View source for American Government Lecture Twelve

== Conclusion and Review==

A government course -- and the final exam -- has these components:

*50% relate in some way to the U.S. Constitution and key Amendments
*30% three branches of the federal government and what they do, and the role of state governments (federalism)
*10% interest groups, lobbying, political parties, and elections
*10% the media, public opinion, and polling

Many questions on a government exam require building on what you've learned, without your having seen or memorized the specific answer to the question.  You are expected to use logic and reasoning to extrapolate from what you have learned about government, in order to answer the question correctly.  For example, a question may ask if the U.S. Supreme Court could order families not to be larger than a certain number of people (as in China).  By knowing that the U.S. Constitution limited the power of the federal government, you would be right to conclude that the U.S. Supreme Court could never issue an order that sets a maximum family size.