Reading Post-Test

Reading Rate Post-­‐Test: Textbook Excerpt from Understanding the Political World: 

A Comparative Introduction to Political Science, 12/e

by James N. Danziger and Charles Anthony Smith

1 Imagine you have a 13-year-old sister in eighth grade. She has quite the day at school: The vice principal comes into her math class unexpectedly and asks her to bring her backpack and accompany him to his office. In his office, she sees a planner, a knife, a lighter, and some white pills on his desk. The vice principal lectures her about the importance of telling the truth, then asks which of the items belong to her. She tells him that she had lent the planner to another girl a few days earlier, but that the other items are not hers. The vice principal responds that the other girl has reported your sister for giving her the pills, which students are not allowed to possess at school.

2 The vice principal asks if he can look through your sister’s backpack, and she agrees. A female secretary enters the office and searches the backpack. Your sister is then told to follow the secretary to the nurse’s office, where she is asked to remove her jacket, socks, and shoes. She follows their directions. They next ask her to take off her pants and shirt, and again she follows their directions. These clothes are searched, and when nothing incriminating is found, they order your sister to stand up, pull her bra away from her body and shake

it, then pull her underwear loose and shake it. No pills drop out when she complies. She is allowed to put her clothes back on and sit outside the principal’s office for several hours. Finally, she is sent back to class.

What do you think of the events just described? Is this situation political? Do the actions of the vice principal seem appropriate? What about the actions of the school’s secretary and nurse? Did your sister do the right thing by complying with each of their requests? Did she have a choice? What would you do in a similar situation?

4 Of course, this did not happen to your little sister (if you have one), but it did happen to 13-year-old Savana Redding of Safford, Arizona, in 2003. Here are some additional facts in this case. This public school has a responsibility to ensure the safety and health of all of its students. The previous year, a student nearly died from drugs taken without permission at the school. The school district has a zero-tolerance policy for all drugs—no student is allowed to possess any drugs at school, whether over-the-counter, prescription, or illegal. The vice principal acted on information from another girl who reported that Savana had given her pills that day. It was not really a “strip search” because Savana never took off her underwear. All of these conditions seem to justify the actions that occurred.

5 However, there are valid points on the other side of the issue. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution seems to protect Savana from this type of search unless significant evidence indicates that something illegal is occurring (probable cause). The vice principal’s actions were taken based on questionable information from another girl who was already in trouble for possessing the pills. And the search occurred despite Savana’s claim that she had no pills, without parental approval, and before any further investigation of the situation was attempted. Then there is common sense: the pills are merely extra-strength ibuprofen (painkillers). Is this really a legitimate reason for adults in authority positions to force a 13-year-old girl to submit to a humiliating strip search?

6 Savana’s mother was outraged. With the assistance of a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), she sued the school officials on the grounds that they had subjected her daughter to an ‘unreasonable search.’ Savana’s lawyer argued that, while a search of her backpack might be reasonable, a strip search was not, given the flimsy evidence of guilt and the minimal threat associated with ibuprofen. The school district’s officials responded that the vice principal’s actions were justified and consistent with numerous court cases that uphold the rights and responsibilities of schools to prevent dangerous behavior among their students, including searches for drugs or weapons.

7 Initially, a judge in Tucson ruled in favor of the actions by the school officials; however, on appeal, the circuit court reversed the decision by the narrowest of margins (6–5). The court concluded that the strip search of an eighth grader, while looking for prescription drugs, was a violation of her constitutional rights, and it held that the family could sue the school for damages. The school’s lawyer then appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2009, the court’s majority (8–1) held that the search of Savana was unconstitutional. The majority reasoned that the particular drugs suspected in this case were not sufficiently threatening to justify the search. However, the court did not allow the family to sue school officials, leaving open the question of how it might rule if school officials suspected a student of possessing something more dangerous than ibuprofen.

8 Toward a Definition of Politics

The first step in our journey toward a better understanding of the political world is to establish what we mean by politics. The Savana Redding search captures some of the crucial themes related to politics:

■ Politics is the competition among individuals and groups pursuing their own interests.

■ Politics is the exercise of power and influence to allocate things that are valued.

■ Politics is the determination of who gets what, when, and how.

■ Politics is the resolution of conflict.

9 All of these definitions share the central idea that politics is the process through which power and influence are used in the promotion of certain values and interests. Competing values and interests are clearly at the heart of the search of Savana Redding. The values that guide a zero-tolerance policy regarding drugs at the school  are balanced against values that protect a student against an illegal search. Other groups might have a stake in this conflict, as did the ACLU, which intervened to promote its views about individual liberty, and the courts, which asserted their responsibility to interpret the laws.

10 As individuals, groups, and governmental actors make decisions about what is good or bad for society, and as they try to implement their decisions, politics occurs. Every individual holds an array of preferred values and interests, and that individual cares more about some of those values than others. What values is each individual willing to promote or yield on? If the values of different individuals come into conflict, whose values and rights should prevail? And, if people cannot work out their conflicting values privately through discussion and compromise, must the government intervene? How does the government exercise its power to resolve the conflict? Who benefits and who is burdened by the policies of the government? These are all political questions.

READING RATE TABLE: Chapter Ten: Textbook Excerpt from Understanding the Political World: A Comparative Introduction to Political Science, 12/e. 1,169 words

time	wpm		time	Wpm		time	wpm		time	wpm		time	wpm		time	wpm
1:00	1169		3:00	390		5:00	234		7:00	167		9:00	130		11:00	106
1:10	1002		3:10	369		5:10	226		7:10	163		9:10	128		11:10	105
1:20	877		3:20	351		5:20	219		7:20	159		9:20	121		11:20	103
1:30	779		3:30	334		5:30	213		7:30	156		9:30	123		11:30	102
1:40	701		3:40	319		5:40	206		7:40	152		9:40	121		11:40	100
1:50	638		3:50	305		5:50	200		7:50	149		9:50	119		11:50	99
2:00	585		4:00	292		6:00	195		8:00	146		10:00	117		12:00	97
2:10	540		4:10	281		6:10	190		8:10	143		10:10	115		12:10	96
2:20	501		4:20	270		6:20	185		8:20	140		10:20	113		12:20	95
2:30	468		4:30	260		6:30	180		8:30	138		10:30	111		12:30	94
2:40	438		4:40	250		6:40	175		8:40	135		10:40	110		12:40	92
2:50	413		4:50	242		6:50	171		8:50	132		10:50	108		12:50	91