Civics and Government
50%of exam
U.S. History
20%of exam
Economics
15%of exam
Geography and the World
15%of exam
Quick Facts
- Exam
- GED Social Studies
- Credential
- HSE subject test
- Time
- 70 minutes
- Questions
- ~35 items
- Pass
- 145 of 200
- College Ready
- 165+ score
- Format
- MC + tech-enhanced
- Calculator
- Allowed entire test
Three Branches Order
Legislative makes, Executive enforces, Judicial interprets
Legislative: Congress writes lawsExecutive: President enforces lawsJudicial: Courts interpret laws
Declaration vs Constitution
Declaration
- 1776 statement
- Natural rights case
- No legal power
Constitution
- 1787 framework
- Creates government
- Actual binding law
Belief vs binding law
Government Power Picker
- Coin money or declare war→Federal government(Delegated power)
- Run elections or licenses→State government(Reserved power)
- Collect trash or pave roads→Local government(Municipal service)
- Levy taxes→Federal and state(Concurrent power)
- Sign or veto a bill→President(Executive branch)
- Override a veto→Congress(Two-thirds vote)
- Rule a law unconstitutional→Supreme Court(Judicial review)
Founding Documents
- Declaration
- Natural rights case1776
- Constitution
- Legal government framework1787
- Preamble
- We the People opening
- Bill of Rights
- First 10 amendments1791
- Federalist Papers
- Pro-ratification essays
- Federalists
- Backed strong central government
- Anti-Federalists
- Feared centralized power
Amendment Process
Propose 2/3 Congress; ratify 3/4 states
Propose: two-thirds of CongressRatify: three-fourths of statesHard to change on purpose
Federalists vs Anti-Federalists
Federalists
- Backed strong union
- Wrote Federalist Papers
- Wanted ratification
Anti-Federalists
- Feared central power
- Wanted state control
- Demanded Bill of Rights
Strong center vs states
Reading a Stimulus
- See a chart or graph→Read axis and trend(No outside knowledge)
- See two data trends→Check correlation, not cause(Don't assume causation)
- See a political cartoon→ID symbols and caption(Find the viewpoint)
- See a map→Match legend to question(Geography items)
- See a document excerpt→Answer from the text(Don't add outside facts)
- See fill-in-the-blank item→Give a short exact answer(One word or phrase)
- See a hot spot item→Click evidence in the graphic(Supports a claim)
Branches & Powers
- Legislative
- Makes laws, Congress
- Executive
- Enforces laws, President
- Judicial
- Interprets laws, courts
- Checks and balances
- Branches limit each other
- Veto
- President rejects a bill
- Veto override
- Two-thirds vote, both chambers
- Judicial review
- Courts strike unconstitutional laws
Due Process vs Equal Protection
Due Process
- Fair procedure required
- Before losing life or liberty
Equal Protection
- Same law for all
- No unequal treatment
Fair process vs fair treatment
Elections & Process
- Electoral College
- Formally elects the president
- 270 votes
- Needed to win presidency
- Gerrymandering
- Districts drawn to favor
- Filibuster
- Delays a Senate vote
- Cloture
- 60 votes ends debate
- Interest group
- Lobbies, doesn't run candidates
- Political party
- Recruits and runs candidates
Primary vs Secondary Source
Primary Source
- First-hand account
- Original document
- Written at the time
Secondary Source
- Analyzes primary sources
- Written after the fact
Original record vs later analysis
Rights & Amendments
- 13th Amendment
- Abolished slavery1865
- 14th Amendment
- Citizenship, equal protection1868
- 15th Amendment
- Voting regardless of race1870
- 19th Amendment
- Women's suffrage nationwide1920
- Due process
- Fair legal procedures required
- Equal protection
- Same law for all
- First Amendment
- Speech, religion, press, assembly
- Naturalization
- Non-citizen becomes citizen
Government Levels & Powers
- Federal power
- Coin money, declare war
- State power
- Driver's licenses, elections
- Local power
- Trash, local roads
- Concurrent power
- Taxation, held by both
- Federalism
- National plus state division
- Popular sovereignty
- Authority from the governed
Reconstruction Amendments
13th=slavery ends | 14th=citizenship | 15th=voting rights
13th: abolished slavery14th: citizenship, equal protection15th: voting regardless of race
Colonial Era to Civil War
- Louisiana Purchase
- Doubled U.S. territory1803
- Manifest Destiny
- Belief in continental expansion
- Missouri Compromise
- Limited slavery's expansion1820
- Compromise of 1850
- Patched Mexican War fallout
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Freed enslaved in Confederacy1863
- Civil War
- Union versus Confederacy
- Great Compromise
- Created a bicameral Congress
U.S. History Timeline
Colonial, Revolution, Civil War, WWII, Cold War
Colonial: 1600s-1770s settlementRevolution: 1776 independence warCivil War: 1861-1865 union splitCold War: post-WWII rivalry
Reconstruction to Progressive Era
- Reconstruction
- Rebuilding the postwar South
- Reconstruction's end
- Troops withdrew, Jim Crow rose1877
- Industrialization
- Factory growth, harsh conditions
- Labor movement
- Unions push for reform
- Progressive Era
- Response to industrial abuses
- Trust-busting
- Broke up monopolies
- 17th Amendment
- Direct election of senators
20th Century U.S. History
- New Deal
- FDR's Depression-era programs
- Great Migration
- Black Southerners moved north
- World War II
- U.S. joins Allied powers
- Cold War
- U.S. versus Soviet rivalry
- Containment
- Stop communism's spread
- Civil Rights Act
- Banned public discrimination1964
- Voting Rights Act
- Ended discriminatory literacy tests1965
Policy Split
Fiscal is Congress; monetary is the Fed
Fiscal: tax and spendMonetary: rates and moneyTwo levers, one economy
Fiscal vs Monetary Policy
Fiscal Policy
- Congress plus President
- Taxing and spending
Monetary Policy
- Federal Reserve
- Interest rates and money supply
Government spending vs Fed rates
Economic Policy Picker
- Cool an overheating economy→Raise interest rates(Fed tool)
- Encourage borrowing and spending→Lower interest rates(Fed tool)
- Change taxes or spending→Fiscal policy(Congress plus President)
- Protect a domestic industry→Tariff(Tax on imports)
- Measure total output→GDP(Goods plus services)
- Falling GDP two quarters→Call it a recession(Standard definition)
Core Economic Concepts
- Supply and demand
- Sets the market price
- Opportunity cost
- Next-best option given up
- Scarcity
- Limited resources, unlimited wants
- Market economy
- Private choices set prices
- GDP
- Total goods and services
- Incentive
- Reward that shapes choices
Recession vs Depression
Recession
- Months to about a year
- Moderate GDP decline
Depression
- Years long
- Severe, deep decline
Common dip vs rare collapse
Policy Tools
- Fiscal policy
- Congress taxes and spends
- Monetary policy
- Fed sets interest rates
- Federal Reserve
- Nation's central bank
- Rate hike
- Cools an overheating economy
- Tariff
- Tax on imported goods
- Trade deficit
- Imports exceed exports
Indicators & Cycles
- Inflation
- Prices rising over time
- Deflation
- Prices falling over time
- Recession
- Short, widespread decline
- Depression
- Severe, prolonged decline
- Unemployment rate
- Share of workers seeking jobs
- Business cycle
- Expansion, peak, contraction, trough
Push vs Pull Factors
Push Factors
- Drive people to leave
- War, famine, persecution
Pull Factors
- Attract people to a place
- Jobs, freedom, safety
Reasons to leave vs go
Physical & Human Geography
- Physical geography
- Natural landforms and climate
- Human geography
- People shaping the land
- Urbanization
- Rural to urban shift
- Climate zone
- Shapes settlement patterns
- Natural resource
- Unevenly distributed globally
- Population density
- People per unit of area
Global Interdependence
- Globalization
- Growing worldwide interdependence
- Push factor
- Drives people to leave
- Pull factor
- Draws people to a place
- Migration
- Movement across borders
- Border dispute
- Conflict over territory
- Resource conflict
- Fighting over scarce resources
Common Traps
Declaration vs Constitution
Declaration states beliefs ≠ Constitution makes it law
Primary vs secondary source
Primary is firsthand ≠ Secondary analyzes firsthand sources
Correlation vs causation
Trends can just correlate ≠ Causation needs stronger proof
Recession vs depression
Recession is months long ≠ Depression is years long
Fiscal vs monetary policy
Fiscal is Congress' tool ≠ Monetary is the Fed's tool
Due process vs equal protection
Due process is fair steps ≠ Equal protection is fair treatment
Federal vs state power
Federal coins the money ≠ States issue the licenses
Last Minute
- 1.Civics is half the test
- 2.History, Economics, Geography split the rest
- 3.Passing score is 145 of 200
- 4.College Ready score begins at 165
- 5.No essay: extended response was cut
- 6.Calculator allowed the whole test
- 7.70 minutes for about 35 questions
- 8.Chart answers must come from data
- 9.Correlation does not prove causation
- 10.Third failed attempt means 60-day wait
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