Exam 2 Flashcards
Federalism
Division of power between the national and state governments.
Cooperative Federalism
Encouragement of cooperation through resource provision; result of New Deal era.
Deregulation
Reducing government rules and red tape that control social and economic activity. Purposes of promoting competition, increasing productivity, and lowering prices
Bills of attainder
Legislation declaring persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without trial
Due process
Principle that government must protect the legal rights of citizens. Grounded in the Bill of Rights.
Ex Post Facto Law
Government can’t pass a law then charge you if you committed the now a crime before they government passed the law.
Brandenburg v. Ohio
Supreme Court decision requiring imminent lawless action before speech can be banned.
Unfunded Mandate
Federal standards/programs that require states to take particular actions but do not provide state governments with the funding to meet the requirements
What is the Miller Test
Supreme Court test for determining whether material is obscene.
Components of Miller Test
- Appeals to Sexual Interest
- Depicts sexual conduct in an offensive way.
- Lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
Missouri Compromise of 1820
Congress Act; Missouri and Maine added to the Union, one slave and the other free. Maintain the balance of political power between slave states and free states in the U.S. Senate.
Mapp v. Ohio
Evidence found in violation of the 4th amendment cannot be used at trial
Categorical Grant
Federal funding given to state and local governments for narrow purposes specified by the federal government
Civil Liberties
Found in Bill of Rights and protect the people from the power of the government.
Civil Rights
The protection of citizens from discrimination by the government or private entities. Derived from the Due Process and Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Strict Scrutiny
Toughest standard of review, used when laws discriminate on account of race, ethnicity, religion, or alien status
De Jure Segregation
Racial segregation that occurs because it is written into law, policy, or governmental procedures
Miscegenation Laws
Banned the marriage of and sometimes sexual relations between people of different races.
Equal Outcome
Leveling the playing field to give the disadvantaged a greater chance of success.
Lawrence v. Texas (1998)
Sodomy laws on the books; struck down sodomy laws
ERA
“Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.”
Loving v. Virginia
- Ruled that banning marriages of people of different races was a violation of the 14th amendment.
Coercive Federalism
States are dependent on federal government.
Federalism and the Depression
Lead to Cooperative federalism
Barron v. Baltimore
- Baltimore built a bigger wharf, but ruined Barron’s dock. He sued, but amendment did not extend the Just Takings Clause to state level.
Symbolic Speech
Non-verbal communication that purposefully and discernibly conveys a message to those viewing it
Incorporation
Process where Supreme Court applies the civil liberty provisions of the Bill of Rights to the state and local levels.
“Separate but equal”
Result of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Protected racially discriminatory policies well into the 20th century
Equality of opportunity
Providing each individual the same chance to succeed.
Block grant
Federal funding given to states to spend on general programs and services, with very few restrictions.
Jim Crow Laws
State and local laws in place between 1877 and the mid-1960s that mandated segregation in all public places.
Discrimination
Favoring one person over another, usually on irrelevant grounds such as race or gender
Literacy Test
Given to people who could not prove a 5th grade education. Whites exempt.
De Facto Segregation
Racial segregation that results from patterns of behavior that result in segregating the races.
EEOC
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: an independent federal agency charged with protecting equal employment rights
Americans with Disabilities Act
(1990) requires public and private employers to make “reasonable accommodations” to known physical and mental limitations of employees with disabilities and, if possible, to modify performance standards to accommodate an employee’s disability.
Sovereignty
political power, independence, or authority.
Dual Federalism
National and state governments working independently of each other.
Devolution
the delegation of power by the federal government to state and local governments.
Miranda Rights
- Right to remain silent
- Must be informed that anything they say can be used against them
- Have a right to an attorney if they cannot afford one
Miranda v. Arizona
(1963). Court ruled that persons held in custody must be advised of their rights before being questioned. Established Miranda Rights.
Prior Restraint
Government restrictions on freedom of the press that prevents material from being published
Lemon Test
A law must…
- Have a secular legislative purpose
- Not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion.
- Not result in an “excessive government entanglement with religion.”
Affirmative Action
policies that promote equality of outcome by providing expanded educational and employment opportunities for members of a previously disadvantaged group.
Equal Protection Clause
14th Amendment; requires states to treat citizens equally under the law. Basis for the incorporation doctrine, which extends Bill of Rights protections to shield citizens from state and federal abridgment of basic freedoms.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
Supreme Court ruled that, in education, “separate is inherently unequal.”
Plessy v. Ferguson
This case yielded the “separate but equal” doctrine that protected racially discriminatory policies well into the 20th century.
Slander
False and/or damaging verbal statements.
Libel
Publishing false and damaging statements
Dred Scott
slave who had moved with his master across state lines, including both Illinois (a free state) and Wisconsin (a free territory). Death of his master, Scott brought suit in the state of Missouri, arguing that the provision of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that extended freedom to any slave whose master established residence in a free territory applied in his situation.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Supreme Court found that slaves were not citizens. Declared the Missouri Compromise to be an unconstitutional exertion of congressional power.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Banned literacy, interpretation, and other such tests for voting.
Bowers v. Hardwick
challenged a Georgia law against sodomy, but the Court ruled that the right to privacy did not extend to homosexuals.
Popular sovereignty
system of government in which power is vested in the people, who make political decisions or elect officials to make political decisions on their behalf.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Created the EEOC, prevented hiring and firing by businesses on account of race, religion, sex, and national origin.
Poll tax
When people pay money to vote.
Mandate
an official order or commission to do something
Martin Luther King Jr.
American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement.
Stonewall riots
Start of LGBTQ rights.
Compelling Interest
Method for determining the constitutionality of statute that restricts the practice of a fundamental right/distinguishes between people due to a suspect classification.
Confederal System
Most power is at the states and local levels.
Unitary system
Power to govern resides at the top.
Federalist System
Power is split between state/local government and national government.
Nullification
When a state feels that a federal law violates the U.S. Constitution, they can invalidate it.
14th amendment
requires that the national protection of Due Process be incorporated to the states.
Compact Theory
theory; states are sovereign political units that joined together in the new national government, but do NOT give up their status as sovereign, independent governments.
Initiative
A bill/law that starts with the people
Referendum
Government asks the people to vote on a bill.
Reserved powers
Powers that are “reserved” for the states. Article 4.
Contract With America
- People wanted to pull back national government power.
NY Times v. United States
Stricter prior restraint.
Seneca Falls Conference
First Women’s Rights conference
Grandfather Clause
Grandfather had to be able to vote.
Concurrent powers
Both state and federal powers
Charter
Permission to form government by higher government. Nation -> states -> counties, etc.
Recall
people sign a petition to kick out elected official.
