The Government of the USA How it works America has a federal government. The constitution outlines...
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Transcript of The Government of the USA How it works America has a federal government. The constitution outlines...
The Government of the USA
How it works
• America has a federal government.
• The constitution outlines the system of government in the USA.
• There are 3 branches of government.
1. President (Executive)2. Congress (Legislative)3. Supreme Court (judicial)
Levels of government
• There are 3 main levels of government in the USA.
• Each level of government is responsible for different things.
1. Federal Government2. State Government3. Local government • You MUST know the powers of
each and examples of representatives in each.
The Federal Government (Congress)
• The Federal Government, also known as Congress consists of 2 levels;
1. Senate2. House of
Representatives
The Senate
• Responsible for making laws
• 100 members• 2 for each state (original 50
states).• Senators stand for 6 years.• Very influential job – many
Senators now go on to be President e.g. Barack Obama standing in 08 election is Senator for Illinois!
The House of Representatives
• Responsible for putting laws into place.
• 435 members.• Each state is allocated
members depending on its population e.g. California has 53 members.
• Each representative stands for 2 years.
Federal Government Powers
• The Federal government is responsible for the ‘big’ issues e.g.
• The Armed Forces• International Conflict• Prevention of terrorism• US Currency• World Trade• Welfare benefits • Taxation • (Similar to UK Parliament).
State Government
• Each state in the USA has its own government.
• The leader of each state government is called the ‘Governor’.
• This is a very important job – many Presidents in the past were Governors first e.g. George W Bush was the Governor for Texas.
State government powers
• Each state can make laws on issue such as;
• Education • Marriage• Driving / drinking ages• Capital punishment• Each state has their own
police force to enforce the state’s laws.
Local Government
• Within each state, individual towns and cities have their own local level of government.
• They make decisions on / manage very minor issues e.g. refuse collection, recycle facilities etc.
• Equivalent to North Lanarkshire Council.
Federal Representatives
• In Federal elections people elect the President.
• Takes place every 4 years.
• The last election was 2012.
• Voters also elect their Senators and Members of the House of Representatives.
Hilary Clinton is a Senator
for New York.
State Representatives
• Voters elect their State Governor.
• Stand for a four year term.
• Also vote for representatives for the State governments. Arnold
Schwarzenegger was the Governor for California until
recently.
Local Representatives
• Voters vote for their local Mayor, Sheriff and members of the school board, to name but a few!