DEMOCRACY System of government whose leaders are elected by the people for the people Think about it…We vote for our Mayors, Supervisors, County Executives, Congressmen, Judges, and Presidents. We vote for just about EVERYTHING in America!!!

The Constitution: What is it? The written plan of the government.

Preamble…beginning of Constitution “We the people of the United States in Order to Form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”

What is the Preamble? “It explains the purposes of the Constitution, and defines the powers of the new government as originating from the people of the United States.” The why, the what for, and from whom!

Ratification The word ratify means official approval The Constitution became binding upon the approval of nine states. New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify, on June 21, 1788 The new government was officially in business!

A New Government… How did we get here? By way of the Articles. The first written form of Government doomed to fail were the Articles of Confederation. However, the more the founding fathers tried to write a government that was so different from the British rule they broke from, the more problems they caused.

A Call to Debate! James Madison & Alexander Hamilton were alarmed by the people’s lack of trust and confidence in the Articles. They realized that the original Government was in need of serious repair. The result was a call for state leaders to meet and revise the Articles of Confederation.

The Constitutional Convention James Madison and Alexander Hamilton called for a convention to revise the Articles on May 14 th, 1787 and they eventually began to plan a new government called the Constitution.

Article 1- Legislative Branch Main Job- Make the Laws Made up of 2 groups: Bi-Cameral Legislature Senate- Upper House House of Representatives- lower house Both Groups together are called the Congress They meet in the Capitol Building in Washington

By the Numbers: The Senate 2- the number of Senators per state 100- number of total Senators 6 year terms in office $169,300- salary per year 30- age you must be to run for Senate 9- number of years you must be citizen Unlimited- number of times they can be re-elected

Numbers: House of Representative # the number of Rep’s per state depends on the states population 435- number of total Representatives 2 year terms in office $169,300- salary per year 25- age you must be to run for House 7- number of years you must be citizen Unlimited- number of times they can be re- elected

The Faces of Your Elected Officials Charles (Chuck) Kirsten Brian Schumer GillibrandHiggins Senator- NY Senator- NY Representative- Hamburg

Quick Facts to remember about the Congress… Congress meets in the Capitol Building For the Senate…the whole state votes on 2 Senators For your Representatives, states are broken up into districts and each district picks one person. The more people living in your state the more Representatives you send to Washington The more people that live in your state the more districts to vote and the more representatives elected to office

Article 2- Executive Branch Main Job- Enforce the Laws Trick to remembering…E is for Executive and E is for Enforce President is the head of this branch…he works with the Vice President and his Cabinet. Presidential Cabinet- His Group of Advisors- they help him make decisions

Who’s Who in the Executive Branch President- Barack H. Obama Vice President- Joe Biden

Numbers for the Executive Branch… 4- Number of years in office 2- maximum number of terms in office 35- age to run for office 14- years as a resident of US and Natural Born Citizen $400,000- salary per year in office 44- Presidents so far in US History 15- Number of Cabinet Departments 1600 Pennsylvania Ave- Address of White House

Facts about the Executive Branch… Veto- when the president cancels out a bill made by Congress… Says NO Electoral College- The group that actually elects the president Succession- Order of people who will take over if the president resigns or dies

Article 3- Judicial Branch Main Job- Interpret Laws This branch makes sure that the Congress and President do not make any laws violating the Constitution

Facts about the Judicial Branch… 1 Supreme Court 9 judges sit on the Supreme Court Number of cases the court hears in one year 7,500- cases sent to them to pick from $217,400- salary for Chief Justice $208,100- salary for other 8 justices

How do you get this job??? President appoints (picks) a person to serve as supreme court judge…Senate approves choice NO requirements for Age, Residency, Citizenship Job for LIFE!!!! You can either resign or die in office

Most Important Power for Courts Judicial Review- the power of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution and what it means Current Members of the Court…. John G. Roberts- Chief Justice (Born in Buffalo, NY) John Stevens, Anthony Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sam Alito, Sonia Sotomayor

Impeachment- What is it? To bring charges against someone Who can be impeached- President, Vice President, Judges, Officers The House of Representatives brings the charges, Senate acts as the jury, and the Supreme Court acts as the justice Impeachment is the way to get rid of a corrupt official who has been voted into office Who was this man??

Checks and Balances… The government responsibility is split into three groups in order to balance the power out… NO one group can become too powerful.

Article 5- How to make a Change Changes to the constitution are called Amendments Amendments need 2/3 rd of the Senate and the House agreeing to propose the change You then need 3/4 th of the states to agree on the amendment This has happened only 27 times in over 225 years. The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of Rights Last amendment was in 1992