Magruder’s American Government
1st Edition
ISBN: 9780133306996
Textbook solutions
All Solutions
Page 444: Chapter Assessment
Exercise 1
Result
1 of 1
The cartoonist’s point of view is that Congress has not taken enough action on immigration reform. The use of the Statue of Liberty is reminder of the message on the statue welcoming immigrants. Congress has not passed meaningful immigration reform since The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Regardless of one’s opinion as to what should be done concerning illegal immigration, it would be difficult to argue with the cartoonist’s point of view regarding congressional inaction. Congress has not passed meaningful immigration legislation in more than twenty years.
Exercise 2
Result
1 of 1
Prior to the 1880s, there were no regulations regarding immigration. Demands for more manpower and a generous amount of available land have resulted in more and more frequent migrations. After this period, attitudes towards immigration began to change. In 1882, the Chinese exclusion action prevented certain groups of people from fully immigrating to the United States. The Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 and the National Origin Act of 1929 triggered a quota system. The quota system has allocated a certain number of immigrants per country of origin who could be allowed to enter. However, the Immigration and Citizenship Act of 1965 replaced the quota system and launched a total of up to 270,000 immigrants a year regardless of country of origin.
Exercise 3
Result
1 of 1
The Immigration Control Act of 1986 had two major components. Firstly, it instituted a one year period of amnesty that allowed persons in the country illegally to become legal residents. It also sought to punish those who knowingly hired undocumented workers. If an employer knowingly hired someone here illegally they could be fined or even jailed for repeated offenses. The idea was to decrease illegal immigration by reducing the demand from employers for these workers. Employers hire undocumented workers largely because they can pay them far less than legal citizens would demand. Often these workers deal with abysmal working conditions.
Exercise 4
Solution 1
Solution 2
Result
1 of 1
Affirmative Actions are those taken by government or companies in order to ameliorate the effects of past discrimination. This is accomplished by making an effort to hire women and minorities. In Grutter v. Bollinger, Barbara Grutter sued the University of Michigan when she was rejected by the law school in favor of a minority student with lower grades and scores. The case went to The Supreme Court. The court found that the school’s use of race as one factor among many in admissions decisions was acceptable. Justice O’Conner wrote for the court, “Our conclusion that the Law School has a compelling interest in a diverse student body is informed by our view that attaining a diverse student body is at the heart of the Law School’s proper institutional mission…” (539 U.S. 306 Grutter v. Bollinger)
Step 1
1 of 3
**Affirmative actions** are enacted laws and policies that favor and are intended to help society groups that face discrimination. The policies aim to increase educational and employment opportunities for minorities. Affirmative actions support the underrepresented compound of society that is facing discrimination based on skin color, gender, background, and religion.
Step 2
2 of 3
A controversial case of **Grutter v. Bollinger** (2003) ruled that the University of Michigan Law School was permitted to use admissions based on race to promote racial diversity. The court concluded that the student admission did not break the Equal Protection Clause from the 14th Amendment.
Step 3
3 of 3
At times the best thing to do is not hide or rule something wrong, even if it seems so, as it might go into the favor of its cause. In this case, it was normal to promote diversity and present it normally as it should be. Thus, in this case, it was for the support. However, it is a sensitive matter, and it might affect individuals to form different opinions.
Exercise 5
Step 1
1 of 4
The **15th Amendment** of 1870, extending the right to vote to all men of any race. This amendment did not have effective force for a long time because the Congress failed to pass laws that would ensure its implementation.
Step 2
2 of 4
This situation was overcome by passing a series of laws starting in 1957, and one of the most important is **The Civil Rights Act of 1964.**
Step 3
3 of 4
The main topics of this act are the right to vote and the prohibition of discrimination. This law states that no person may be denied any public service based on race, color, religion, etc. Furthermore, discrimination based on the above factors is also prohibited in all programs funded by the federal government. Finally, discrimination based on these factors is also prohibited for employers.
Step 4
4 of 4
Although discrimination is very difficult to eradicate from society, because the laws cannot determine how people will think, it is very important to legally restrict their actions in terms of discrimination. Martin Luther King’s famous statement emphasizes this view – **”Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.”**
Exercise 6
Step 1
1 of 10
After the abolition of slavery with the adoption of the 13th Amendment, the process of integrating racial minorities into American society began.
Step 2
2 of 10
Although slavery was abolished, racial discrimination permeated American culture and society for decades. Racial segregation laws have been adopted in many countries. These laws were mainly aimed at discriminating against the African American population. If we look at these laws, we can conclude that their goal was not racial integration, but the complete opposite of discrimination.
Step 3
3 of 10
Some of these laws have been challenged before the Supreme Court. While deciding in the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896, the Court established that these laws are constitutional if they meet **separate-but-equal doctrine**.
Step 4
4 of 10
This principle implied that separation on the basis of race could exist if equal conditions were provided. For example, if a restaurant has separate seats for whites and members of other minorities, the law which requires it does not violate the Equal Protection Clause if those seats are qualitatively and quantitatively the same.
Step 5
5 of 10
Although this principle, unlike those applied in the past, ensured that racial minorities had the same conditions as whites, it certainly did not contribute to racial integration. American society was still deeply divided on a racial issue.
Step 6
6 of 10
This doctrine was abandoned many years later, after **Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka** case, 1954. In this case, the court unanimously declared unconstitutional the laws of certain States that allowed or required the existence of separate schools for white and African American students.
Step 7
7 of 10
This Court concluded that racial segregation is unconstitutional in the field of public education, regardless of the existence of separate-but-equal principles. Following this judgment, the Court requested from State to stop segregation in education. This process was slow and accompanied by many obstructions.
Step 8
8 of 10
Various racial integration programs have been adopted. One of the programs concerned the transportation of students to schools. There were a lot of neighborhoods with an almost completely African-American population, so it was logical that schools in those neighborhoods were made up only of students who belonged to this population.
Step 9
9 of 10
In order to integrate those students in general population, the lines of school buses were changed and extended, so that children from those neighborhoods could be enrolled in schools outside them. In this way, the presence of racial minorities in a certain number of public schools has been increased voluntarily, and in some by force.
Step 10
10 of 10
In addition to these cases concerning education, the court considered others concerning segregation in other areas of society. The court repealed many laws that prevented racial integration in various areas. States have begun the practice of adopting laws and programs that lead to racial integration.
Exercise 7
Result
1 of 1
In Brown v. Board of Education the court ruled that the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ put forward in Plessy v. Ferguson was inherently flawed and unconstitutional. Previously, segregated schools were permitted. Brown v. Board of Education helped end segregation because it reversed the doctrine that supported it. Chief Justice Warren argued that separate was inherently unequal and therefore a violation of the 14th Amendment. Although the Supreme Court decision put the U.S on a course toward the end of segregation, it would be many years and tumultuous conflict before desegregation was realized. The Court charged the states to end segregated schools in 1955. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 pushed integration further. By 1970 legal segregation was eradicated but other forms of discrimination and segregation, like housing, still existed.
Exercise 8
Result
1 of 1
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited pay discrimination on the basis of gender. The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act changed the provisions for filing a lawsuit alleging pay discrimination. The 1964 Act restricted filing a discrimination suit to the first 180 days of employment. The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act changed this provision and allowed for the 180 window to begin again after each pay period. This effectively allowed women to file a pay discrimination suit regardless of when in her employment she learns about the pay disparity.
Exercise 9
Result
1 of 1
The separate-but-equal doctrine is the idea that segregated facilities or programs do not violate the 14th amendment as long as they are equal. This was upheld in the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson in which the Supreme court ruled that segregated railway carriages were constitutional. The Supreme Court case Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada began to weaken the separate-but-equal doctrine. An African American man sought admission to the University of Missouri law school, which was all-white. Because Missouri did not have an equal law school for African American students to attend, the court ruled that the separate-but-equal doctrine did not apply. The state must either open a comparable law school for African Americans or admit him. This case is significant because it began the process of dismantling the myth that these separate could be also equal.
Exercise 10
Step 1
1 of 10
Although discrimination was formally banned at one point during the development of the United States, it remained a reality until it was finally banned on all grounds in The Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Step 2
2 of 10
This act covered all possible future cases of discrimination, but the question of the consequences of discrimination that has already occurred remained open.
Step 3
3 of 10
For example, if a person was barred from attending a university in the past because of his or her race, that person could not acquire the knowledge needed to get a high-paying job, and therefore discrimination in his or her youth determined her further life path.
Step 4
4 of 10
In order to mitigate the consequences of past discrimination, the Federal Government has begun to implement a policy of affirmative action.
Step 5
5 of 10
This policy applied to elders of the Federal Government, the State, local governments and private employers cooperating with the Federal Government and required them to take positive steps to mitigate the effects of past discrimination.
Step 6
6 of 10
An example of affirmative action is a requirement that a certain number of women or members of minorities work in a some institution. That required number is called a quota.
Step 7
7 of 10
There were many opponents of affirmative action. They felt that it was in fact reverse discrimination.
Step 8
8 of 10
Soon, cases involving affirmative action were heard before the Supreme Court. The first of these was the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, in 1978. In this case, the Court sided with Bakke, who, as a white man, was prevented from enrolling in university, even though he met all the conditions, because the quota for enrolling whites was fulfilled.
Step 9
9 of 10
In later cases, the Court took different positions. After the 2000s, opinions emerged, supported by some Supreme Court judges, that affirmative action may have been necessary in the post-discrimination period, but not in modern times. These opinions used the argument that sufficient time has elapsed since the legal abolition of discrimination and that there is no longer a need to handle the consequences of past discrimination.
Step 10
10 of 10
Over time, almost all affirmative action programs have been abandoned.
Exercise 11
Step 1
1 of 11
The United States Constitution exudes a spirit of freedom and individual rights. Certain rights and freedoms were initially reserved only for certain groups of people, but over the years things have changed and an increasing number of people have managed to exercise their rights and freedoms. This would not have been possible without the existence of **social movements**.
Step 2
2 of 11
Social movements are associations of citizens that are formed in order to achieve a common goal for the purpose of which various actions are organized. These actions are mainly directed towards the state because the state alone has the power to establish general rules that everyone must adhere to and to punish those who avoid them.
Step 3
3 of 11
This view is best explained by the famous statement of one of the most prominent leaders of the civil movements, **Martin Luther King**. In the midst of the fight against discrimination, on the conclusion that the adoption of laws alone will not eradicate discrimination from society, he stated: “Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.”
Step 4
4 of 11
Martin Luther King is one of the most important African American leaders in the African American fight for civil rights. The African Americans have come a long way from slavery to the equality they enjoy today. Most of the slaves were of African descent, so this population suffered the most, faced the severe consequences of discrimination, and made the greatest effort to fight for their rights.
Step 5
5 of 11
The most significant event for the abolition of slavery was the **American Civil War**, which began in 1861 and lasted until 1865. At the beginning of the war, 32 million people lived in America, of which 4 million were slaves. The central cause of the war was the conflict between the states that wanted the abolition of slavery (the northern states, “the Union”) and the states that wanted this system to be maintained (the southern states, “the Confederacy”). In this war, the victory was won by the states from the north that opposed slavery, so it was abolished after the war.
Step 6
6 of 11
However, this was not the end of discrimination against the African American population – a society based on the concept of slavery for decades was not ready to abruptly accept the equality of this population.
Step 7
7 of 11
Many of States adopted **racial segregation laws** after the Civil War. These laws allowed the separation of people only on the basis of race, and most of these laws were aimed at the African-American population. The Supreme Court upheld these laws during that period if **the separate-but-equal principle** is fulfilled. This principle has been established by the Supreme Court during hearing Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896.
Step 8
8 of 11
The separate-but-equal doctrine was finally abandoned in 1954 during Brown v. Board of Education case. The Court unanimously decided to repeal the law that allowed the existence of separate schools for white and African American students. With this, segregation in public education was finally declared illegal.
Step 9
9 of 11
In this post-civil war period, civil movements played a key role. Until the late 1950s, Congress did not deal with legislation regarding minorities and their rights and freedoms. The American public did not seem to be aware of the difficulties they were facing.
Step 10
10 of 11
The civil movement led by Martin Luther King managed to make the topic of the rights and freedoms of the African American population important to the public. Public pressure led to the adoption of a number of human rights laws: **the Civil Rights Acts** (1957, 1960, 1964, 1968), **the Voting Rights Acts** (1965, 1970, 1975, 1982, 2006) and **Title IX in the Education Amendments** (1972).
Step 11
11 of 11
One of the most important civil laws is the **Civil Rights Act of 1964**, which prohibits discrimination in a large number of areas. This law forbade persons to be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, etc. in hotels, restaurants, transportation, etc. Discrimination based on the above was prohibited in any federal-funded program. This law specifically emphasized the prohibition of discrimination at work by employers and unions.
Exercise 12
Result
1 of 1
The separate-but-equal doctrine and segregation did not protect individual rights. Despite the claim and doctrine, segregated facilities or programs were rarely if ever truly equal. It was on this basis that the doctrine was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In his state Chief Justice Warren wrote, “We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.” (347 U.S. 483 Brown v. Board of Education)
The 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause states, “nor shall any State… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” The rational bias test is used by the court to determine if there a sufficient correlation between the government’s interest and the law in question. Is there a rational reason the government would place this restriction on one classification of people? For example, regulating who can buy cigarettes. Rational bias is the lowest level of scrutiny the court can use.
More sensitive issues like voting, free speech, or other fundamental rights are typically reviewed with the strict scrutiny test. Any act of government that potentially infringes on key individual rights must be defended in a way which demonstrates a compelling interest for the government to do so. In the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia the court struck down a Virginia law which prohibited interracial marriage. The defenders of the law could not provide a compelling enough reason that passed the strict scrutiny test.
Exercise 13
Step 1
1 of 7
**Affirmative action** policy was introduced in America after the adoption of a series of laws that finally abolished discrimination based on race, origin, color, gender, etc.
Step 2
2 of 7
After the adoption of these laws, the question of resolving the consequences of previous discrimination against people arose. The enactment of laws abolishing discrimination was necessary, but it was not fair to ignore people whose lives had been determined by discrimination in the past.
Step 3
3 of 7
In order to overcome these consequences, a policy of affirmative action was introduced. This policy implied that the presence of minorities was required in governments, state administration, schools, private companies cooperating with the state, etc. That presence was often expressed quantitatively – **the quota system.**
Step 4
4 of 7
Affirmative actions were the subject of controversy – those who opposed them viewed them as **reverse discrimination**.
Step 5
5 of 7
There have been a number of cases with this topic that have been heard before the Supreme Court, which initially supported the policy of affirmative action in order to move away from it over time.
Step 6
6 of 7
After decades of implementation, this policy has mostly been abandoned. The prevailing opinion in society was that it may have been necessary in the first period after the abolition of discrimination, but that in modern society it brings more harm than good.
Step 7
7 of 7
The political cartoon, that we are considering, shows two aliens being in their spaceship and approaching Earth. They are worried because they do not know what awaits them on Earth, but they comfort each other by stating that everything will be fine because of the affirmative action. The creator of this cartoon wanted to express his disagreement with the application of this policy and his doubt that it can help minorities in exercising their rights.
Exercise 14
Result
1 of 1
Some forms of discrimination are reasonable. For example, a tax on cigarettes only affects smokers and not non-smokers. Does this law discriminate? It clearly only affects one group of people, but the government does not have the required rational or compelling interest in protecting that group. Through court cases like Kahn v. Shevin and Dothard v. Rawlinson the Supreme Court has demonstrated that not all forms of discrimination by gender are unconstitutional.
The rational bias test demands that the law have a rational relationship to the stated goals of government. A tax that only affects smokers can rationally be connected to the government’s objective of decreasing smoking rates. Strict scrutiny is used for cases involving more fundamental rights.
The trend seems to show the court expanding their application of the 14th amendment. In 1873 the court supported a law banning women from practicing law. One concurring opinion stated, “The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life.” (83 US 130, Bradwell v. Illinois,) If one only looks at the court’s movement away from this, then the direction seems to be for greater expansion of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Exercise 15
Step 1
1 of 8
**The rule of law** is one of the most important principles of democracy and implies that the governing power is legally limited and responsible in its work and that its basic function is the realization and protection of human rights and freedoms.
Step 2
2 of 8
Citizens entrust the state with the power to manage public affairs and organize the administration. The power possessed by the state is quite comprehensive and concentrated, and in those cases there is a possibility of its abuse. The only way for citizens to be protected from this possibility is for the rule of law to exist in the state. This concept ensures that no one is above the law and that the law is the supreme instance.
Step 3
3 of 8
One of the significant cases on the subject of the rule of law and individual rights is **Michael M. v. Superior Court 1981**. This case dealt with a law from California under which a man who has a sexual relationship with a girl under the age of 18 with whom he is not married can be charged with rap statutory. On the other hand, a girl cannot be charged with that crime.
Step 4
4 of 8
The question that was considered by the court is whether this law discriminates on the basis of gender. In its judgment, the Court took the view that the law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The explanation given by the court was that girls have a much higher risk in sexual relations, because there is a possibility of pregnancy and that the state has the right to pass laws that help prevent underage pregnancy in extramarital unions.
Step 5
5 of 8
In the example of this case, we see the sensitivity shown by the Court in relation to human rights. Although all people are equal before the constitution, the Court has recognized that the state must in some cases be able to differentiate between them and restrict individual rights in relation to others. This distinction must be based on reasonable grounds.
Step 6
6 of 8
Another case concerning human rights is **Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education 1971**. After the case of Brown v. The Board of Education concluded in 1954 that racial segregation was not allowed in public schools. However, although segregation was prohibited, in some schools it could not be avoided for objective reasons – some schools were located deep in neighborhoods with an exclusively African-American population.
Step 7
7 of 8
In order to overcome obstacles of this type, several projects were launched, one of them was the organization of school buses to take students on changed lines, to schools that were located outside their neighborhoods.
Step 8
8 of 8
During Swann v. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education case, Supreme Court upheld the busing program in North Carolina. The Court considered that these programs could accelerate the process of racial integration in public schools.
Exercise 16
Result
1 of 1
In the view of the quote, the function of women was changing from that of a private family based role, to one that involved more public activities. The sphere that encompassed the role of women was expanding. The argument of the suffragettes was that when women won the right to vote, other rights would come forthwith. While the right to vote was won around 100 years ago, women still fall far behind men in terms of representation in many key areas. Women are underrepresented in Congress (only 20% of seats are held by women, State Legislatures (less than 25% of seats are held by women), and less than 40% of doctors and lawyers are women. The jobs which are overwhelmingly held by women include professions like secretaries, nurses, and childcare workers. While these are demanding fields, they still fall within the traditional roles of women that existed long before the right to vote was won. Even with all the progress made toward equal pay, women still earn less than $.80 for every dollar made by men.
Exercise 17
Step 1
1 of 11
Although diversity in a society can have a number of positive consequences, we very often encounter the challenges associated with it.
Step 2
2 of 11
The biggest challenge is **discrimination**. There are many types of discrimination: racial, gender, color, age, national, disability, etc.
Discrimination occurs in various places, at school, at work, in state institutions, in public places, etc.
Discrimination occurs in various places, at school, at work, in state institutions, in public places, etc.
Step 3
3 of 11
It is in human nature to want to spend time and be surrounded by people who are similar to us. However, this does not mean that discriminatory behavior towards people who differ from us on any grounds is allowed. Since this issue cannot be left to the will of individuals, it needs to be strictly regulated by law.
Step 4
4 of 11
**American society is a society of diversity.** The way in which the state was created and in which it developed provided the population of different races, origins, languages, customs, cultures, etc. Initially, the majority white population denied equal rights to minorities. With the evolution of society and the struggle of minorities, new laws were introduced which, over time, regulated the topic of discrimination more and more strictly and comprehensively.
Step 5
5 of 11
The struggle of the African-American population for the recognition of equal rights and freedoms is an example of how difficult it is to overcome diversity in society.
Step 6
6 of 11
Because of its diversity, the African-American population has suffered discrimination since colonial times. At that time, the position of this population was extremely cruel because they were mostly slaves. Slavery was abolished after the Civil War with the enactment of the 13th Amendment.
Step 7
7 of 11
Although racial discrimination has been declared unconstitutional by adopting 13th Amendment, it has not been eradicated. The adoption of laws that would ensure the implementation of constitutional provisions on the issue of discrimination has been missed. It was only with the enactment of a set of Civil right laws after 1957 that all the necessary mechanisms were created to outlaw discrimination completely.
Step 8
8 of 11
Another challenge that arises in a society rich in diversity is **reverse discrimination**. In the period following the adoption of a set of civil rights laws in the 1960s, the question of the consequences of past discrimination arose.
Step 9
9 of 11
It was considered that certain programs should be launched to help people who had experienced discrimination in the past. These programs were called **affirmative action** and involved the requirement that members of minorities be involved in certain public areas to a certain extent.
Step 10
10 of 11
For example, when enrolling in public universities, there was a condition to enroll a certain number of members of racial minorities. Also, in some state institutions there was a condition to employ a certain number of women or a certain number of people with disabilities.
Step 11
11 of 11
Many criticized the policy of affirmative action because they believed that it leads to reverse discrimination, that is, to discriminate against the majority population.
unlock