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What is on the FCLE?

Four competencies, defined in section 1007.25, Florida Statutes: the basic principles and practices of American democracy and how they are applied in our republican form of government; the United States Constitution and its application; the founding documents and how they have shaped our institutions of self-government; and landmark Supreme Court cases, landmark legislation and landmark executive actions and their impact on law and society. The state's Supplemental Guide (March 2022) describes what each covers.

The four competencies below are the ones Florida law sets for the civic literacy requirement and the state's rule repeats. The Supplemental Guide, a copyrighted Florida Department of Education document, describes the content of each in detail; it is linked under Sources and is free to download. What follows is our summary, not the guide's text.

1. Principles and practices of American democracy

The ideas the founders built on and how they work in practice today: the social contract and natural rights, popular sovereignty, rule of law, due process and equal protection, federalism, separation of powers with checks and balances, individual liberty, republicanism and constitutionalism, majority rule with minority rights, the Bill of Rights, and elections.

2. The United States Constitution and its application

The structure of the Constitution and how it has been applied: the articles, enumerated and implied powers, the amendment process and the amendments, the incorporation of the Bill of Rights against the states, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist debate over ratification, and the clauses that come up most in constitutional law. The guide notes that this competency overlaps with the others, particularly the first and the fourth.

3. The founding documents

The documents themselves and what they contributed: the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Northwest Ordinances, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist writings, and the earlier sources the founders drew on, from Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights to the Mayflower Compact, Common Sense and the state declarations of rights.

4. Landmark cases, legislation and executive actions

The guide names these 26 Supreme Court cases, most of which appear in Florida's civics, U.S. government and U.S. history courses:

For legislation and executive actions the guide gives categories with examples rather than a closed list. Legislation: conflicts and compromises (the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act); territorial expansion and the structure of government (the Homestead Act, the Pendleton Act); expansions or restrictions of civil rights and liberties (the civil rights acts, the Alien and Sedition Acts, the USA PATRIOT Act); social programs (New Deal and Great Society acts, the Affordable Care Act); environmental protection (the Clean Air Act); and war powers. Executive actions: foreign policy (treaties that ended wars, such as the Treaty of Paris of 1898); territorial expansion (the Louisiana Purchase, the Adams-Onis Treaty); restrictions or expansions of civil rights and liberties (suspensions of habeas corpus, Japanese-American internment, enforcement of civil-rights decisions); executive orders (military desegregation, affirmative action); the presidential "bully pulpit"; and presidential war powers.

The guide says all four competencies overlap in content, so study the material rather than the labels. Each competency has a free study mode and an eight-question quick check on this site.

More questions

How many Supreme Court cases are on the FCLE?
The state's Supplemental Guide names 26 landmark cases, from Marbury v. Madison (1803) to Citizens United v. FEC (2010), and says most are drawn from Florida's civics, U.S. government and U.S. history courses.
Do the FCLE competencies overlap?
Yes. The Supplemental Guide says all four competencies overlap in content, and that the Constitution competency overlaps particularly with the first and the fourth.

Practice it

Three free full-length FCLE practice tests, timed to the high-school session and scored by competency, with every answer explained from its source.

Start Practice Test 1The printed study guide

Related questions

Where can I take a free FCLE practice test?Right here.Read the answer How many questions are on the FCLE, and how long is it?80 multiple-choice questions (the state FAQ says approximately 80) covering four competencies.Read the answer What is the passing score on the FCLE?60 percent correct, which is 48 of 80 questions.Read the answer

Sources

Checked 22 October 2026 against the documents above. Sourcebound Prep is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the Florida Department of Education, the Florida State Board of Education, the Florida Board of Governors, or any Florida college or university. The practice questions on this site are original and are not the state's secure test items.