1. Notes on American Government
U.S. History
Ms. Gill
School Year

2. I pledge allegiance…
How does the pledge of allegiance go?

3. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

4. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

5. United States
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…
Our government exists on three levels:
National (called federal)
State
Local

6. Three Levels of Government
Federal (National)
The President and Congress in Washington, D.C.
State
The governor of Michigan and the Michigan legislature
Local
The mayor of Canton and the Canton city government

7. Federal Government
Three branches:
Executive
Legislative
Judicial

8. Federal Government Three branches: Executive: enforces the laws
Legislative: makes the laws
Judicial: interprets the laws (says, “Do they fit with the Constitution or not?”)

9. Federal Government Three branches:
Executive: The President and his cabinet
Cabinet members are called Secretaries
Legislative: The Congress
The Senate
(called Senators)
The House of Representatives
(called Representatives)
Judicial
The Supreme Court (nine judges, called justices)

10. The President’s Cabinet
The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.

11. The President’s Cabinet

12. Republic … and to the republic for which it stands…
A republic is a government in which the citizens rule through elected representatives. It’s basically the same as a democracy.

13. Republic / Democracy
Another synonym for republic/democracy is rule by the people, because the people vote for who they want to represent them in the federal, state and local governments.

14. Republic / Democracy
Another synonym for republic/democracy is representative government, because the people vote for who they want to represent them in the federal, state and local governments.

15. Republic / Democracy
Another synonym for republic/democracy is consent of the governed, because the people vote for (consent to, agree on) who they want to represent them in the federal, state and local governments.

16. Political Parties
We have two main political parties in this country, the Republicans and the Democrats. The Republicans took their name from the word republic, and the Democrats took their name from the word democracy. Both parties stand for our democratic system of rule by the people.

17. Political Parties
There are many differences between the two parties. In general, Democrats believe that the government should tax citizens so that the government can spend money to help people as much as possible. Republicans believe that the government should tax citizens as little as possible, and that, besides military spending, the government should not help people; people should help themselves.

18. Political Parties
Republicans are also called conservatives because they tend to want to conserve the way things are, or traditionalists, because they want to preserve tradition (no gay marriage, for example)
Democrats are also called progressives, because they want to change society more quickly, or liberals, because they tend to be freer with social policies (pro-gay marriage, for example)

19. Political Parties
Democrats are on the left of the political spectrum. They are sometimes called left-wing.
Republicans are on the right of the political spectrum. They are sometimes called right-wing.
Both Democrats and Republicans, however, are pretty close to the middle of the spectrum.

21. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.