The Three Branches
of Government
Civics Study Packet #1
Team Foster 2010
In this section, we’ll review:
•
•
•
•
The names of the 3 branches
What each branch does
How a bill becomes a law
How the branches check & balance each other
What are the ‘Three Branches’?
(and how can I remember them?)
LEGISLATIVE
EXECUTIVE
JUDICIAL
Why do we have three?
•
In the Articles of Confederation, there wasn’t really an executive/president. Also, there
was NO national court system, and the legislative branch was very weak (because states
were still very strong). This system didn’t work very well. Pretty much we just had a weak
legislative branch.
•
When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they made a new system where there
would be 3 branches, or divisions of government.
One branch would write the laws. This branch would have a few hundred
members in it, would be bicameral, and would be called Congress.
Another branch would make sure that the laws Congress wrote would be
enforced. The man who would do this would be called the President.
The final branch would decide what the laws mean, or interpret them.
They would be in charge of the court system. They would be called the
Supreme Court.
WRITING LAWS
Which branch WRITES laws?
• The LEGISLATIVE branch writes (or makes) laws.
•
In our country, we call the legislative branch CONGRESS. Congress is
BICAMERAL, which means it has TWO CHAMBERS.
•
Congress meets in the U.S. Capitol building, in the city of Washington, D.C.
*Think of writing with your LEG and you’ll
remember this branch!*
What are the two chambers of Congress?
• One chamber is the Senate. Each state gets two
Senators, no matter the size. Since there are 50 states,
there are 100 Senators.
• The other chamber is the House of Representatives. The
amount of Representatives each state gets depends on
the states’ populations. California has a high population,
so it gets a LOT of Representatives. Wyoming is a state with
very few people, so it only gets ONE Representative!
» Let’s look at the building where Congress meets:
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
The Senate side.
The 100 Senators
debate bills here.
The House side.
The 435 Representatives
debate bills here.
Interesting facts about Congress (the House)
• The leader of the House of Representatives is called the Speaker of the
House. The current Speaker is also the first female Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
The term for a Representative is two years. This means
that every 2 years, they have to run for re-election.
While most bills can start in either chamber, bills dealing
with taxes and spending money can ONLY be started in the
House.
There are 435 Representatives from the 50 states; but
did you know there are 6 other Representatives?
These Representatives are elected by the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the other territories; but since
those are not states, their Representatives don’t get to vote.
Interesting facts about Congress (the Senate)
In the Constitution, the Vice-President is technically the President of the Senate. But
he can only vote if there is a tie. This does happen every now and then.
The term for a Senator is 6 years. This means that every 6 years, they have to run for
re-election.
The Senate get to do some things the House
doesn’t, such as approve who the President
chooses for judges/justices and other
positions in the government. If the president
breaks the law, the Senate puts him on trial.
Senators were originally chosen by the state
legislatures; for example, Georgia’s legislature
in Atlanta would choose our 2 Senators; then, in
1913, the 17th Amendment changed things so
that the people in the state could now directly
vote for their Senators (as they already did for
electing their Representatives).
ENFORCING LAWS
Which branch ENFORCES laws?
• First of all, a law is only good if it can be enforced. If there are no police,
do you think bad people will obey the law? Of course not!
• The EXECUTIVE branch enforces laws, or carries them out. Think of
the letter E for Executive and enforces laws.
*I think of the President carrying eggs (‘eggs’
sounds sort of like ‘executive). This helps me
remember the President carries out laws.*
‘Eggsecutive!’
Who leads the Executive Branch?
• The President is the head of this branch. He is the
boss and commander of the military, the FBI
(national police), and many other important offices.
It is his job to see that the laws are enforced, or
carried out.
The President has a term of 4 years. He
can only serve 2 terms, which is a total of 8
years.
President Obama & Vice-President Biden
Pres. Obama
Vice-Pres. Biden
• President Barack Obama became
President in January 2009. His
term is 4 years, and will end in
2013. If he gets re-elected, he will
get 4 more years to be President,
but he will have to stop being
President in 2017.
• His Vice-President is Joe Biden.
If the President dies, quits, or gets
kicked out of office, the VicePresident becomes the new
President.
Interesting facts about the Presidents
(just for fun; you don’t have to study this!)
In 1972, Pres. Nixon (in front)
was in trouble, and Congress was
about to kick him out; before they
could, he went ahead and quit,
leaving VP Ford (behind him, in
chair) to become President.
• George Washington was the first president.
He had only three men in his cabinet, or
group of helpers. Barack Obama is the 44th
president. There are 14 people in his cabinet,
and over 2,000 people that work for his office.
• The White House if the president’s home and
office.
• Eight times has the President died and the
Vice-President became President. Only once
has a President quit (Richard Nixon resigned,
1972) and the Vice-President (Gerald Ford)
became President.
INTERPRETING LAWS
Which branch INTERPRETS laws?
• The JUDICIAL branch does.
To interpret something means
to tell the meaning of it.
• Sometimes it isn’t clear what
Congress meant by a law. Other
times, Congress’s law may not be
fair according to the Constitution.
Who reads the law to see if it’s fair?
The court! And not just any
court…
…The U.S. SUPREME Court!
• The Supreme Court is
the highest court in our
country. It decides if
our laws are
constitutional or
unconstitutional.
• There are 9 people on
this court. Instead of
being called judges, they
are called justices.
More about the Supreme Court:
• The President chooses who he wants to be a
justice, but the Senate has to approve them.
• Once approved, the justices serve for life (or until
they want to retire).
*To remember judicial = courts,
think Judge Judy (Judi)
Interesting facts about the Supreme Court
(you don’t have to study these, but
they’re still cool things to think about)
Chief Justice
John Roberts
2005-present
•
The ‘leader’ of the Supreme Court is called the Chief Justice.
•
The current Chief Justice is John Roberts. He was chosen by
President George W. Bush in 2005.
•
Did you know a former President later became the Chief
Justice? It happened in 1921, when William Howard Taft (who
was president 1909-1913) was chosen by President Warren G.
Harding. He served as Chief Justice until he died in 1930.
•
Sometimes the President chooses someone, but the
Senate doesn’t approve. This very famously happened in
1987, when President Ronald Reagan chose judge Robert Bork
to be a Supreme Court justice. The Senate said no, so Bork
never became a justice.
Now, let’s see how a bill becomes a law.
HOW does Congress write laws?
• A bill can start in either chamber. (Let’s say for this time
it starts in the Senate.)
• Senator Tuck wants to make a new law. She writes a bill.
If enough people in her committee (small group) like her
bill, the whole Senate will vote on it.
• If the Senate doesn’t pass it, it dies.
But if they pass it,
is it now a law?
NO! …because NOW it goes to the House!
• Senator Tuck’s bill has passed
the Senate. Now it gets sent to
the House, where they will
debate and vote.
• If they don’t pass the bill, it
dies.
• But if they DO pass it, is it NOW a
law?
NO! After both chambers of Congress have
passed the bill, it goes to the…
***PRESIDENT!***
• If he likes the bill, he
will sign it, and NOW,
FINALLY, the bill is a
brand-new LAW!!!
• But if he doesn’t like it, he can
VETO it.
• A veto doesn’t mean the bill is
dead, but it sends it back to
Congress where they get a
chance to change it.
…but a veto VERY RARELY is able to get overridden.
• Why? Because instead of
just getting a regular old
majority, they have to get a
2/3 majority to override the
veto!
• That’s 2 out of every 3
members of Congress!
• And it’s hard to get 2/3 of Congress
to agree to do that.
• If they override the veto,
the bill becomes a law.
Yeah, 2/3 of the House AND
Senate!
• If not, the bill is dead!
R.I.P. buddy!
It’s not a simple thing!
• It’s a long, complicated process
for your bill to become a law; and
even then, the Supreme Court
could later say it violated the
Constitution! But this is very
rare. Congratulate yourself,
Senator! Your bill is now a law!
Thanks!
REVIEW: What are the ‘Three Branches’?
(and how can I remember them?)
LEGISLATIVE
EXECUTIVE
(eggs-ecutive)
JUDICIAL
The legislative branch ________ laws.
• There are ___ chambers of Congress. The _____
of _________, which is based on each state’s
________, and the ______, in which each state gets
2 members.
The executive branch ________ laws.
• The leader of the executive branch is the
_________. He _______ laws, which means he
makes sure they are ______ ___. He is elected to
a term of ___ years, but he can serve for a total of
___ terms (which means ___ years).
• If he likes a bill Congress passes, he can ____ it.
• If he doesn’t like it, he can ____ it, which sends it
back to Congress.
The judicial branch ________ laws.
• There are ___ judges who are part of the _____
Court. These judges are called ________. They
must ____ laws, or tell what the laws ____. They
decide whether laws are ________al or not.
Theyare chosen by the _____ but must be approved
by the ______. Once approved, they can serve for
____.
CHECK YOUR CHECKS!
*Mini Quiz*
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1: Congress passes a bill, but the President vetoes it.
This is the ___________ branch checking the ________ branch.
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2: Congress overrides the President’s veto.
This is the ___________ branch checking the ________ branch.
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3: Congress’s bill becomes law, but the Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional.
This is the ___________ branch checking the ________ branch
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4: The President picks someone to be on the Supreme Court, but the Senate rejects him.
This is the ___________ branch checking the ________ branch
5. The Supreme Court decides something the President ordered was
illegal.
This is the ___________ branch checking the ________ branch