Civics and Government

After an overview of the dif-ferent types of political systems that exist in other countries, you will review the American system of gov-ernment: its structure at the federal, state, and

IN T H I S C H A P T E R, you will learn about the basic ideas of civics (the rights and responsibilities of citizens)

and government (the way that political power is organized and distributed) After an overview of the dif-ferent types of political systems that exist in other countries, you will review the American system of gov-ernment: its structure at the federal, state, and local levels; voting and election procedures; political parties; and the process of becoming an American citizen

 P o l i t i c a l S y s t e m s

Varying types of political systems can be found around the world These types differ in how power is attained and how it is used See the chart on the next page

Civics and Government

THE PERCENTAGE of civics and government questions on the

2002 GED was greater than in any previous year The material on the Social Studies Test will come from both national (American) and global contexts, so it will be to your advantage to be prepared to answer a wide variety of questions

15

TYPE OF

■Swaziland

■Constitutional monarchs have limited authority; Constitutional

■Great Britain

■Japan

■Sweden

Dictatorship ■It is ruled by one leader who has absolute power over many ■Nazi (National

aspects of life, including social, economic, and political Socialist)

■General Augusto Pinochet in Chile from 1973–1990

■Canada

■Most European nations

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E XERCISE 6

Use the information from the chart to answer the

fol-lowing questions The answers are on page 168

1. A military leader uses his power to overthrow a

country’s government and names himself the

absolute leader of the government He takes over

all the nation’s television stations and

newspa-pers What kind of government has he set up?

a absolute monarchy

b dictatorship

c oligarchy

d direct democracy

e representative democracy

2. In which of the following political systems would citizens have the most influence over lawmaking?

a absolute monarchy

b dictatorship

c oligarchy

d direct democracy

e representative democracy

 T h e A m e r i c a n S y s t e m o f

G o v e r n m e n t

The United States is a federal republic—a representative

democracy in which power is split between a central government and the states To ensure that power is not concentrated in one authority, the central, or federal,

government is divided into three branches: the legislative,

executive, and judicial Each branch has an important

function:

■ The legislative branch makes laws.

■ The executive branch carries out laws.

■ The judicial branch interprets laws.

The U.S Constitution also allows each branch to place

controls or limits on the power of the other two

branches, so that no one branch dominates This

frame-work is called the system of checks and balances For

example, the legislature (U.S Congress) may pass a bill,

but before it can become law, the executive (the

presi-dent) must sign it The president can refuse it by vetoing

it However, Congress can still pass the bill into law—in

an action called overriding the veto—if two-thirds of its

members vote for it (See table at bottom of this page.)

State and Local Governments

State governments resemble the framework of the federal

government The governor acts as the chief executive and

can veto legislation Most states have legislatures made of

two houses, and each state has its own court system,

con-stitution, and a system of checks and balances Local

gov-ernments vary from the state and federal model There are three basic forms of local government:

Mayor-council—in this form, voters elect a

mayor as city or town executive and they elect

a council member from each specific ward

Council-manager—in this form, voters elect

council members, who, in turn, hire a manager

to run the day-to-day operations of the city or town

Commission—in this form, voters elect

commis-sioners to head a city or county department, like the fire, police, or public works

department

State governments must approve and grant power to, or

charter, all town and city governments.

Political Parties

Although the U.S Constitution does not mention the existence of political parties, they have played an influ-ential role throughout most of the country’s history A political party is an organization that presents its posi-tions on public issues and promotes candidates that sup-port its point of view

STRUCTURE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

■Agencies carry out a president’s policies and provide special

services.

■Department heads advise a president and carry out policies.

Legislative Branch U.S Congress: ■Number of representatives for each state is based on the

Representatives ■Representatives serve two-year terms.

■Senators serve six-year terms.

Judicial Branch U.S Supreme Court ■U.S Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation.

Circuit Courts ■The president appoints the nine justices of the Supreme Court.

Federal District Courts

Political parties serve several functions:

■ recruit candidates and run election campaigns

■ formulate positions on issues that affect the

pub-lic and propose solutions

■ educate the public on issues

■ mobilize their members to vote

■ create voting blocs in Congress

Since the mid-nineteenth century, two political parties

have dominated in American politics: the Republican

and Democratic parties The two parties differ on social,

economic, and domestic policies They also hold

differ-ent beliefs as to the role of governmdiffer-ent The Republican

Party supports powerful state governments with less

involvement on the federal level, while the Democratic

Party supports a strong centralized government with less

power on the state level Other current political

organi-zations include the Green, Libertarian, Reform, and

Socialist parties.

E XERCISE 7

Choose the best answer based on the information

pro-vided about political parties The answer is on page 168

1. Which of the following conclusions can you

make about political parties?

a They should be outlawed because they are not

mentioned in the Constitution

b Prior to the nineteenth century, the Green,

Libertarian, Reform, and Socialist parties were

more influential than they are today

c Political parties have an influential role in the

political process today

d It’s hard to tell the Democratic and

Republi-can parties apart these days

e Third-party candidates can alter the outcome

of an election

Voting and Elections

To vote in the United States, a person must be 18 years old and a U.S citizen Presidential elections occur every four years, and Congressional elections are held every two years Most national elections in the United States

use a plurality system, which means that a candidate need

only receive more votes than his or her opponent to win

In contrast, some European nations have proportional

representation In this system, if a political party earns

15% of the vote, it would be awarded 15% of the parlia-mentary seats

In the United States, primary elections are held before

general elections In primaries, voters give their

prefer-ence for a political party’s candidate General elections

then decide the ultimate winner

Becoming an American Citizen

Immigrants come to the United States for many reasons: Some seek economic opportunity, while others wish to escape political persecution in their native countries Benefits of U.S citizenship include enjoying the free-doms and rights outlined by the Constitution To become a citizen, a person must apply, pass an exam, and

appear for a court hearing This process, also called

nat-uralization, is conducted by the Immigration and Natu-ralization Service (INS) The following are some of the

requirements for citizenship Candidates must:

■ be at least 18 years old

■ reside legally in the United States for five years

■ be a person of good moral character

■ understand and be able to communicate in basic English

■ demonstrate a basic knowledge of U.S history, government, and the Constitution

■ be willing to take an oath of allegiance to the United States

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E CONOMICS is defined as the study of the ways that goods (and services) are bought, sold,

distributed, and used The economics questions on the GED will require that you have a good grasp

of the relationship of supply and demand, recession and depression, how economic growth is measured, and how the U.S government is involved in the nation’s economy

 Ty p e s o f E c o n o m i c S y s t e m s

None of the three basic economic systems—capitalism, socialism, and communism—exists in pure form Each has

some characteristics of the others For example, in the U.S economy, which is primarily capitalist, the govern-ment does place some controls over private business in order to protect consumers

Economics

ON THE GED, questions about economics will include the areas

of supply and demand, inflation and deflation, and economic systems Many economics questions will ask you to interpret and analyze a chart

or graph, so practice in working with visual aids will be helpful in your preparation

16

TYPE CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLES

Capitalism ■Individuals and private organizations own and operate businesses. ■United States

■Free market determines production and distribution of goods and services.

■Prices set by supply and demand.

■Private ownership is allowed.

■Citizens pay high taxes to fund state-run social services, including healthcare, food, and housing.

■Former Soviet

Union

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 T h e M a r k e t p l a c e

In the United States, prices are determined by the

“mar-ket,” or the principle of supply and demand Supply is the

amount of goods and services available for purchase

Demand is determined by how many people want to buy

those goods and services Generally, when demand

increases, supply increases, and when demand decreases,

supply decreases Industries charge prices that cover the

cost of production and make a profit for their company

Industries try to get the highest possible price for their

goods Consumers try to get the lowest possible price

These different goals can affect the price of a product or

service

When companies make the exact amount of a

prod-uct or service at a price that customers are willing to buy,

they have reached a point of equilibrium If the price is

greater than this point, demand drops and there may a

surplus, which is when there are more goods produced

than customers are willing to buy If the price falls below

the point of equilibrium, demand may increase and

cre-ate a shortage in supply.

For example, Company X is introducing a new cell

phone model, the XLZ (See the graph on next page.)

The business wants to determine the equilibrium point,

so that it will not have a surplus or shortage of the

prod-uct To cover its costs and make a profit, Company X can

supply ten phones for $1,100 As the price increases, the

company can offer more phones for sale However, few

customers are willing to pay high prices for the phones

As the price drops, demand increases

E XERCISE 8

Refer to the graph “Supply and Demand Curves for Cell Phone XLZ” on page 149 to answer the following ques-tions The answers are on page 169

1. At what price does the supply of cell phone model XLZ equal that of demand?

a $1,400

b $1,300

c $1,250

d $1,500

e $1,550

2. If the market price for cell phone model XLZ increased to $1,600, what would be the likely result?

a Stores would quickly run out of product.

b Demand would decrease.

c The manufacturer would not be able to keep

up with demand

d The manufacturer would produce the cell

phone model at the same rate

e The manufacturer would go out of business.

Supply and Demand Curves for Cell Phone XLZ

1,900

1,800

1,700

1,600

1,500

1,400

1,300

1,200

1,100

1,000

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Number of phones sold

Equilibrium

Supply

Demand

0

 B u s i n e s s C y c l e s

Capitalist economies experience business cycles, periods

of growth followed by a period of low productivity and

income, called a recession A depression occurs when

recession lasts for a long period and is severe During the

Great Depression in the 1930s, the United States

experi-enced its worst depression At that time, large numbers of

people suffered unemployment and homelessness

Economic growth is the goal of capitalism During a

boom period, companies are able to produce more goods

and services, and consumers are able to buy more goods

and services Inflation occurs when the amount of money

in circulation increases and the amount of consumer

goods (supply) decreases The dollar drops in value

and prices increase Deflation happens when the money

supply decreases and the amount of consumer goods

increases Prices are lower, but companies lose profit

and lay off employees, which results in higher rates of

unemployment.

 R o l e o f t h e G o v e r n m e n t

To avoid inflation and unemployment, the U.S Federal Reserve System (“the Fed”) takes measures to keep the economy in balance by controlling the supply of money

in the country One way it does this is by setting the

reserve ratio Every bank that is a member of the Fed

must keep a reserve—a ratio of its deposits—that is not used to make loans To fight inflation, the Fed might set

a high reserve ratio, so that less money is available in the economy During recession or high unemployment, the Fed might set a low reserve ratio, so there is more money available within the economy

The Federal Reserve Board can also affect the nation’s

economy by altering the discount rate, which is the

inter-est rate that the Fed charges banks to borrow money To make a profit, banks charge their customers a higher interest rate than the rate they pay to the Fed When the Fed sets a high discount rate, banks charge more interest

on loans, which makes it more difficult for people and businesses to borrow When the Fed sets a low discount rate, banks charge less, and more people and businesses can afford loans

Measuring Economic Growth

Economists use different data to study the health of the

economy They look at stock market trading, the cost of

living, unemployment rates, and the gross domestic

prod-uct (GDP) The GDP measures the total value of goods

and services produced within the United States over the

course of a year The gross national product (GNP) takes

into account both the GDP and foreign investments If

the GNP decreases for two consecutive quarters during

a year, the economy is considered to be in recession

Source: U.S Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures changes in

the cost of living To calculate the CPI, the U.S Bureau of

Labor Statistics tracks changes in prices in common

goods and services—food, clothing, rent, fuel, and

oth-ers—each year The graph shows the CPI in all U.S cities

between 1990 and 2001 To make comparisons between

years, the graph uses the years 1982–1984 as a base

period (1982–1984 = 100) For instance, if the average

urban consumer spent $100 on living expenses in

1982–1984, he or she spent more than $150 on the same

expenses in 1995

E XERCISE 9

Using the graph and passage about the consumer price index, answer the following questions The answers are

on page 169

1. How much would an urban consumer expect to pay in 2001 for an item that costs $50 in

1982–1984?

a $88

b $100

c $176

d $43

e $131

2. What conclusion can you make based on the graph?

a The CPI tracks price changes for common

household expenses

b The cost of living has decreased in recent

years

c The rate of increase in the cost of living

slowed between 1999 and 2000

d If the cost of living continues to rise, people

will move out of the cities

e The cost of living for city residents steadily

increased between 1990 and 2001

Consumer Price Index—All Urban Consumers 1990–2004

180

170

160

150

140

130

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

2002 2003 2004 190

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