

Question 5

Suspect Classifications

Answer 5

Legal classifications, such as race and national origin, that have invidious discrimination as their purpose and therefore are unconstitutional.

Question 6

Affirmative Action

Answer 6

Refers to programs designed to ensure that women, minorities, and other traditionally disadvantaged groups have full and equal opportunities in employment, education, and other areas of life.

Question 7

De Jure Discrimination

Answer 7

Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, ethnicity, and the like that results from a law.

Question 8

De Facto Discrimination

Answer 8

Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, ethnicity, and the like that results from social, economic, and cultural biases and conditions.