1. 3 Branches of Government
By Nicole George

2. How 3 Branches of Government Started
Founding Fathers gathered in 1787 to write the Constitution
Constitution – “set principles that told how the new nation would be governed.”
The Founding Fathers wanted a strong and fair national government.
The Founding Fathers wanted to protect individual freedom.
The Founding Fathers wanted to prevent the government from abusing its power.

3. Three Branches of Government
The Founding Fathers came up with three branches of government:
The Executive Branch
The Legislative Branch
The Judicial Branch

4. The Legislative Branch
The legislative Branch is usually called Congress
Congress includes 2 houses:
1. The Senate
2. The House of Representatives

5. The House of Representatives
435 representatives in the House
The number each state gets is based on the population of the state.
The higher the population, the more representatives a state gets.
Write, Debate and Vote on Laws

6. The Senate There are 100 Senators – 2 from each of our 50 states
The Vice President is the head of the Senate
Senate approves nominations made by the President of the Cabinet, Supreme Court, federal courts and other posts.
The Senate must ratify all treaties by a 2/3 vote
Make laws
Can impeach (fire) a President for misconduct
Approve Judicial nominations
Approve Cabinet members
Can declare War
Can remove Judges from office for misconduct

7. The Executive Branch
The Executive Branch includes the President, Vice-President and the President’s cabinet.
The Executive Branch makes laws official.
The President is the head of the Executive Branch.
The Vice-President takes over the President’s job if he should become incapacitate, dies, resigns or is removed from office for impeachment and/or following a conviction.
The cabinet includes secretaries of various departments of the government, for example state, treasury, defense, justice, interior, agriculture, commerce, labor, transportation, education, etc., there are currently 16 people currently in the cabinet.

8. The President Negotiates treaties with other nations
Elected by the Entire Country
Veto Bills to deny or delay approval of laws
Sign Bills into Laws
Writes the budget (but must get Congress to approve it)
Leads our nation in times of war
Appoints supreme court judges (of Judicial branch) for a life term (until they retire or die)
Appoints or removes Cabinet members

9. Members of the Cabinet Made up of 15 major departments of government
The members give advice to the President about important matters.

10. The Cabinet The Secretary of State The Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of Defense
The Attorney General (Justice Department)
The Secretary of the Interior
The Secretary of Agriculture
The Secretary of Commerce
The Secretary of Labor
The Secretary of Health and Human Services
The Secretary of Homeland Security
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The Secretary of Transportation
The Secretary of Education
The Secretary of Energy
The Secretary of Veterans' Affairs

11. The Judicial Branch The Judicial Branch includes:
the Supreme Court
the District Courts
the Appeals Courts.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation; all other courts must follow their rulings.
There are nine Supreme Court judges.

12. The Supreme Court
9 Justices (judges), 8 Associates Justices, and 1 Chief Justice
Decisions set precedents – new ways of interpreting the law
Rules whether something is Constitutional
By decisions explain meaning of Constitution and laws passed by Congress
Oversees the Court System of the U.S.
Serve life terms
Nominated by the President

13. Checks and Balance System
Each of the 3 branches can limit the powers of the other branches.
This way no branch becomes too powerful.
”Each branch ‘checks’ the power of the other branches to make sure that the power is balanced between them.”

14. Example of the Checks and Balance System
HOW LAWS ARE MADE
1. Legislative Branch introduces and votes on the bill.
2. The bill goes to the Executive Branch
3. The President decides if the bill is good for the country.
4. If so, he signs the bill and it becomes a law.
5. If not, he vetos the bill (does not sign it)
6. The Legislative Branch gets another chance.
7. With enough votes, the legislative branch can override the Executive branch’s veto.
8. The bill becomes a law.

15. continued
9. People test the law through the court system, which is under the control of the judicial branch 10. If someone believes a law is unfair, a lawsuit can be filed. 11. Lawyers make arguments for and against the case. 12. Judges decide which side presented the most convincing arguments. 13. The side that loses can choose to appeal to higher court. 14. If the Legislative Branch does not agree with how the Judicial has interpreted the law, the can introduce a new piece of legislation. 15. The process starts all over again.