Review Topics
I. Monday
A. Topics/Concepts
a. Salutary Neglect/Mercantilism
i. Causes of Revolutionary War
b. Political Values
i. English Heritage
ii. Declaration of Independence
iii. Preamble to Constitution
c. Articles of Confederation
i. Basic Design
ii. Federal Powers
iii. Weaknesses
iv. Impact of Daniel Shays’s Rebellion
d. Constitutional Convention and Constitutional Debate
i. Major Compromises
ii. Federalists and Anti-Federalists
iii. Bill of Rights
iv. Articles of the Constitution
e. Citizenship
i. Theories of the immigration’s impact on American Culture
ii. Historical and current resistance to immigration
iii. Changes in immigration policies
iv. Naturalization
v. Civics Duties vs. Civic Responsibilities
B. Activities
a. Make an appointment
II. Tuesday
A. Topics/Concepts
a. Federal Government
i. Legislative
1. Structure (bicameral, representation in each house, terms)
2. Purpose (legislative and non-legislative duties)
3. Checks and Balances
4. Expressed vs. Implied Powers
5. Limitations
6. How the above enables them to perform four functions of gov.
ii. Executive
1. Structure (Pres/VP, Cabinet, Commission, Agencies, Departments,
terms)
2. Purpose (Roles, Constitutional Powers, roles of agencies,
departments, ect.)
3. Checks and Balances
4. How the above enables them to perform four functions of gov.
iii. Judicial
1. Structure (how their picked, three levels, terms)
2. Purpose (jurisdiction at each level, Judicial Review)
3. Supreme Court Process
4. Checks and Balances
5. How the above enables them to perform four functions of gov.
b. State Government
i. The Branches and their duties
1. Executive
2. Legislative
3. Judicial
ii. Reserved Powers
iii. Concurrent Powers
iv. Budget: Revenue and Expenditures
c. Local Government
i. County and City Organization
ii. Services Provided
iii. Budget: Revenue and Expenditures
d. Comparing Constitutions
i. Purpose
ii. Emphasis
iii. Design
III. Wednesday
A. Legal System:
a. Rule of Law
i. How does the Constitution Establish it? Examples of Clauses and Amendments
ii. How has it been expanded over time?
iii. How does it influence the creation and maintance of legal procedures (think
about due process rights and court procedure)
b. Law Making Process
i. Steps for how a bill becomes a law at federal and state level.
ii. Role of each branch of government in terms of legislation process.
c. Enforcement
i. How are laws enforced at each level of government?
ii. Be able to cite examples for each level: Federal, State, and Local.
d. Types of Law
i. Identify the purpose of each.
ii. Who enforces each?
e. Court Procedures
i. Steps in a Civil Case
ii. Steps in a Criminal Case
iii. Steps in a Juvenile Case
f. Legal Rights
i. Identify your legal Rights
ii. How well have they been enforced overtime? Gi ve examples.
iii. To answer above look at Supreme Court Cases (Use your Cornell notes they
have them up there). Make sure you can identify the type of Constitutional Issue
(right, clause, power, ect) involved in the case, for this is what the exam is after.
g. Penal System
i. Discuss the different purposes of prisons.
ii. Evaluate the Death Penalty
h. Influences on Law
i. How do the following influence the creation and enforcement of laws and
policies:
1. Interest Groups
2. Political Parties
3. The Media
4. The Public
IV. Thursday
A. Political Parties
a. Origins
b. Changes in the parties
c. Election Process
i. Primary
1. Different Rules
ii. National Convention
iii. General Election
d. Role of Third Parties
e. How they can be influenced:
i. Media
ii. Role of Public Opinion Polls
iii. Interest Groups
f. How they shape Policy
i. Planks
ii. Platforms
g. Campaign Finance
i. Soft vs. Hard
ii. Public vs. Private
iii. Specific Laws
iv. Attempts at Reform
v. Citizens United
B. Personal Financial Literacy
a. Long term vs. Short Term Planning
b. Human Capital and Standard of Living
c. How to make a budget
d. Types of Investments
i. Types
ii. Compound Interests
iii. Risk vs. Reward
iv. Impact of taxes and fees on return
e. Benefits and drawbacks of credit
i. Credit Score
1. How to build it
2. What hurts it
ii. Compound Interests
f. Consumer Protection
i. Role of Government
ii. Types of Scams
iii. How to avoid them
iv. Outlets for education
V. Friday
A. Economics
a. Major Principles
i. Scarcity and Opportunity Costs
ii. Economic Flow Chart
iv. Productivity
1. Human Capital
2. Specialization
v. Costs and Revenue
1. Types
2. Cost Benefit Analysis
vi. Impact of Inflation
vii. Supply and Demand
1. The laws
2. Role of Equilibrium Price
viii. Roles
1. Price
2. Competition
3. Profit Motive
b. Economic Systems
i. types
1. Draw a Continuum
ii. Three Production Questions
1. How are they answered differently
iv. Four Factors of Production
1. How are they allocated differently
c. Market
i. What is a Market
ii. Types of Markets
iii. Put them on a Continuum
d. Macro Indicators
i. GDP
1. What does it not show
ii. NDP
iii. Unemployment
1. Issues
iv. Standard of Living/ Costs of Living
v. Consumer Price Index
vi. Business Cycles
e. Major Institutions
i. Federal Reserve
1. Purposes
2. 3 Tools
3. Structure
ii. Banks
1. Purpose
2. Relation to wealth
3. Types
iii. Stock Market
f. Role of Government
i. Competition
ii. Consumer Protection
iii. Providing Public Goods
iv. Dealing with Externalities
v. Federal and State Expenditures
v. Federal and State Revenues
1. Specifics
2. Types of Taxes (progressive, regressive, flat, ect)
B. Trade
a. Why nations trade and How they decide what to produce and what to trade?
i. Scarcity
ii. Absolute Advantage
iii. Comparative Advantage
iv. Specialization
b. Trade Balance
i. imports
ii. exports
iii. Trade Deficits
iv. Trade Surpluses
v. Benefits and drawbacks of trade deficits and surpluses
c. Impact of Trade
i. Globalization and Interdependence
ii. Impacts on Wealthy Nations
iv. Impacts on Third World and Developing Nations
d. Free Trade vs. Protectionism
i. Arguments for Each
ii. Arguments against each
iii. Quotas
iv. Tariffs
v. Subsidies
vi. How trade restrictions impact supply and demand and equilibrium price?
e. Our Economy
i. NC domestic economy
i. Historical
ii. Contemporary
iii. Trade
ii. U.S.
i. Historical
ii. Contemporary
iii. Trade