GED Study Guide | Social Studies Lesson 6: Levels and Branches of Government

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• published: 17 Aug 2014
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LESSON SIX: Understanding the American Government Part One: Watch this short video about the American Government. Be sure to pause and take notes if you wish. Transcript: In 1776, we said “bye bye” to Monarchy, and hello to Democracy. A democracy is a government run by the people. That’s why citizens gather to vote. American’s elect the President and the Members of Congress. We use the term constituent to describe the people who elect the politicians. Our Founding Fathers were looking to make some big changes. So they divided the government into three parts. The first level is the Federal Government. The federal government makes decisions on a national level. The second level is the State Government. And the third level is the local government. An important principle of the US Constitution is Federalism. Federalism means that power is shared between the national and state levels. There are three branches of the government. The three branches of the government are the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The Executive Branch includes the President and his advisors. The President may be elected for two terms and each term is four years. The Executive branch enforces national laws and provides leadership. The Legislative branch consists of two houses of Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives. State Representatives may be elected every two years. Senators are elected every six years. The Judicial system is the court system, which includes judges and the Supreme Court. The President appoints Federal Judges. Federal Judges are confirmed by the Senate and serve for life. The Constitution has been set up to keep different branches “in check”. Our Founding Fathers did not want one branch to have more power than the rest. The system of Checks and Balances gives each branch the power to act in ways that will affect the others. The President can veto laws made by the Congress. Veto means the power to cancel or postpone a decision. In turn, Congress can override the President with a two-thirds majority vote. And the judges review the laws to make sure that they are not “unconstitutional”. And that’s how the branches and levels of government work in America. Part Two: Answer the questions below about the video. 1. Which of the following would have affected the Founding Fathers decisions? A. They were still angry about wrongfully imposed taxes and religious and social injustices imposed by the King. B. They did not want power to be shared between national and state levels because they did not want religion implemented in the government. C. They were hesitant to give the President permission to veto because they didn’t want him to become power hungry like their former king. 2. Why can you assume that the colonists wanted to the President to only run for two terms? A. Because the Founding Fathers recognized the stress it would impose on a person was not healthy for more than eight years. B. Americas were still healing after the effects of the monarchy. C. They wanted the House of Congress to have more power than one person. 3. Federalism: A. was set in place to ensure that the President is protected by the people. B. helps to maintain a balance in the government. C. is a term to describe the people who elect a politician.