Civics & Economics Top 100

Civics & EconomicsTop 100

What every student should know topass the Civics & Economics EOC

Goal 1

Goal 1: The learner will investigate thefoundations of the American politicalsystem and explore basic values andprinciples of American democracy.

Colonial Regional Differences

•New England – Puritans,farming, lumber, fishing,ship building and trading

•Middle – religioustoleration, economy basedon exporting wheat

•Southern – largeplantations, rice, cattle,farming, slavery

Magna Carta, 1215

•An English document draw up by noblesunder King John which limited the powerof the king. It has influenced laterconstitutional documents in Britain andAmerica.

Enlightenment Philosophers

•John Locke – Natural rights,rights people are born with,government can’t take away.

•Montesquieu – Separation ofpowers, dividing governmentpower among legislative,executive, & judicial branches.

•Rousseau – Social contract,people give up some rights inorder to receive social order.

House of Burgesses, 1619

•The Virginia House ofBurgesses formed thefirst legislative bodyin colonial America.Later other colonieswould adopt housesof burgesses.

Mayflower Compact, 1620

•The first agreement forself-government inAmerica. It was signedby the 41 men on theMayflower and set up agovernment for thePlymouth colony.

Mercantilism

•Possession of colonies provided countriesboth with sources of raw materials andmarkets for their manufactured goods. GreatBritain exported goods and forced thecolonies to buy them.

Long-term causes of Revolution

•Discontent with foreignrule

•Mercantilism

•Tradition of self-government

•Preservation of civilliberties

•No taxation withoutrepresentation

Short-term causes of Revolution

•Shots fired at Lexingtonand Concord

•Thomas Paine’sCommon Sense

•Declaration ofIndependence

Declaration of Independence, 1776

•The Declaration of Independence was signedby the Second Continental Congress on July4. It dissolved the colonies' ties with Britain,listed grievances against King George III,and declared the colonies to be anindependent nation.

Articles of Confederation

•The Articles of Confederationdelegated most powers toindividual states.

•The Articles' weakness was theygave the federal government solittle power it couldn't keep thecountry united.

•The Articles' only major successwas they settled western landclaims with the NorthwestOrdinance.

•The Articles were abandoned forthe Constitution.

Constitutional Compromises

•The Great Compromise settled the differencesbetween the Virginia and the New Jersey plans bycreating a bicameral legislature. The Senate wouldequally represent every state and the House ofRepresentatives would be based on population.

•The Three-fifths (3/5) Clause counted eachenslaved person as three fifths of a person, whichboosted the number of the South’s seats inCongress.

Federalist vs. Anti-federalists

•Federalists

•Supported theConstitution

•Wanted a strongcentral government

•Madison, Hamilton,and Jay wrote theFederalist Papers

•Anti-federalists

•Opposed theConstitution

•Wanted strongstate governmentsand a Bill of Rights

•Patrick Henry wasan Anti-federalist

Civics & EconomicsTop 100

What every student should know topass the Civics & Economics EOC

Goal 2

Goal 2: The learner will analyze howthe government established by theUnited States Constitution embodiesthe purposes, values, and principles ofAmerican democracy.

Scene_at_the_Signing_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States

Principles of the Constitution

•Popular sovereignty

•Federalism

•Separation of Powers

•Checks & Balances

•Limited Government

•Flexibility

3 Branches of Government

•Legislative – makes laws

•Executive – executes or enforces laws

•Judicial – interprets laws

Bill of Rights, 1791

•The first ten amendments to theConstitution, which guarantee basicindividual rights.

Suffrage Amendments

•15th gave African Americans the rightto vote.

•19th gave women the right to vote.

•23rd gave residents of the District ofColumbia the right to vote inpresidential elections.

•24th abolished poll taxes.

•26th gave citizens 18 years and olderthe right to vote.

Civil War Amendments

•13th abolished slavery.

•14th defined citizenship and guaranteed allcitizens “equal protection under the law.”

•15th gave African Americans the right tovote.

Impeachment

•A majority of the members of the House ofRepresentatives accuse the President orother high government officials of seriouswrongdoing.

Judicial Review

•The Supreme Court’spower to overturn any lawthat it decides is in conflictwith the Constitution.

•Judicial Review wasestablished by the decisionin Marbury v. Madison.

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

•Marbury v. Madison – judicial review

•Plessy v. Ferguson – “separate but equal”

•Brown v. Board of Education – “separate is notequal”

•Gideon v. Wainwright – court-appointed attorney

•Miranda v. Arizona – rights of the accused

States’ Rights

•The states' rights concept is usually used todefend a state law that the federalgovernment seeks to override, or to opposea perceived violation by the federalgovernment of the bounds of federalauthority.

Government Revenue

•Money the government collects, such astaxes, fines, bonds, or user fees.

Contemporary Issues

•Strict versus looseconstruction of theConstitution

•States’ rights

•Electoral College andprocess

•Civil and personalliberties

Government Agencies

•Conservation of natural resources

•Immigration and naturalization

•Crime control and drug prevention

•Information gathering and policy formation

•Health and human services

•National security

•Transportation

Civics & EconomicsTop 100

What every student should know topass the Civics & Economics EOC

Goal 3

Goal 3: The learner will analyze how stateand local government is established bythe North Carolina Constitution.

3 Branches of State & LocalGovernment

•Executive – Governor

•Legislative – NC General Assembly

•Judicial – NC State Supreme Court

Incorporation and Charters

•A document givingpermission to createa government andproviding a plan asto how thatgovernment shouldwork.

Types of Local Government

•County

•City

•Special districts

•Townships

•Metropolis

The Leandro Case

•Leandrodetermined thatevery NorthCarolina child has aConstitutional rightto sound, basiceducation.

14th Amendment

•The amendment provides a definition ofcitizenship, overturning the Dred Scott case,which excluded African Americans.

•It requires states to provide equal protectionunder the law to all persons within theirjurisdictions, and was used in the mid-20thcentury to dismantle legal segregation, as inBrown v. Board of Education.

•Its Due Process Clause has driven manycases around privacy rights, abortion (Roe v.Wade), and other issues.

State and Local Revenue

•State income tax

•Sales tax

•Excise taxes

•Licenses

•Property tax

•Permits

•User fees

•Federal grants in aid

State and Local Spending

•Public schools and colleges

•Jails and youth detention centers

•Public Health services

•Social services

•Libraries

•Public housing

•Parks and recreation

•Elections

Civics & EconomicsTop 100

What every student should know topass the Civics & Economics EOC

Goal 4

Goal 4: The learner will explore activeroles as a citizen at the local, state, andnational levels of government.

Political Party Systems

•One-party system – one political partycontrols the government

•Two-party system – two political partiescompete for government positions

•Multi-party system – three or more politicalparties compete for government positions

Types of Elections

•Primary election – members from the sameparty select candidates to run in generalelections

•General election – voters make a finaldecision about candidates or issues

•Recall election – voters can remove electedofficials from office

Voting Procedures andQualifications

•18 years or older

•U.S. citizen

•Resident of the statewhere he or she wantsto vote

•Completed voterregistration

Election Campaign Process

•Public and Private Funding – money israised to pay for the campaign

•Canvassing – going door-to-door askingpeople to vote for a candidate

•Endorsements – the action of publiclydeclaring one's personal or group'ssupport of a candidate for elected office

•Propaganda – messages that are meant toinfluence people’s votes

Interest Groups/PACS

•Interest groups – people who worktogether for similar interests or goals

•PACS (political action committees) –promotes its members’ interests in stateand national politics and are regulated bythe federal government

Electoral College

•A group made up of electors from eachstate who vote for presidential candidates.

•Based on a “all or nothing” system.

Mass Media and Public Opinion

•Television, radio, newspapers, magazines,and the Internet influence pubic opinion.

Rights/Duties/Responsibilities

•Rights – what you are allowed to do (freedomof speech, religion, press, assembly, petition)

•Duties – what you are required to do (paytaxes, obey laws, serve on juries)

•Responsibilities – what you should do (vote,recycle, get an education)

Mediation and Arbitration

•Mediation is a process by which peopleagree to use a third party to help themsettle a conflict.

•Arbitration is the use of a third party tomake a legal decision that is binding on allparties.

Civics & EconomicsTop 100

What every student should know topass the Civics & Economics EOC

Goal 5

Goal 5: The learner will explain how thepolitical and legal systems provide ameans to balance competing interestsand resolve conflicts.

Levels of Courts

•Federal courts

–District Courts

–U.S. Court ofAppeal

–U.S. SupremeCourt

–Special Court

•State Courts

–Lower Courts

–General TrialCourts

–IntermediateAppellate Courts

–State SupremeCourt

Types of Jurisdiction

•Original

–a court’s authority to hear a case first

•Appellate

–a court’s authority to hear an appeal of adecision by another court

•Concurrent

–a court’s authority to hear a case is shared withanother court

•Exclusive

–a court’s authority to head a case is not sharedwith another court

Criminal Law

•The group of laws that tell which acts arecrimes, how accused persons should betried in court, and how crimes should bepunished.

Civil Law

•The group of lawsthat help settledisagreementsbetween people.

Judicial Process

•Judicial Independence - permits judges to make decisionsthat they believe are correct, fair and just even though theirdecisions may sometimes be unpopular.

•Open Proceedings - Not only must the court system workand be fair, but it is important that people see that it worksand is fair. When people have confidence in the legalsystem, they will support it and respect for the law will grow.For this reason, most court proceedings, including trials, areopen to the public.

•Equal Treatment - For our courts to be fair, judges must beimpartial -- that is, they may not favor either side in a case.The goal of our courts is to provide equal treatment to allpeople, regardless of their wealth, position, race, gender,religion, ethnic background or physical disability.

Selection of Federal Judges

•All federal judges are appointedby the

President

and confirmed by the

Senate.

•They serve

life

terms and can be removed fromoffice only by the

impeachment process.

Courtroom Roles

•Judge - Presides Over the Trial, Controls theCourtroom, and Decides the Evidence and AllQuestions of Law.

•Courtroom Deputy - Calls Court to Order,Swears in Witnesses, Manages the Exhibits, andKeeps the Minutes to Be Posted to the CourtDocket.

•Court Reporter - Takes Down the Record ofProceedings and Provides Transcripts in a LaterStage of the Proceedings if Needed.

•Court Security Officer - Is Responsible forOverall Security in the Courtroom.

Jury System

•A body of persons sworn to judge and give averdict on a given matter, especially a body ofpersons summoned by law and sworn to hearand hand down a verdict upon a casepresented in court.

–Grand jury:

•Indicts suspects

–Petit jury:

•Determines guilt or innocence.

Legislative Process

•Legislation is Introduced - Any member ofCongress can introduce a piece of legislation.

•Committee Action - The bill is referred to theappropriate committee by the Speaker of theHouse or the presiding officer in the Senate.

•Debate - In the House, debate time is dividedequally. In the Senate, members can speakas long as they want unless cloture isinvoked. Senators can use a filibuster todefeat a measure.

Legislative Process

•Vote - If the House and Senate pass differentbills they are sent to Conference Committee.Most major legislation goes to a ConferenceCommittee.

•Conference Committee - Members fromeach house form a conference committee towork out the differences. If the ConferenceCommittee reaches a compromise, itprepares a written conference report, which issubmitted to each chamber.

Committee System

Due to the high volume and complexity of its work,Congress divides its tasks.

•Standing committees:

–permanent, divided based on topics

–Subcommittees handle specific areas of the committee’swork.

•Select committees:

–temporary, do a special job for a limited time

•Joint committees:

–include members of both houses

–Conference committees:

•help the House and Senate agree on the details of a proposed law.

Legislative Process

•The President – The President can sign orveto the bill. A bill becomes law if signed bythe President. Congress can attempt tooverride the veto by a vote of two-thirds ofthose present. If the veto of the bill isoverridden in both chambers then it becomeslaw.

•The Bill Becomes A Law - Once a bill issigned by the President or his veto isoverridden by both houses it becomes a lawand is assigned an official number.

Town meetings

•Found especially in New England, alegislative assembly of the qualified votersof a town.

DIRECTDEMOCRACY

Public hearings

•The main purpose of most public hearingsis to obtain public testimony or comment.

•A public hearing may occur as part of aregular or special meeting, or it may be thesole purpose of a special meeting, with noother matters addressed.

Annexation and Zoning

•Annexation

–The legal merging of one territory into anotherone

•Zoning

– Local rules that divide a community intoareas and tell how the land in each area canbe used