Civics
Focus Questions
1. What is the order of presidential
succession?
2. How can the president influence
legislation, the military and foreign policy?
Final Exam Study
Guide
Unit 3: Executive Branch
3. What are the responsibilities of the cabinet
departments?
4. What makes a regulatory commission
different from other independent agencies?
5. What are some criticisms of the federal
bureaucracy?
6-1: The Presidency
 Presidential succession
Unit 4: Judicial Branch
6-2: Powers and Roles of the President
 State of Union Address
 Commander in Chief
 Legislative Leader
 Foreign policy
 Diplomacy
6-3: Executive Departments and the Cabinet
 Secretary
 Cabinet
 Joint Chiefs of Staff
 Ambassadors
 Executive Departments
 Attorney general
6-4: Independent Agencies and Regulatory
Commissions
 Independent Agencies
 Regulatory Commission
 Bureaucracy
7-1: Equal Justice Under the Law
 Independent judiciary
 Justice
 Criminal Law and Civil Law
 Sources of Law (4)
 Roles of the courts
7-2: The Federal Court System
 Jurisdiction – Appellate and Original
 Federal court system structure
 The judges – appointment, salary,
roles
7-3: The Supreme Court
 Judicial Review – Marbury v.
Madison
 Remand
 Opinion, Dissenting Opinion,
Concurring Opinion
 Justices
Court cases to know….
 Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
 Cooper v. Aaron
 Gideon v. Wainwright
 Tinker v. Des Moines
 Texas v. Johnson
 Hazelwood v Kuhlmeir
 Morse v. Frederick
 New York Times v. United States
 Bethel v. Fraser
 Roe v. Wade
 New London v. Kelo
 Griswold v. Connecticut
 Hearts of Atlanta Motel v. U.S.
 Grutter v. Bollinger
 Loving v. Virginia
 Miller v. Alabama
 New Jersey v. T.L.O.
 Vernonia School District v. Acton
 Miranda v. Arizona
Unit 5: State and Local
Government – Chapter 8 & 9-2
State Government
 Delegated, Reserved, and Concurrent
powers


The 10th Amendment: Implications
on current issues (same-sex
marriage, gun control, etc.)
Full faith and credit clause

Bicameral/unicameral legislatures at
the state level

Generalized terms, qualifications,
and sessions of state government
1. What is the significance of an
independent but equal judiciary?

Connecticut Constitution:
Structure and content
2. How do laws both guarantee and limit
freedom?

History of Connecticut’s
government: The Fundamental
Orders, The Charter of 1662, The
Constitution of 1818, The
Constitution of 1965, Consequences
of reapportionment

How a bill becomes a law at the state
level

Citizen participation in
lawmaking: constituents, initiative,
referendum, recall
Focus Questions
3. How did the results of the above
Supreme Court cases limit and
expand natural rights and freedoms?



Executive Branch: Governor,
lieutenant governor, secretary of
state, attorney general, state
treasurer, state auditor,
superintendent of public instruction
…Know their roles and as they relate
to CT’s executive branch
Judicial Branch: Know
Connecticut’s state court system
Missouri Plan
Local Government
 Home rule

Structures of Local Government:
Weak Mayor Plan, Strong Mayor
Plan, Commission, Council-manager
Focus Questions
1. What is happening with the 10th
Amendment? Understand its
meaning and how current issues are
impacting it.
2. How well does CT’s constitution
uphold the goals set forth in the U.S.
Constitution?
Unit 6: Political Behaviors and
Propaganda
A Two-Party System
 Political Party
 Political Spectrum
 Two-Party System
 Multi-Party System
 Coalition
 One-Party System
 Third Parties
Contemporary American Political Ideologies
and Parties
 Liberal – Radical (Left Wing)
 Conservative – Reactionary (Right
Wing)
 Neo-Conservative
 Christian Conservatism
 Libertarian
Political Party Organization
3. What are the pros and cons of home
rule?



Party Committees – National, State,
Local
Campaign Finance Reform
Private Financing & Public Financing
The Right to Vote
 Independent Voters
 Primary Election
 General Elections
 Closed, Open Primaries
Nominating and Electing Leaders
 Popular Vote
 Elector
 Electoral votes
 Electoral College
 Platform
 Plank
Shaping Public Opinion 9-1
 Public Opinion
 Mass Media
 Propaganda
- Concealed
- Revealed
 7 Propaganda Techniques
-Testimonial, Bandwagon, Name
Calling, Glittering Generalities, PlainFolks Appeal, Card Stacking,
Transfer
Focus Questions
1. Rate the stability of government and
response to public opinion for: TwoParty System, Multi-Party System,
One-Party System.
2. Does campaign financing need
reform?
3. Know the American political
spectrum….Ideologies and Parties.
4. The Electoral College: Is it the right
way to elect the President?
5. How is public opinion shaped by
propaganda?