Comparative politics - Civil Rights Flashcards
How are rights protected?
Similarities:
- Both passed legislation to protect citizens’ rights, UK - Equality Act 2010, USA- Civil Rights Act 1964
Rule of law applies in both countries.
Differences:
- US Supreme Court has more power to protect civil rights than the UK, can strike down legislation that infringes citizens’ and can make landmark rulings on civil rights.
Effectiveness of protection of rights
Similarities:
- The Black Lives Matter campaign has shown the underlying racism in the US and the UK, shows there’s limited racial equality with their own constitution.
Differences:
- The entrenchment of civil liberties in the US means that their rights are more protected than UK’s flexible constitution. For the UK this means that civil rights have the danger of being taken away from citizens.
Brexit is removing the safety blanket for certain non-discrimination, migrant and labour rights formerly provided by EU law.
Role of pressure groups in protecting civil rights
Similarities:
- Civil liberty campaigns have highlighted illiberal measures taken by governments however in both countries campaigners haven’t prevented their government from using controversial methods to deal with terrorist suspects or immigrants, although they have likely helped to limit these.
- Similar campaign methods, like marches,rallies, lobbying ec.
Differences:
- Religious campaigns have had more influence in the USA, with Roe v Wade being overturned.
- Campaigners for women’s rights have been successful in the UK. Many US conservatives have opposed reforms including the Equal Rights Amendment. USA remains the only developed country not to give women any right to paid maternity leave.
- US campaigns use the courts and electioneering much more frequently than in the UK
- US pressure groups can spend far more on political campaigning than the UK, giving them more influence over elected representatives.
The role of the judiciary - similarity
The judiciary:
- There are key similarities between the two nations with regards to the protection of civil rights and liberties - the first is that the UK and the US due to a shared cultural history benefit from a society based on the rule of law and an independent judiciary - this has led to times when the judiciary in both nations have ruled against the government and on behalf of the citizens of the nation
- UK example - Miller v Secretary of State; the forcing of parliamentary approval for any Brexit deals (Article 50) and R v Secretary of State or prorogation of parliament
- US example - United States v Texas (2016) - Obama’s executive order giving millions of illegal immigrants an indefinite delay in deportation
The role of the legislatures - similarities
The legislatures:
- This is also seen in part due to both nations having key legislation that deals with the rights of citizens
- In the US this can be found in the Bill of Rights which is the first 10 amendments to the US constitution
- The UK’s version is much newer; the Human Rights Act (1998)
- A final similarity is the the UK Parliament and US Congress can both pass legislation to protect the rights of citizens
- UK - Same-Sex Marriage Act 2013/14, Race Relations Act 1976,
- US - The 14th Amendment - right to privacy, DREAM Act
The main differences
- The US has a stronger protection of civil liberties through a codified constitution and as such the Bill of Rights and further amendments are very difficult to challenge
- The only way to remove an amendment is through a purposefully difficult process, which was intentionally done to ensure citizens rights were protected
- The UK does not have its civil liberties and rights entrenched and the HRA can be easily amended or overridden by a new act of Parliament which a simple process
Differences between the judiciaries in protecting civil rights
- SCOTUS has a tradition and a role in striking down laws that are seen as unconstitutional and infringe on citizens rights:
- The UKSC has no such authority to strike down laws, and they can rule laws as incompatible with the HRA and refer back to parliament or its consideration but it clearly does not have the same power a the US court
- This is linked to the final difference the US Supreme Court has the ability to make rulings that in effect amend the constitution as the court interprets the constitution to account for modern society this can then in effect change a laws and this power is nit shared by the SUKsc the court’s decision can be readily overridden by parliament , due to the separation of powers in the US constitution this cannot be done easily in the US
Abortion - the differences between the UK and US
US -
- The SC case Roe v Wade (1973) was instrumental in allowing women to seek and get an abortion in the US
- Since then, the topic of abortion has been a political topic with the Republicans typically favouring limits or bans on abortion whereas Democrats favour pro-choice
- This is due to the religious nature of US society with just over half of American people seeing themselves as religious
- However SCOTUS have ensured state laws have been struck down i they are shown to be preventing abortions
UK -
- The UK allowed abortion in 1967 and since then there has been little issue on the topic with some MPs looking to limit abortion but the main political parties do not have the same chasm of political beliefs in the US - NI had abortion decriminalised in 2019
- Perhaps one issue that explains the difference is that UK society does not see itself as religious (30%) compared to the US
Less partisanship in the UK and more secularisation = more abortion rights
Abortion - the differences between the UK and US
US -
- The SC case Roe v Wade (1973) was instrumental in allowing women to seek and get an abortion in the US
- Since then, the topic of abortion has been a political topic with the Republicans typically favouring limits or bans on abortion whereas Democrats favour pro-choice
- This is due to the religious nature of US society with just over half of American people seeing themselves as religious
- However SCOTUS have ensured state laws have been struck down i they are shown to be preventing abortions
UK -
- The UK allowed abortion in 1967 and since then there has been little issue on the topic with some MPs looking to limit abortion but the main political parties do not have the same chasm of political beliefs in the US - NI had abortion decriminalised in 2019
- Perhaps one issue that explains the difference is that UK society does not see itself as religious (30%) compared to the US
Less partisanship in the UK and more secularisation = more abortion rights
Gun Rights - the difference between the UK and the US
US -
- 2nd amendment rights in the US are a constant news item in the political scene and are used in some cases and states to define political allegiance - a key issue with the 2nd amendment stems from a cultural history o fear of a big government taking rights away (revolutionary wars) and the expansion westward and a lack of protection
- Despite the high number of mass shootings including those in schools there has been little political appetite to impose any limits on guns despite most Americans supporting some kind of limits - this is due to the impact of lobbying from the NRA
UK -
- The UK following several shootings - Hungerford and Dunblane have imposed limits on guns with few political ramifications
- This is likely due to a lack of a codified constitution which means there is no right for a citizen to bear arms
- The only discussion in recent years has been over such things such as lead shot or the cost of medicals required for a gun license
Ethnic minorities - the difference between the UK and the US
US -
- Big debates over the treatment of ethnic minorities - stemmed from events such as 9/11 which saw a number of laws regarding the Muslim population such as Trump’s Muslim ban and times when Muslims have been arrested for questioning over terrorism
- The other issue has been that o immigration iwth a focus on Latino-Americans with the border wall and anti-immigration laws that have led to some viewing them as a targeting of ethnic minorities to ensure a white nationalism agenda
UK -
- Within the UK there have also been debates over how ethnic minorities have been treated
- To some extent, there is a similar focus with anti-terror legislation such as the Prevent agenda leading to some to question if it is anti-Muslim in nature as was the ‘detention without trial law’ that was stopped in 2004
- Within the UK, there has also been a debate over access ethnic minorities have in terms of larger roles in society with media, politics, business and other arenas
Immigrants - UK v US
US -
- In the US, there has been extensive debate over the DACA children (Dreamers) who are the children of illegal immigrants
- This was coupled with the Trump policy of separating children from their parents who were illegal immigrants and led to a public outcry following images of them being detained
- This is of course has been linked to the border wall debate and the nature of US society in taking in more immigrants
UK -
- The UK too has had debates over immigration, especially illegal, such as May’ Hostile Environment policy and the issue of the Windrush generation
- Other issues that have been featured in the UK have been about two different areas - the first is that of immigrants use of public services such as the NHS, the second has been about foreign criminals and the right of the government to deport them as it could breach their human rights - right of the family
Women - UK v US
US -
- Women receiving the vote following the passing of the 19th amendment 1920, and women also gained some protection from sexual discrimination with the 1963 Equal Pay Act
- However, despite the writing up of the Equal Rights Amendment that the amendment has not yet passed
- Women in the US do not get maternity leave as a statutory rights
- In more recent times, there has been a growing focus on sexual discrimination with the #MeToo campaign
- One of the most obvious examples of women’s rights in the political sphere is the issue of women’s reproductive rights through the abortion issue
UK -
- Women got the vote in 1918 with the Representation of the People Act - although it was not for all women
- Women in the UK have a greater number of protections, as seen through the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) and the establishment of the equality and Human Rights Commission which looks at all types of discrimination
- The Government also recently had a women’s minister, Liz Truss, and the Government Equalities Office that develops policy on gender issues
Race - UK v US
US -
- The US’s history of slavery and racism led to a society built on discrimination
- The Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s was a significant era of American history and impacted on US politics
- The US society has issues of race that appear endemic - issues of racial discrimination in respect of education, economic, health, housing and justice between black and white people - even attempts to deal with it through affirmative action have led to conflict
- More recent developments include the BLM movement
UK
- The UK’s colonial past and use of economic migration has led to a divided society but not to the extent of the US
- The civil rights movement was less powerful in the UK due to a lack of segregation laws, and they were more of a reaction to the growth of far right movements such as the British National Party
- There has also been no policy of Affirmative Action to the degree seen in the US although there is a growing push to see people from BAME backgrounds represented to a greater extent in public roles
LGBTQ+ - UK v US
US -
- In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex relations were protected under the 14th amendment in the Lawrence v Texas (2003) case - it over-rurled a prior 1986 case that found sodomy laws constitutional
- However, some states still have not formally repealed them
- Same sex marriage was ruled legal following the Obergefell v Hodges case of 2015 that struck down the 2013 Defense of Marriage Act
- Recent debates have now focused on transgender rights with the Trump administration aiming to limit the protection on transgender workers against discrimination - this was recently debated in the Supreme Court who ruled that transgender people were a feature of the Civil Rights Act
UK -
- The Sexual Offences Act 1967 ruled homosexuality was no longer illegal - laws protecting gay people were developed under the Equality Act 2010 and the ban on openly gay people serving in the Armed Forces was ended in 2016; the age of consent was also made 16 regardless of sexual orientation
- Marriage between same-sex couples was more gradual with the development of civil partnerships in 2005 with same sex marriage in 2013 - NI legalised it in 2020
- However, despite the high degree of rights there is still some conflict over LGBTQ+ rights
- For example, a bakers refused to make a cake that supported same-sex marriage and a prior case in 2013 a couple broke the law for refusing to serve a gay couple at their B&B
