Social Studies: Government Study Guide
Local Government
· Cities, towns, and counties make up local government.
· A mayor is the leader of a city or town.
· Cuba is in Crawford County.
· A county is a part of the state that includes several cities and towns.
State Government
· A governor is the head of the state government.
· The capital of Missouri is in Jefferson City
Federal Government
· The president is the leader of the nation.
· The United Sates has a representative democratic government (people elect their government officials)
· The center of federal government in the United States is Washington, D.C., the capital of our country.
The federal government has the power to…
· Print money
· Declare war
· Build the military
· Make laws to enforce the constitution
The 3 branches of government are:
· Legislative
· Executive
· Judicial
Legislative Branch
· Makes the laws and sets taxes
· Congress is the legislative branch of government. It is made up of the Senate and House of Representatives.
· Senate – has 2 Senators elected from every state
· House of Representatives – number of reps based on the state’s population
· Congress has the power to impeach (remove from office) Supreme Court Judges or Presidents.
Executive Branch
· enforces the laws and is in charge of the military
· The president is the head of the executive branch.
· The President has the power to veto a bill (not approve) sent from Congress, which would stop it from becoming a law.
Judicial Branch
· – interprets the laws ( decides what the laws mean) ; decides if laws follow the Constitution
· The Supreme Court, the highest court in the nation, is the head of the judicial branch. It consists of 9 Supreme Court justices (judges) appointed by the president.
· The Supreme Court has the power to overturn a law that they believe is unconstitutional.
To be sure that one branch does not become more powerful than the others, the Government has a system called checks and balances. Through this system, each branch is given power to check on the other two branches.
The purpose the United States government is to protect citizens’ rights and promote the common good.
A constitution is a plan for government that includes laws and ideas that citizens follow.
Taxes are fees that are added to goods and services. Taxes are ways that the government can collect money from its citizens to pay for things that the people need, like schools and roads.
Social Studies Week 1 Vocabulary: Government
1. civil discourse: talking in an appropriate way with other people to build understanding
2. common good: people thinking about what is best for everyone and making decisions that benefit most members of a community
3. equality: all people are treated the same, regardless of who they are
4. executive branch: the branch of government that enforces our country’s laws; headed by the president of the United States
5. fairness: making sure that all people should be treated equally
6. federal government: the government that leads our country with a system of checks and balances and shares its power with state governments
7. judicial branch: the branch of government that interprets the laws, decides what they mean, and determines whether the laws follow the Constitution; headed by the Supreme Court
8. justice: people behave in a way that is fair, equal, and balanced for everyone
9. legislative branch: the branch of government that makes the laws and sets taxes; headed by Congress
10. local government: the level of government that leads our towns, cities, and counties
11. state government: the level of government that controls laws within each state
12. taxes: an amount added to the cost of goods and services; fees that citizens pay for services