2. The Government of the USA

3. 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)

4. Levels of government There are 3 main levels of government in the USA. Each level of government is responsible for different things. 1.Federal Government 2.State Government 3.Local government You MUST know the powers of each and examples of representatives in each.

5. The Federal Government (Congress) The Federal Government, also known as Congress consists of 2 levels; 1.Senate 2.House of Representatives

6. 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!

7. 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.

8. 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).

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. Local Representatives Voters vote for their local Mayor, Sheriff and members of the school board, to name but a few!