Notes on American Government
U.S. History
Ms. Gill
2012-13 School Year
I pledge allegiance…
• How does the pledge of allegiance go?
• I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America, and to the republic for
which it stands, one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
• I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America, and to the republic for
which it stands, one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
United States
• I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America…
• Our government exists on three levels:
• National (called federal)
• State
• Local
Three Levels of Government
• Federal (National)
– The President and Congress in Washington, D.C.
• State
– The governor of Michigan and the Michigan
legislature
• Local
– The mayor of Canton and the Canton city
government
Federal Government
• Three branches:
– Executive
– Legislative
– Judicial
Federal Government
• Three branches:
– Executive: enforces the laws
– Legislative: makes the laws
– Judicial: interprets the laws (says, “Do they fit
with the Constitution or not?”)
Federal Government
• Three branches:
– Executive: The President and his cabinet
• Cabinet members are called Secretaries
– Legislative: The Congress
• The Senate
– (called Senators)
• The House of Representatives
– (called Representatives)
– Judicial
• The Supreme Court (nine judges, called justices)
The President’s Cabinet
• The Cabinet includes the Vice President and
the heads of 15 executive departments — the
Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce,
Defense, Education, Energy, Health and
Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing
and Urban Development, Interior, Labor,
State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans
Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.
The President’s Cabinet
Republic
• … and to the republic for which it stands…
• A republic is a government in which the
citizens rule through elected representatives.
It’s basically the same as a democracy.
Republic / Democracy
• Another synonym for republic/democracy is
rule by the people, because the people vote
for who they want to represent them in the
federal, state and local governments.
Republic / Democracy
• Another synonym for republic/democracy is
representative government, because the
people vote for who they want to represent
them in the federal, state and local
governments.
Republic / Democracy
• Another synonym for republic/democracy is
consent of the governed, because the people
vote for (consent to, agree on) who they want
to represent them in the federal, state and
local governments.
Political Parties
• We have two main political parties in this
country, the Republicans and the Democrats.
The Republicans took their name from the
word republic, and the Democrats took their
name from the word democracy. Both parties
stand for our democratic system of rule by the
people.
Political Parties
• There are many differences between the two
parties. In general, Democrats believe that the
government should tax citizens so that the
government can spend money to help people
as much as possible. Republicans believe that
the government should tax citizens as little as
possible, and that, besides military spending,
the government should not help people;
people should help themselves.
Political Parties
• Republicans are also called conservatives
because they tend to want to conserve the way
things are, or traditionalists, because they want
to preserve tradition (no gay marriage, for
example)
• Democrats are also called progressives, because
they want to change society more quickly, or
liberals, because they tend to be freer with social
policies (pro-gay marriage, for example)
Political Parties
• Democrats are on the left of the political
spectrum. They are sometimes called leftwing.
• Republicans are on the right of the political
spectrum. They are sometimes called rightwing.
• Both Democrats and Republicans, however,
are pretty close to the middle of the
spectrum.
• I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America, and to the republic for
which it stands, one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.