Question | Answer |
political culture | a distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out. |
civic duty | belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs. |
civic competence | a belief that one can affect government policies. |
class consciousness | a belief that you are a member of an economic group whose interests are opposed to people in other such groups. |
orthodox | a belief that morality and religion ought to be of decisive importance. |
progressive | a belief that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion. |
political efficacy | a belief that you can take part in politics (internal efficacy) or that the government will respond to the citizenry (external efficacy). |
internal efficacy | the ability to understand and take part in politics. |
external efficacy | the willingness of the state to respond to the citizenry. |
libel | writing that falsely injuries another |
free-exercise clause | First Amendment requirement that law cannot prevent free exercise of religion. |
establishment clause | First Amendment ban on laws “respecting an establishment of religion.” |
wall of separation | Court ruling that government cannot be involved with religion. |
exclusionary rule | improperly gathered evidence may not be introduced in a criminal trial. |
search warrant | a judge’s order authorizing a search. |
probable cause | reasonable cause for issuing search warrant or making an arrest; more than mere suspicion. |
good-faith exception | an error in gathering evidence sufficiently minor that it may be used in a trial. |
civil rights | the rights of people to be treated without unreasonable or unconstitutional differences. |
suspect classifications | Classifications of people on the basis of their race or ethnicity. |
strict scrutiny | a Supreme Court test to see if a law denies equal protection because it does not serve a compelling state interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that goal. |
separate-but-equal doctrine | the doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that African Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities. |
de jure segregation | racial segregation that is required by law. |
de facto segregation | racial segregation that occurs in schools, not as a result of the law, but as a result of patterns of residential settlement. |
civil disobedience | opposing a law one considers unjust by peacefully disobeying it and accepting the resultant punishment. |
police powers | state power to effect laws promoting health, safety, and morals. |
equality of result | making certain that people achieve the same result. |
affirmative action | programs designed to increase minority participation in some institution (business, schools, labor unions, or government agencies) by taking positive steps to appoint more minority-group members. |
reverse discrimination | race or sex to give preferential treatment to some people. |
equality of opportunity | giving people an equal chance to succeed. |
American Political Values | Liberty, equality, democracy, civic duty, individual responsibility. |
American Political Culture | Americans tent to assert their rights. Emphazize individualism, competition, equality, followin rules, treating others fairlt but impersonally. Some other contries put more emphasis n harmony and equality. |
Sources of Political Culture | American Revolution was essentially over liberty-asserting rights. Widespread (not universal) participation permitted by constitution. Abscence of an established national religion made religious diersity inevitable. Family instills how we think about worl |
The Culture War | The cultural clash in America is a battle over values. The culture war differs from political disputes. The culture conflict is animated by deep differences in people's beliefs about morality. |
Two Cultural "Camps' | Orthodox and Progressive. |
Mistrust of Govrnment | There is evidence that mistrust has increased since the late 1950s. Causes: Wtergate and Clinton impeachment. Public confidence is likely to stop and flow with circumstances. No dramatic change in confidence in Americans. |
The Politics of Civil Liberties | Civil liberties: protections the constitution provides against the abuse of government power. The Framers believed that the Constitution limited govrenment. State ratifying constitutions demanded the addition of the Bill of Rights. |
Culture and Civil Liberties | The Constitution and Bill of Rights contain a list of competing rights and duties. War has been the crisis that has most often restrictd the liberty of some minority group. |
The Free Exercise Clause | Insures that no law may impose particular burdens on religious institutions. But there are no religious exemptions fro laws binding all other citizens, even if that law oppresses your religious beliefs. Some conflicts between religious freedom and public |
The Establishment Clause | Government involvement in religious activites is constitutional if it meets the following tests: secular purpose, primary effect neither advances nor inhibits religion, no excessive government entanglement with religion. |
Terrorism and Civil Liberties | U.S. Patriot Act meant to increase federal government's powers to combat terrorism. An executive order then proclaimed a national emergenct; non-citizens believed to be terrorists, or to have harbored a terrorist, will be tried by a military court. |
What are civil rights? | Protect certain groups against discrimination. Claims are raised when a group is denied access to facilites, opportunities, or services available to other groups. The issue is whether differences in treatment are reasonable. |
The Campaign for Civil Rights | Sit-ins and freedom rides, voter registration efforts. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks--Montgomery bus boycott. From nonviolent civil disobedience to the "long hot summers" of racial violence (1964-1968). |
Affirmative Action | preferential hiring and admission practices to remedy discrimination. Bakke (1978): munerical minority quotas are not permissible, but race can be considered. |