| affirmative action | a term that refers to programs designed to ensure that women, minorities and other traditionally disadvantaged groups have full and equal opportunities in employment, education and other areas of life.
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| civil rights | deals with issues of equality, especially among individuals of differing groups, in their treatment by government, and in some areas, by private parties.
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| comparable worth | the idea that women should get pay equal to men for work that is of similar difficulty and responsibility and that requires similar levels of education and training.
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| de facto discrimination | discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, ethnicity and the like that results from social, economic and cultural biases and conditions.
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| de jure discrimination | discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, ethnicity, and the like that results from a law.
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| equal-protection clause | a clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny equal protection of the laws to any individual within its jurisdiction.
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| equal rights | the right of every person to equal protection under the laws and equal access to society's opportunities and public facilities.
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| equality of result | the objective of policies intended to reduce or eliminate the effects of discrimination so that members of traditionally disadvantaged groups will have the same benefits of society as do members of advantaged groups.
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| gender gap | the tendency of women to vote more heavily Democratic than men do.
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| intermediate-scrutiny test | a test applied by courts to laws that treat individuals unequally. Such a law may be deemed constitutional if it serves a clearly compelling and justified purpose.
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| reasonable-basis test | a test applied by courts to laws that treat individuals unequally. Such a law may be deemed constitutional if its purpose is held to be "reasonably" related to a legitimate government interest.
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| strict-scrutiny test | a test applied by courts to laws that attempt a racial or ethnic classification. In effect, the strict-scrutiny test eliminates race or ethnicity as a legal classification when it places minority group members at a disadvantage.
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| suspect classifications | legal classifications, such as race and national origin, that have invidious discrimination as their purpose and are therefore unconstitutional.
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