Warm UP If you came to school tomorrow and there were no rules or procedures, how would you feel? Ex: You could go anywhere in the building, eat anything in the cafeteria, or watch T.V.

Why Three Branches of Government? F ramers wrote the Constitution to provide for three separate branches of government. Each has its own responsibilities and at the same time they work together to make the country runs smoothly and to assure that the rights of citizens are not ignored or power is abused.

Three Branches of Government Job: Make Laws Job: Carry out laws Job: Make laws Constitutional Bicameral

Legislative Branch The legislative branch of government is made up of the Congress. Article I of the Constitution established this branch and gave Congress the power to make laws. Congress has two parts, the House of Representatives and the Senate. (bicameral!!!)

Legislative Branch The U.S. Congress

The House of Representatives In the House, representation is based on the number of people living in each state. The more people that live in a state, the more representatives allowed. Each member represents a congressional district.

The U.S. House of Representatives Total number of Representatives for our country is 435. Texas has 32 representatives Baines Middle School is in District 22 and our Congressman is Pete Olson. They serve 2 year terms Each sessions last 140 days Texas State House of Representatives 150 State Representatives districts

House of Representative Requirements Must be 25 years old Live in Texas for two years or more Live in the district U.S. citizen Head of the House Is the Speaker of The House John Boehner

The Senate Each of the 50 states sends 2 people to the Senate, so there are a total of 100 senators. This means that each state has equal representation in the Senate.

U.S. Senators Requirements Senator John Cornyn Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson They serve 6 year terms

Texas State Senator 31 Senate districts

Requirements to be a Senator Be at least 30 years of age U.S. Citizen Must live in state for at least 9 years Must live in district Head of U.S. Senate Is Vice President Head of Texas Senate Is lieutenant governor

Executive Branch The President is the leader of the country and Commander in Chief of the military. The President enforces the law.

Executive Branch President and Vice President must: be a natural born citizen of the United States be at least 35 years old have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years In addition, the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that a President may not serve more than 2 terms of 4 years each, even if they have only served as President for 2 or more years of one of those terms

Governor of Texas Governor must : elected by the citizens every four years. be at least 30 years old resident of Texas for the five years immediately before the election

Judicial Branch The judicial branch of government is established in Article III of the Constitution with the creation of the Supreme Court. Courts decide arguments about the meaning of laws, how they are applied, and whether they break the rules of the Constitution. A court's authority to decide constitutionality is called judicial review.

Supreme Court

7,500 cases that are sent to the Supreme Court each year, only about 80 to 100 cases are accepted The Supreme Court is made up of nine Justices. One of these is the Chief Justice. appointed by the President and must be approved by the Senate. Justices have their jobs for life, unless they resign, retire, or are impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate

Court System Justice of the Peace: minor offenses Punishable by fines$$$$$$ Civil cases: deals with less than 1,500 Municipal Court: mostly traffic violations County Court: A judge heads this and also serves as the head of the county government. Judge Elected  Heard civil cases that deal with fines up to $100,000  Misdemeanors  District Court: Main trial court  Felony cases  Divorce  Disputes over land ownership  Judge elected

Texas Courts Appeal court: Texas has 14 court of appeals Hear appeals from both civil and criminal cases Appeal courts do not hear testimony, they review written records of trial and listen to brief arguments from lawyers from both sides. Texas and Oklahoma are the only two states that have more than one high court of appeal. The two last resort courts are Texas Supreme court and Court of Criminal Appeals

Texas Courts Texas Supreme Court: hears appeals from civil and juvenile cases. This court is made of a chief justice and eight justices. Court of Criminals Appeals: Highest Court of Appeals for criminal appeals Made of nine judges Hears all cases in which person is on death row Rare but you can appeal courts decision to U.S. Supreme court Judged on both courts must have 10 years of experience being a judge or attorney

State Government Austin is the Capitol of Texas 32 delegates in the Texas House of Representatives 2 Senators from Texas Responsible for taking care of the needs of the state that the National Government does not take care of through the collection of taxes. (i.e. state colleges, states highways, issue driver’s licenses, maintain state parks)

Any Questions?