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Standard and Short Edition:
1 American Political Culture
2 The Founding and the Constitution
3 Federalism
4 Civil Liberties
5 Civil Rights
6 Public Opinion
7 The Media
8 Political Participation and Voting
9 Political Parties
10 Campaigns and Elections
11 Groups and Interests
12 Congress
13 The Presidency
14 Bureaucracy In A Democracy
15 The Federal Courts
16 Government and Economy
17 Social Policy
18 Foreign Policy and Democracy
Texas Edition:
19 The Political Culture, People, and Economy of Texas
20 The Texas Constitution
21 Parties and Elections in Texas
22 Interest Groups, Lobbying, and Lobbyists
23 The Texas Legislature
24 The Texas Executive Branch
25 The Texas Judiciary
26 Local Government in Texas
27 Public Policy in Texas

Chapter 4: Civil Liberties

Questions for Discussion and Thought

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  1. How much free speech do you think we should allow in the United States? Would you want a white racist to give a speech on your campus? A member of the freemen’s militia? A neo-Nazi? An African American racist?

  1. Have you ever been called for jury duty? Explain the process. How did you feel about this? Did you try to get out of jury duty? What if everyone tried to evade jury duty?

  1. List three provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. Do you think that these provisions are necessary to ensure our safety, or are they a threat to our civil liberties?

  1. Most of the democratic countries of the world have abolished capital punishment. Why do you think the United States still uses execution?  If other countries had our crime rate, do you think they would want capital punishment? A Texas legislator recently introduced a bill allowing ten-yearolds to be executed. List arguments for and against capital punishment for juveniles. Do we draw the line according to age or severity of crime?



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