Final Study Keyterms Flashcards
Define Civil Rights.
Civil rights are personal rights guaranteed and protected by the U.S. Constitution and federal laws enacted by Congress, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Civil rights include, for example:
freedom of speech, the right to vote, due process of law, equal protection of the laws, and protection from unlawful discrimination.
The HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) enforces civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, and religion by health care and human services entities over which OCR has jurisdiction, such as state and local social and health services agencies; and hospitals, clinics, nursing homes or other entities receiving Federal Financial Assistance from HHS. Under these laws, all persons in the United States have a right to receive health care and human services in a nondiscriminatory manner. For example, you cannot be denied services or benefits, simply because of your race, color, national origin, or disability. For more information about these laws and our authority under them
Define Equality of Condition.
A political concept which is central to some political ideologies it usually describes a state in which people have approximately the same material wealth or, more generally, in which general economic condtions of their lives are similar. Achieving this requires reducing or eliminating material inequalties between individuals or households in society. Or, using the government to ensure equality.
Define Equality of Opportunity.
The belief that everyone should have a chance at success.
Define Jim Crow Laws.
Laws enacted by Southern State legislatures after the Civil War that mandated rigid racial segregation.
Define the 14th Amendment consists of “Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause.”
A change to the constitution that defines the meaning of U.S. citizenship and establishes that each state must guarantee equal protection of its laws to its citizens.
- State and federal citizenship for all persons regardless of race both born or naturalized in the United States was reaffirmed.
- No state would be allowed to abridge the “privileges and immunities” of citizens.
- No person was allowed to be deprived of life, liberty,or property without “due process of law.”
- No person could be denied “equal protection of the laws.”
What was Plessy v. Ferguson?
Plessy was an African American man (Looked white) who sat in a whites only railroad car and refused to move which led to his arrest. During this time it was a violation of strict segregation imposed by Jim Crow Laws. Plessy’s lawyers argued that racial segregation laws violated the equal protection law of the fourteenth amendment. The courts ruled that it was not a violation as states had seperate but equal services and facilities for minorities.
What was Brown v. Board of Education?
A case where Thurgood Marshall condemed the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson in which he tried to overturn the doctrine of separate but equal. After he won the case it became clear that an important part of government endorsed a new concept of equality for forbidding racial segregation.
Who was Earl Warren?
A chief justice who strongly felt that racial segregation violated the equal protection clause. Using his leadership skills and effect persuasion he convinced his reluctant colleagues to join a strong opinion condemning racial segregation and overturning the “seperate by equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson.
What was the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
A federal statute that prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and programs receiving federal funding.
What was the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
A federal statute that outlaws discriminatory voting practices, such as literacy tests, that have been responsible for the disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S.
Define Universal Suffrage.
The right to vote for all adult citizens.
Who was Cesar Chavez?
Best known as the grassroots movement leader who founded the national farmworkers association, later the UFW, leading the protest marches along with organizing a national boycott of grapes harvested by nonunion workers during the 1960’s. He also went on hunger strikes to protest poor paid and working conditions for farmworkers. His efforts contributed to the enactment of new statuates to provide protection for farmworkers.
What are the Models of Representation?
- Delegate model of representation: legislator does his/her best to discern the will of the people and then votes accordingly
- Trustee model of representation: the most favored approach where a legislator should consider the will of the people then do what he/she thinks is best for the nation as a whole and in long term.
- Politico model of representation: holds that legistlators should feel free to follow their own judgement on matters where the public remains silent.
- Conscious model of representation: the “pillow test,” on matters representatives are delegates and heed the wishes of constituents, though if said decision does not agree with the representative they should become a trustee and vote the opposite way.
Define Bicameral.
A system of government in which the legislature comprises of two houses. The constitution establishes two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Define Pocket Veto.
The president’s killing of a bill that has been passed by both houses of congress, simply by not signing it; occurs only if congress has adjourned within 10 days of the Bill’s passage.
Define Apportionment.
The process by which seats in the United States House of Representatives are redistributed amongst the 50 states following each constiutionally mandated decennial census. Each State is apportioned a number of seats which approximately corresponds to its share of the aggregate population of the 50 states. However, every state is constitutionally guaranteed at least one seat.
Define Gerrymandering.
It is the drawing of legislative districts in odd shapes for partisan advantage. Named after Elbridge Gerry, the governer who persuaded his fellow state legislators to draw an odd shaped district that resembled a salamander all in the effort to elect a political ally.
What was Baker v. Carr?
Was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that retreated from the Court’s political question doctrine, deciding that redistricting (attempts to change the way voting districts are delineated) issues present justiciable questions, thus enabling federal courts to intervene in and to decide reapportionment cases. The defendants unsuccessfully argued that reapportionment of legislative districts is a “political question”, and hence not a question that may be resolved by federal courts. History: Charles Baker was a resident of Shelby County, Tennessee. Baker filed suit against Joe Carr, the Secretary of State of Tennessee. Baker’s complaint alleged that the Tennessee legislature had not redrawn its legislative districts since 1901, in violation of the Tennessee State Constitution which required redistricting according to the federal census every 10 years. Baker, who lived in an urban part of the state, asserted that the demographics of the state had changed shifting a greater proportion of the population to the cities, thereby diluting his vote in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
What are Standing Committes?
Permanent structures that perform the detailed work of the Legislature, such as drafting bills for consideration.
What are Select Committees?
Set up by congress as a temporary committee to deal with a particular issue or problem. They disappear after the problem is solved or when the congressional session ends. They serve as an investigative role and cannot approve legislation or move it forward.
What are Joint Committees?
Units that conduct oversight of agencies related to congress, investigation, or research but do not have legislative power. Composed of members from each chamber of congress.
Define a Markup.
The section by section review and revision of a bill by committee members; the actual writing of a piece of legislation. The prime sponsor is the member responsible for crafting the language which must win approval of the committee and full chamber.
Define Oversight.
The responsibility of congress to keep an eye on agencies in the federal bureaucracy to ensure that their behavior conforms to its wishes.
What is the Speaker of the House?
A person elected by the House of Representatives who presides over them. The speaker is also the leader of the majority party in the House and has a number of advantages such as the power of ‘referral.’
Define Majority Leader.
The head of the majority party in the senate, the second highest ranking member of the majority party in the House. Minority leader on the other hand is the leading spokesperson and legislative strategist for the minority party in the House or the Senate.
What are Whips?
After the majority leader is the majority whip. The whip is an assistant to the majority leader responsible for garnering support for the party’s agenda and for making sure the party leadership has an accurate count of the votes both for and against different pieces of legislation. Majority leaders and whips work with the speaker to coordinate strategy and to advance the party’s policy goals.
Define Filibuster.
An unlimited debate in which one senator or a group of senators keeps talking without interruption unless 3/5 of the chamber(cloture) votes to end the session. This is a means by senate minorities to block legislation or confirmation votes.
Define Cloture.
Used to cut off a filibuster or a floor debate in which 3/5 of the senators(60) must vote to end the discussion of a bill.
Define Logrolling.
Supporting a legislators bill in exchange for support of ones own bill.
Define Earmark/Pork Barrel Legislation.
Particularized legislation that benefits one state or district in regards of federal money and programs. Also including aspects into a law/legislation that are unrelated and would not be passed otherwise.
Define Prerogative Power.
Extraordinary powers that the president may use under certain conditions. As John Locke put it, executives should have powers to do their own free will, where the law is silent, and maybe against the law, for the public good.
Define the Models of Presidential Power.
Whig model: the model that believed the president were limited to he powers explicitly stated in the constitution and that they should not be the center of the government. Stewardship model: model which followed that presidential powers should have no restrictions on presidential authority except what was strictly forbidden in the constitution. Theodore Roosevelt brought about this Re-imagination of what powers the president had. Modern presidency: Franklin D. Roosevelt ushered in a new model in which the president became the central figure of the government who participates actively in foreign and domestic policies.
Define Cato.
The pseudonym for a writer of a series of articles in opposition to the ratification of the constitution. CATO lived around 95 BC who advocated for republican virtues such as liberty and freedom.
