The Legislative Branch
© North Carolina Community College System
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The U.S. Constitution sets up
one government with three
branches.
Each branch has some power.
• The Legislative Branch
makes the law
• The Executive Branch
enforces the law
• The Judicial Branch
interprets and
applies the law
No branch has all the powers.
The U.S. plan of government is a system
of checks and balances or a system with
separation of powers.
Separation of powers keeps one
branch from getting too strong and
taking over the government. The three
branches must work together.
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First, we look at the legislative branch.
The
Legislative Branch of
government is the U.S. Congress.
Congress has two parts: the
Senate and the House of
Representatives.
Senate
House of
Representatives
Every state of the United States is
represented in Congress.
Each state has two Senators.
Every state has an equal voice in
the Senate.
Senate
There are 50
states in the
United States, so
there are 100
Senators in the
Senate.
A U.S. Senator represents all the
people of his/her state.
• North Carolina’s two Senators are
Richard Burr
and
Kay Hagan
• We elect a U.S. Senator to serve for 6 years.
The House of Representatives has
435 voting members.
States with a big
population have a
larger number of
Representatives
than states with a
small population.
House of
Representatives
• We elect a U.S. Representative for 2 years.
• A Representative serves the people in his/her
District.
Part of Alamance county is in one District and
the rest is in another. The Representatives
serving Alamance County are
Howard Coble and Brad Miller.
In Congress
The Senate gives
small states an
equal voice with
large states.
Senate
The House
gives states a
voice based on
population.
House of
Representatives
Only Congress can make laws for
the United States.
Congress can also:
• print money
• declare war on other countries
• make treaties
• organize and arm military forces
Next we look at the
Executive Branch.