Government

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)

(14th amendment) rules Plessy v. Ferguson unconstitutional about separate but equal. violated 14th amendment. Beginning of the end for Jim Crow laws.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

(1st Amendment) No prayers in public schools

Texas v. Johnson (1987)

(1st amendment) Right to burn American flag. Johnson burned an American flag outside National Republic an Convention in Dallas. Violated Texas law. Political protest is protected.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

(5th Amendment) Supreme Court ruled that due process of law includes and is predicated upon the individual being informed his/her rights. (when arrested, they must be informed of their rights or be thrown out of court).

Gideon v. Wainwright/Florida (1963)

(6th amendment) right to counselor. You have the right to an attorney and will be provided one if you cant afford one.

monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic, to fully autocratic, and can expand across the domains of the executive, legislative, and judicial.

political parties

A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or policy goals.

interest groups

A special interest group is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to affect or to produce solutions within their particular field, and may communicate, meet, and organize conferences.

foreign policy

A state's foreign policy or external policy is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through multilateral platforms.

amendment process

An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.

authoritarianism

Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting.

autocracy

Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control.

Baker v Carr

Baker v. Carr (1962) is the U.S. Supreme Court case that held that federal courts could hear cases alleging that a state's drawing of electoral boundaries, i.e. redistricting, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. In so ruling, the Court also reformulated the political question doctrine.

classical republic

Classical republicanism, also known as civic republicanism or civic humanism, is a form of republicanism developed in the Renaissance inspired by the governmental forms and writings of classical antiquity, especially such classical writers as Aristotle, Polybius, and Cicero.

committees

Committees are groups of Members appointed to investigate, debate, and report on legislation. While they are not mentioned in the Constitution, committees have become an important part of the legislative process since their introduction during the first Congress in 1789.

freedom of religion

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

direct democracy

Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are representative democracies.

due process

Due process is the legal requirement that the state must respect all legal rights that are owed to a person. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual person from it.

federalism

Federalism is a mixed or compound mode of government that combines a general government with regional governments in a single political system, dividing the powers between the two. Federalism in the modern era was first adopted in the unions of states during the Old Swiss Confederacy. So, our federalist form of government has several advantages, such as protecting us from tyranny, dispersing power, increasing citizen participation, and increasing effectiveness, and disadvantages, such as supposedly protecting slavery and segregation, increasing inequalities between states, states blocking national ...

Hernandez v Texas

Hernandez was indicted for murder by a grand jury, and he was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He moved to quash his indictment and trial jury panel, alleging that the county that charged him systematically excluded Mexicans from serving as jury commissioners, grand jurors, and petit jurors. The Texas trial court denied the motion, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the denial. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed, holding that Mexicans were systematically denied the ability to serve as jurors in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

social contract theory

In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is a theory or model that originated during the Age of Enlightenment and usually concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Social contract theory, nearly as old as philosophy itself, is the view that persons' moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live.

rights of resistance to illegitimate government

In political philosophy, the right of revolution (or right of rebellion) is the right or duty of a people to "alter or abolish" a government that acts against their common interests and/or threatens the safety of the people without cause.

unalienable rights

In the Declaration of Independence, America's founders defined unalienable rights as including "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." These rights are considered "inherent in all persons and roughly what we mean today when we say human rights,". These natural rights include the right to think for oneself, the right to life, and the right to self-defense, and they remain through every human's lifetime. Legal rights, on the other hand, are those created, acknowledged, and protected by a government.

Individual Rights and Freedoms

Individual rights are the rights needed by each individual to pursue their lives and goals without interference from other individuals or the government. The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as stated in the United States Declaration of Independence are typical examples of individual rights. The Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition. It also prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment and compelled self-incrimination.

judicial activism vs. judicial restraint

Judicial activism and judicial restraint are two opposite approaches often written as judicial activism vs judicial restraint, which are both challenging and conflicting ideologies for a country. Judicial activism and judicial restraint relate to keeping a check on the dishonest use of power by constitutional bodies and the government. The major difference between the two approaches is that judicial activism is a philosophy of judicial decision-making where a judge is to advocate contemporary values and conditions and allow personal views regarding a public policy instead of constitutionalism. On the contrary, judicial restraint is a theory that encourages judges to not make decisions that are unconstitutional and limits their powers.

limited government

Limited government is a theory of governance in which the government only has those powers delegated to it by law, often through a written constitution. Governmental authority is prescribed and restricted by the law, and individual's rights are protected against government intrusion.

oligarchy

Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, religious, political, or military control.

popular sovereignty

Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives, who are the source of all political power.

republicanism

Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty.

socialism

Socialism is a left-wing political, social, and economic philosophy encompassing a range of economic and social systems characterized by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It includes the political theories and movements associated with such systems.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Supreme court applied "exclusionary rule" to state courts.

confederate governments

The Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederate States, Dixie, or simply the Confederacy, was an unrecognized breakaway republic in North America that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. Confederal System - Weak or loose organization of states agrees to follow a powerful central government. Nations can choose to follow or not follow the lead of the weak central government. Examples: The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), formerly known as the Soviet Union.

federal governments

The Federal Government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the Federal courts, respectively. The federal government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a federal republic in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a federal district, five major self-governing territories and several island possessions.

bicameral legislature

The U.S. bicameral system—the Congress—is composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The number of members of the House of Representatives is based on each state's population, while the Senate is composed of two members from each state. bicameral system, also called bicameralism, a system of government in which the legislature comprises two houses. The modern bicameral system dates back to the beginnings of constitutional government in 17th-century England and to the later 18th century on the continent of Europe and in the United States.

Grutter v Texas

The University of Michigan Law School denied Barbara Grutter's application to the School. Grutter, a white Michigan resident, then sued the Law School. Grutter claimed that the Law School's use of affirmative action in its admissions policy violated her Equal Protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, held that the Law School's affirmative action policy was constitutional. The Court reasoned that the Law School's goal of student diversity was a compelling interest. Also, the Court found that the Law School's individual review of each applicant (where race was only one of many factors) was narrowly tailored to achieve that compelling interest.

judicial review

The doctrine of judicial review holds that the courts are vested with the authority to determine the legitimacy of the acts of the executive and the legislative branches of government. The State as well as Federal courts are bound to render decisions according to the principles of the Federal Constitution. Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary.

theocracy

Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities of some type are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the day-to-day affairs of the government.

tribal governments

Tribal governments are an important and unique member of the family of American governments. The US Constitution recognizes that tribal nations are sovereign governments, just like Canada or California. Sovereignty is a legal word for an ordinary concept—the authority to self-govern.

written constitution

Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789, the United States Constitution is the world's longest surviving written charter of government. Its first three words - "We The People" - affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens.

checks and balances

a system that allows each branch of a government to amend or veto acts of another branch so as to prevent any one branch from exerting too much power.

separation of powers

an act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies. "constitutional arrangements based on separation of powers". Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches.

compromise

an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. "an ability to listen to two sides in a dispute, and devise a compromise acceptable to both"/a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands. the result of such a settlement.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

established the clear and present danger doctrine. Freddom of speech doesn't give the right to cry fire in a crowded theater. Speech isnt protected if causes obvious danger.

parliamentary system

parliamentary system, democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties) with the greatest representation in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming prime minister or chancellor. A parliamentary system or parliamentary democracy is a system of democratic governance of a state where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support of the legislature, typically a parliament, to which it is accountable.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

ruled Texas anti-abortion law unconstitutional. zoen of privacy to one's own body. (9th amendment)

Enlightenment

the action of enlightening or the state of being enlightened/a European intellectual and philosophical movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith.

divine right of kings

the doctrine that kings derive their authority from God, not from their subjects, from which it follows that rebellion is the worst of political crimes. It was claimed in Britain by the earlier Stuarts and is also associated with the absolutism of Louis XIV of France.

unitary governments

unitary state, a system of political organization in which most or all of the governing power resides in a centralized government, in contrast to a federal state.