Civics - 3.2 Branches of Government

Branches of Government

Chapter 3 Section 2

Open Ended

The US Constitution created a new government with three branches.

What are the three branches of the United States government?

Vocabulary - Chapter 3.2

Separation of Powers - division of power among the three branches of government

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Legislative Branch - the lawmaking arm of the US Government

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Executive Branch - the part of the US government that carries out the laws

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Judicial Branch - the part of the US government that interprets the laws

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Separation of Powers

• "Having all of the powers of government in the same hands is the very definition of tyranny" - James Madison​

• ​Tyranny means the cruel and unreasonable use of power or control

• When writing the Constitution, the framers did not want to create a tyrannical, or all-powerful government

Separation of Powers

To shield against this type of government in the United States, the framers created three separate branch

One branch would write the laws -> Legislative

One branch would enforce the laws -> Executive

One branch would interpret the laws -> Judicial

This structure is called SEPARATION OF POWERS !!!

***do not confuse this with federalism which is the distribution of government power to the federal and state level

The Legislative Branch

• Set up by Article 1 of the US Constitution

• It is called Congress and it most responsible for MAKING LAWS

• The first Congress started in 1789 and chose Washington DC as the nations capital.

The Executive Branch

• Set up by Article 2 of the US Constitution

• The Executive Branch is responsible for executing, or carrying out the laws of the country

• At first the Executive Branch was just the President and the Vice President

• Today, the Executive Branch includes many departments and agencies as well!

The Judicial Branch

• Set up by Article 3 of the US Constitution

• The Judicial Branch is responsible for interpreting laws passed by Congress and setting punishments for people who break the law

• The Constitution created the Supreme Court to head the Judicial Branch