PSCI 2306 Unit 3 Review

Please be sure to review Justice Harlan's dissent in the Plessy case. There are quotes on your slides.

"But in the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law regards man as man and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.... The arbitrary separation of citizens, on the basis of race, while they are on a public highway, is a badge of servitude wholly inconsistent with the civil freedom and the equality before the law established by the Constitution. It cannot be justified upon any legal grounds."

Be sure to know the three Amendments adopted after the Civil War and the subject of each of them.

13th: free 14th: citizen 15th: vote

What are some important issues of the LGBT community?

1952: American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as sociopathic personality disturbance 1952: President Eisenhower bars gay people from being federally employed 1969: Police raid Stonewall Inn in NY (kicks off gay rights movement)

When was the equal protection clause applied to women by the Supreme Court?

1971 Reed v. Reed SCOTUS ruling applied 14th Amendment to cover sex discrimination

What law is the most important for Americans with disabilities? How does that law relate to the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

1990 Americans with Disabilities Act which amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964

How did the Supreme Court rule on the issue of same sex marriage?

2015 SCOTUS ruled in favor of same sex marriage

What is the total membership of the House? Why and how does it stay at that number?

435 total members of the House which is a fixed number previously determined by the population but changed by law in 1910

What is the attitude of a majority of Americans toward same-sex marriage?

A majority of Americans agree with the right to same sex marriage

What is the service strategy pursued by virtually all members of Congress?

A service strategy for constituents that unravels red tape for them with agencies like social security and veterans affairs

Who was Rosa Parks?

Activist most known for refusing to sit in the back of the bus (Montgomery Bus Boycott)

Who was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Activist, preacher most famous for "I Have a Dream" speech and "letter from Birmingham jail"

What are the advantages of being the incumbent? What disadvantages might there also be?

Advantages: starting with political advantage, raise money more easily, more likely to be elected again Disadvantages: angry voters, scandals, effect of elections (turnout issues, presidential candidates, ect), and being targeted for defeat by an inside or outside force

Please review the basic facts we covered about the Texas legislature.

After the census Congress must be reapportioned and redistricted, etc

The history of representative government is usually traced back to what two historic events?

American and French Revolutions

Who was Betty Friedan and why is she important? What was Friedan's argument about women and life satisfaction?

Author of the Feminine Mystique which revealed that women were unhappy with their forced lifestyles and prompted them to seek more

Please be sure to review the entire process by which a bill becomes law. For example, know that bills are referred to committee, hearings may be held, the bill may be marked up, etc.

Bill written and proposed, sent to committee, committee does write up and votes, sent to the floor for debate and vote, sent to other legislature for same process and then to president

What kind of bills must originate in the House of Representatives?

Bills of revenue

What was the purpose of the lunch counter sit-ins and where did they take place? Please review the details of the sit-ins.

Black protesters sat at a lunch counter and refused to leave until they were served, took place at Woolworths in Greensboro NC

What important ruling did the SC make in the Brown v. Board of Education case? What was the language used by the Court?

Brown v. Board ended segregation and stated "We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

How did the legal question in Brown v. Board of Education differ from the legal questions in earlier rulings such as Sweatt v. Painter?

Brown v. Board ruled that separate is inherently unequal

Why is the cost of child care of concern to many people?

Childcare is incredibly expensive and often unreliable

What law made segregated public accommodations illegal?

Civil Rights Act of 1964

What civil rights law made it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of race and ethnicity in housing?

Civil Rights Act of 1968

What was/is the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund?

Civil rights organization and law firm that brought many cases to the Supreme Court involving racial inequality, founded by Thurgood Marshall

Who was Jimmie Lee Jackson?

Civil rights protestor killed by police

What do we mean when we say that a distinction is invidious?

Classification by gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, etc that is harmful

What does a conference committee do and why is it necessary?

Conference Committee: set up to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of a passed bill

What are some of the factors that have to be considered when district lines are being redrawn?

Contiguity: physically adjacent Compactness: minimizes distance Community of interest: grouping people with common political, social and economic issues

What political party appears to be the preference of most Hispanic voters in recent years?

Democrat

Which political party has more members in the House? In the Senate? What does this tell us about the membership of Standing Committees? What title is given to the most senior member of the minority party on a committee?

Democrats currently have more members in the House and Republicans have more members in the Senate and standing committee membership mimics the dominant political party Ranking minority member is the most senior member of the minority party

What do we call the geographic areas that House members represent?

Districts

Please review the details of the filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

First filibuster over a civil rights bill that was ended by cloture, filibuster by Robert Byrd

What were the major factors that underlay the Second Women's Rights Movement (the 1960s)?

Election of President Kennedy, with possibility of change, Publication of Betty Friedan's book, The Feminine Mystique, Oral Contraceptives, Effects of the civil rights movement

Please review the laws we discussed that were enacted in the 1960s and 1970s to benefit women.

Equal Pay Act of 1963, Education Act Amendments of 1972, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, and Equal Rights Amendment (proposed but not passed)

What is the Equal Protection Clause and where is it found? To whom does it apply?

Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment section 1 defines citizenship and awards equal protection to all Americans

What are the meeting limits imposed by the Texas Constitution?

Every other year (odd numbered year) only for 140 days

Who was Eleanor Roosevelt?

Feminist and activist for women's right to vote and general issues of equality

What is a filibuster? How can a filibuster be ended?

Filibuster is speaking endlessly (allowed in the Senate and ended through cloture - 60 votes)

Who is Ruby Bridges?

First African American child to be integrated into a white school

What is gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering: drawing district lines in a way that protects or changes political power (unfair)

What is DACA? What is the common characteristic of persons covered by DACA?

Government program to protect undocumented children who come to the US

How was the Great Compromise at our Constitutional Convention related to representation?

Great Compromise combined plans for representation that suited large and small states by implementing a population based representation system in the House and a fixed representation system in the Senate

In what case did the Supreme Court uphold the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States

What did the Supreme Court say about the new separate law school that Texas created for black students (Sweatt v. Painter).

Heman Sweatt was refused admission into UT and the school instead built a separate law school. SCOTUS ruled the new facility was separate but unequal and therefore unconstitutional

What is the meaning of the term Hispanic?

Hispanic: origin from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the countries from Central and South America that were settled by Spain (Spanish speaking countries- origin not ethnicity)

Once the House brings charges against the president, federal judge, or other top official, what happens next in the process?

House must hold hearings and ultimately pass articles of impeachment and then the Senate oversees a trial

What is it called when the House of Representatives brings charges against the president or other high official?

Impeachment

What did women do during World War II?

Joined the workforce

Who is the Speaker of the House and why is that official so powerful?

Nancy Pelosi currently and that position is powerful because it is two away from the President and leader of the House

What were Black Codes?

Laws enacted to limit the new freedom of black Americans after the civil war

What were Jim Crow laws?

Laws that upheld segregation

What are LULAC and MALDEF?

League of United Latin Citizens and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund which both promote equality for Latinos

What was Bloody Sunday?

March from Selma to Montgomery where peaceful civil rights protesters were brutalized by police

What were the exceptions to the Equal Pay Act of 1963?

Merit, productivity and seniority

Please review the cases that went to the Supreme Court before the Brown case and know how the SC ruled on them. You should know concepts but you need not know the name of each case. (All had to do with college segregation.)

Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada in 1938: cannot refuse admission to college with a substitute scholarship to an out-of-state university because that is separate but unequal Sipuel v. University of Oklahoma Regents in 1948: Ada Sipuel denied admission to Oklahoma Law School and Supreme Court ruled that she must be admitted McLaurin V. Oklahoma State Regents in 1950: McLaurin admitted to OSU but was completely separated from other students, Supreme Court ruled that this violated the equal protection clause Sweatt v. Painter in 1950: UT built separate law school for Sweatt, but this was deemed separate but unequal by the Supreme Court

How are women affected by poverty? How does that affect children?

Most single parent households are with women and ⅓ of that live in poverty, child care costs are high and rising

Who was Thurgood Marshall?

NAACP leader and first black SCOTUS justice

What did the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 do?

Organized convention of women concerned about voting, lack of education and heavy family responsibilities

What are some factors that account for how a member votes on a bill?

Party loyalty, who the president is, constituents, interest groups, and personal beliefs

What is patriarchy? What are some facts that show our society is patriarchal? What are the origins of patriarchy?

Patriarchy: a form of social organization in which the man is the head of the family Examples: the feminization of poverty with 60% of women/girls impoverished and hungry, wage gap, ⅔ of illiterate people are women, etc Origins: Judeo-Christian Heritage and English Common Law

We began this topic with music. Who is/was Pete Seeger and what civil rights song is associated with him?

Pete Seeger is a singer, sang activist songs about peace and hope including "we shall overcome" and "where have all the flowers gone"

What were white primaries?

Primaries where only white voters could vote

What was the purpose of the Education Act Amendments of 1972 (Title IX)?

Prohibits discrimination based on sex in any federally funded education program

What happened to the Equal Rights Amendment? Who opposed its ratification?

Proposed but not passed and opposed by the League of Women Voters

What are the big issues being considered by the current legislature?

Public Education, Funding of state universities, Residents without insurance, Immigration/border security, Redistricting after the Census

Please review these three tests including when they are used: rational basis test, strict scrutiny, and heightened (intermediate) scrutiny.

Rational Basis: determining if the classification is rational which is placed on the objecting individual to prove Strict Scrutiny: any policy dividing by race is in this category and must prove a compelling government interest (almost always struck down, even affirmative action) Intermediate/Heightened Scrutiny: a middle ground test that must prove the policy serves an important government purpose (sex classification is under this category)

What is it called when the 435 seats in the House are reallocated? After what event does that reallocation of House membership take place?

Reapportionment is the reallocation of seats based on population distribution based on data from the census

What does it mean to say that redistricting has taken place? Who is in charge of that process in most states?

Redistricting: redrawing the district lines for specific areas in a House election, and is the job of the state and typically the state legislature

What power did Congress use to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Regulating interstate commerce

Be sure to understand each of the following concepts and when each was important: Romantic Paternalism, Protectionism.

Romantic Paternalism: the idea that women had to be protected from the harsh realities of the world, men protect women, backed by laws Protectionism: laws to protect women from harsher conditions (not born out of hostility)

Who conducts the trial on impeachment charges?

Senate conducts the trial and the House brings charges

What is the House Rules Committee and what does it do?

Sets the rules in the House for debate and has majority of members in majority party

What happened legally to a woman when she married?

She and the husband become one and that one is the husband

What are the president's options when he receives a bill from Congress?

Sign or not sign, if he refuses to sign within 10 days, the bill automatically becomes a law (or he can pocket veto) or sign it into law

How did Southern States react to the ruling in the Brown case? What seemed to persuade many school districts to finally integrate?

Southern states did not comply with the ruling and kept on with segregation and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 cut off funding to schools still practicing segregation

What is a term of Congress? What is a session? What term and session are we currently in?

Term: 2 years and begins on an odd year and ends on an even year Session: refers to each year Currently in the first term of the 116th Congress

How many members are there of the Texas House? The Texas Senate?

Texas House: 150 and Texas Senate: 31

How did the poll tax in Texas work?

Texas had a poll tax of $1.50 from 1902-1964 that had to be paid by January 31st for the rest of the year

How did the Fourteenth Amendment address the issue in the Dred Scott case?

The Dred Scott case ruled that slaves were property and not citizens, but the 14th Amendment defined citizenship and awarded full protections and equality under the law to black Americans

What official presides over the Texas House? What is the name of the current officeholder?

The Speaker of the House currently Dennis Bonnen

Who can call a special session of the Texas legislature?

The governor

Be sure to review the many ways that Native Americans/American Indians have suffered mistreatment in the United States.

The history of treatment of American Indians is a long, sad story:violence, destruction, theft of land, forced relocations, violation of treaties, poverty, assimilation, isolation, and other forms of mistreatment by federal policies and laws.

What does feminization of poverty refer to?

The large number of women that are impoverished

How did the March from Selma to Montgomery affect voting rights? What did the President do after the March to call attention to the voting issues of black Americans?

The march was a key factor in getting the legislation passed and President Johnson said "we shall overcome"

Why are Hispanics such an important and powerful group in the United States?

The nation's largest and fastest growing minority group

What do we mean when we say that the legislative process has multiple vetoes?

The president can officially veto a law and send it back to Congress (which is typically where the process ends again) or they can use a pocket veto where the president refuses to sign a bill in the 10 day period, but Congress ends their session so the bill fails

Be sure to review the details of the internment of Japanese Americans and the legal context of their treatment. What has happened since?

The situation for Americans of Japanese descent went downhill as the war opened and they were sent to internment camps. Two- thirds of those interned were American citizens. The SC upheld these camps in 1944. In 1988, Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act which apologized for the internment and paid reparations to their families.

Be able to list some of the continuing concerns of women in the United States.

The wage gap, getting women elected to higher positions

For what can a president or other high official be impeached?

Treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors

Why was the case of Plessy v. Ferguson so important?

Upheld segregation with the ruling of "separate but equal"

Who is the President of the Senate?

Vice President currently Mike Pence

How did the English Common Law view women?

Viewed women as legally inferior

Which civil rights act dealt with voting issues? What did it do?

Voting Rights Act of 1965 ended literacy tests

When and why were Mexican workers invited to come to the U.S. to work? What ultimately happened each time?

WW1 the US encouraged Mexican workers to come and again in the 1940s (WW2) the US encouraged bracero agricultural workers to come (both times the US deported workers after the wars ended)

How did the availability of oral contraceptives affect the women's rights movement and society in general?

Women's rights advocates consider the ability to control one's own fertility as essential to bodily autonomy and feminism, sexual revolution and increased women's rights