Chapter 7-The U.S. Constitution

How the United States Government Works

3 Branches of Government

Legislative Branch(Makes the Laws)

Executive Branch(Enforces the Laws)

Judicial Branch(Interprets the Laws)

Congress (535 people)

House of Senate Reps (435) (100)

President

Vice President

President’s Cabinet

Supreme Court

Other Federal Courts

The Legislative Branch(makes the laws)

Legislative Branch =Congress

Makes The Laws!There are 2 “houses” in

Congress: Congress

SenateHouse of

Representatives

Senate

• 2 Senators from each state• Senators serve 6-year terms• can be elected unlimited times• are directly elected by the

people

To be a Senator you must:

• Be 30 years old• Be a U.S. citizen for 9 years• Live in the state you are

representing Dick Durbin Mark Kirk

Illinois Senators

The Senate continued…

• Leader of the Senate =

The Senate President (Vice-Pres. Of U.S.)

Joe Biden

Powers of the Senate• Approve treaties

made by the president.

• Approve Judges picked by the president.

• Holds Impeachment Trials (decide if the person is guilty or innocent).

House of Representatives

• # of Representatives in your state depends on the state’s population

• every state has at least 1 rep.• serve 2-year terms• can be elected unlimited times• are directly elected by the

people

To be a Representative you must:

• Be 25 years old• Be a U.S. citizen for 7 years• Live in the state you are

representing

Adam Kinzinger 11th District

House of Reps Continued…..• Leader of the

House= The Speaker of the

House

John Boehner

• Powers of the House of Representatives

• all money (tax) bills must start in the House.

• Impeaches government officials (accuse them of doing something wrong

Powers of Both the House

of Representatives and the Senate:

Declare WarPrint money

Pass Bills

How a Bill Becomes A Law

• Bills can start in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

• (Money/Tax Bills must start in the House of Reps)

• If the Bill starts in the House, it must

be voted on in the House first. If it is passed, it goes to the Senate.

• If the Bill starts in the Senate, it must be voted on in the Senate first. If it is passed, it goes to the House.

How a Bill Becomes A Lawcontinued….

• The Bill Must Be Passed by The House and the Senate, before it can go to the President!

• The President can: SIGN THE BILL or VETO THE BILL.

• If the President SIGNS the bill, it will become a law.

• If the President VETOS the bill, it will go back to Congress.

How a Bill Becomes A Lawcontinued….

• If 2/3 of both the House and Senate approve of the Bill, they can OVERRIDE the President and the Bill will still become a law

• ***So Technically, only the House and Senate need to pass a Bill in order for it to become a law****

• http://www.270towin.com/

Bill

Congress

Bill is approved by House and Senate

President

Signs or vetoes

Back to congress

Need 2/3 vote

LAW

Executive Branch(Enforces the Laws)

• The President, Vice-President, and the President’s Cabinet are in this branch.

Executive Branch Continued:

To be President, you must:

• 1. Be 35 years old• 2. Live in the U.S. for

14 years• 3. Be a natural born

citizen (born in the U.S.)

• President’s Powers & Duties:

• Main Job: Enforce the laws!

• Veto bills passed by Congress

• Makes treaties with other nations (approved by senate)

• Appoints/Picks judges (approved by senate)

• Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

Executive Branch Cont…

President’s Term• The President serves a 4-

year term.• The President can be

elected 2 times (2 terms)• Example: President Bush

was elected in 2000 and then again in 2004

• A President can serve for a total of 10 years.

• The President is elected in November, but can’t take office until January

PresidentialSuccession• If the President dies, these

are the next two people in line to take his spot:

• The Vice-President• The Speaker of the House

• We elect the President through popular vote and the Electoral College

• 1. Each state has a certain number of electoral votes. (538 Total Electoral Votes)

• 2. Number of electoral votes in each state= # of Reps + # of Senators

• Example: Illinois has 20 Electoral Votes (18 reps + 2 senators)

• Example: California has 55 Electoral Votes (53 Reps + 2 senators)

How Do We Elect the President?

How Do We Elect the President? Continued….

• 3. People go and vote for their favorite person

• 4. The person that gets the most votes in that state, gets the electoral votes for that state

• Example: John Kerry got the most votes in IL in 2004, so he got 21 electoral votes from IL.

• 5. The candidate that gets 270 electoral votes WINS!!!

Census…how we determine the number of electors

***Every 10 years the government takes a CENSUS which is a poll of questions that Americans answer including; how many people live in the house, what their income is, race, gender, etc. This is how the government determines how many state representatives the state will have.

The Judicial Branch(interprets the laws)

= Supreme Court, other Federal Courts, state and local courts

The Judicial Branch

Supreme Court• The Supreme Court is the HIGHEST

court in the land

• There are NINE justices (judges) on the Supreme Court

• Supreme Court Justices serve a LIFE term

The Supreme Court

Building in Washington,

D.C.

There are nine Supreme Court Justices

Supreme Courtcontinued….

• Supreme Court Justices are: • appointed/selected by the President• but the Senate has to approve of the

Justices.

• The Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional

Checks and Balances System• The system in which each branch

of government “checks” each other to balance the power.

• This ensures that one branch does not become more powerful than the others

Executive

Legislative Judicial

Checks and Balances System

Can Check Example

President 1.Congress2.Supreme Court

1.vetoes a bill2.Appoints judges

Congress 1. President2. Supreme Court

1.Override a President’s veto with 2/3rds vote2.Senate approves or rejects judges

Supreme Court

1.President2.Congress

1.Can Declare Presidential Acts unconstitutional.2.Can Declare laws unconstitutional