AP Government and Politics Review
Unit 6: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
Civil Liberties
1. Discuss the importance of the doctrine of incorporation and its influences on political and legal decisions.
2. Describe the conflicts that have arisen between those who claim First Amendment rights and those who are in favor
of sedition laws that might restrict freedom of speech.
3. Describe the various tests that the Court has applied for the Establishment clause.
4. Explain the various types of speech that are both protected and not protected by the Court, and describe the various
tests used to determine the constitutionality of laws abridging speech.
5. Analyze why the resolution of civil liberties issues involves politics as well as law. Discuss the political factors that
influence the Supreme Court when it decides fundamental civil liberties issues
6. Analyze the impact of the exclusionary rule on the legal system.
7. Describe major cases that have led to the incorporation of the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments
Prior restraint
Clear and present danger
Due process
Libel
Slander
Defamatory
Symbolic speech
Establishment clause
Probable cause
Exclusionary Rule
Lemon Test
Good-faith exception
Search warrant
Self-incrimination
Double jeopardy
Incorporation (selective)
Cruel/Unusual punishment
Civil Rights
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Describe the meaning of civil rights and the power of government to discriminate reasonably.
Describe the various tests used to evaluate whether a law improperly classifies a group of people.
Explain how and why blacks were discriminated against in parts of the nation during the 19 th and 20th centuries.
Describe major landmark events on the road to equal rights for African-Americans.
Describe how and why the civil rights movement utilized the court system to agitate for change.
Describe the way in which the women’s rights movement is similar and different to the movement for equal rights for
African-Americans.
Describe how the concept of abortion fits in with the issue of civil rights.
Explain what affirmative action is, and the controversy over its use in American society and government.
Explain why some view gay rights as the “next civil rights movement.”
Civil Rights
Suspect classification
White primary
Separate-but-equal doctrine
De jure/de facto segregation
Civil disobedience
Racial profiling
Strict scrutiny
Fundamental freedoms
Affirmative action
Discrimination
Reverse discrimination