Crash Course US Government

America is a FEDERAL REPUBLIC

Number of Members: The number of members of the House of Reps is based on POPULATION

Currently there are 435 members of the House Representatives. This changes every 10 years when we have a census.
Qualifications: 25 years old, be a citizen for seven years, must live in the state you are representing

Number of Members: 100. 2 per state.
Qualifications: 30 years old, be a citizen for nine years, have to live in the state you represent

The Vice President is the President of the Senate. He does not vote in the Senate UNLESS there is a TIE.

There are a lot! Here are the highlights.
- Power to Tax and Borrow Money
- Power to Regulate Commerce and Currency
- Power to Declare War (raise army and maintain the navy)
Elastic Clause (aka the Necessary and Proper Clause)

Congress has the power to make any law necessary to carry out the listed powers.

….well what does that mean?!

How much power does Congress actually have?!

That’s up for debate and we’ll look at that in class this year.

Term of Office: Four years (limited to two terms according to Amendment 22)
Qualifications: 35 years old, live in the US for 14 years, Have to be a Natural Born Citizen (means that you are a US citizen at birth. If you are born outside of the US, but one of your parents is a citizen, so are you.
Powers: There are many; here are the highlights
1. Veto Power
2. Commander of the Armed Forces
3. Convene/Adjourn Congress
4. Grant Pardons
5. Receive Ambassadors
State of the Union Address: “from time to time”...in modern history this presidential speech is given to all three branches of government in the House of Representatives in late January. It’s a sort of “how is the country doing” speech as well as a pep talk.

Means that someone (the President usually) has been accused of wrongdoing. The process decides if they have done something wrong and whether to remove them from office.
A president can be impeached without being removed (i.e. President Trump and President Clinton)
- “Shall be removed for treason, bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanors”
House of Representatives has the power of Impeachment
Senate hold the impeachment trial. They decide whether or not to remove the President.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the presiding judge at the trial.

Presidents are not elected by popular vote. That means we don't elect presidents by who gets the most votes.
Presidents are elected by the Electoral College
- That is NOT a place. It's just the name of the meeting where electors (people) come together to vote for the president.
- When you vote, you are voting for who your STATE should elect as president.
Presidential candidates must win STATES in order to be president.

PreAP I recommend this video. It goes in a little more detail about the pros and cons.
Academic I recommend this video.
You can watch both!

The Constitution is very vague on the Supreme Court.
It doesn't even say how many judges there are supposed to be.
Today there are NINE.
The U.S. started with SIX.
The Constitution also didn't say how many lower courts there should be. So Congress created them.
Term of Office: Life or “good behavior”
Types of Cases: Disputes between states, disputes between ambassadors, appeals from lower courts.
Power: Judicial Review -- the power to say if a law follows the Constitution

Source for images: Adventure Tales of the Constitution of the United States by Jody Potts

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