United States Government

United States Government

A Need for Government
Imagine you are a farmer in ancient Sumer (present-day southern Iraq), more than six thousand years ago. A new irrigation system has been developed to bring water to farmlands in the area. Your land is upstream. It no longer receives all the water it needs, and no one is controlling how the rivers flow through the system. Who could help you solve this problem?

​Making the Rules

​During ancient times, the ability to farm meant that more and more people lived together, sharing resources.

As civilizations like Sumer developed, people needed law and order in their lives. They created governments to provide that order. A government is the group of people that has power to make laws and important decisions. Ancient Sumerians set up an organized government in which to keep order throughout the land.

Governments have grown and changed quite a bit since ancient times. The first governments were led by one person or a small group. Most modern governments still have one person who leads the government, such as a president. However, that person has many other people advising them.

Governments have many responsibilities and many more people to manage tasks than they did in ancient times.
Not only do governments create and enforce (carry out) rules, but they also defend the country, run the economy (the wealth and resources), and make sure citizens are safe.
These jobs are carried out in different ways, depending on which form of government a country uses.

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​Types of Government

Multiple Choice

A system of rules and the people who make and enforce them for a country or a state

• Culture

• Economy

• Society

• Government

Multiple Choice

Which of the following sentences best illustrates the meaning of the word "enforce"?

• The teacher decided to enforce a new policy requiring all students to wear uniforms.

• The chef enforced a delicious new recipe for the restaurant’s menu.

• The artist enforced their unique style through creative brushstrokes.

• The musician enforced their talent by performing at various local events.

Multiple Choice

The way a country manages its money and resources to produce, buy, and sell goods and services

• Economy
• History

• Culture

• Market

Think about our school It needs rules to keep things running smoothly, like making sure everyone is safe, treated fairly, and that there’s a plan if something goes wrong. Now, think of government as the rule-makers and problem-solvers for a whole country, just like our school has rules and staff to manage things.

Here’s a simple way to break it down:

Making Rules: Just like our school has rules about behavior and homework, the government creates laws to help everyone know what’s expected and to keep things organized.

Protecting People: Schools have security and emergency plans to keep you safe. Governments do the same for everyone by making sure there are police, firefighters, and medical services.

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​Purpose of Government

Providing Services: Your school provides education, meals, and sometimes transportation. Governments provide things like roads, schools, and parks to help people in their everyday lives.

Resolving Disagreements: If you have a disagreement with a classmate, you might go to a teacher or principal to help resolve it. Governments help settle bigger disagreements between people or groups to keep the peace.

Managing Money: Just like your school has a budget for things like supplies and activities, governments collect and spend money (through taxes) to fund important services and infrastructure

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​Purpose of Government

Multiple Choice

Which is not a purpose of government?

• Supporting those in need such as the elderly and sick

• Providing education for citizens
• To provide free internet

• Protecting rights

If you compared all the governments in the world, you would find one thing in common: Someone is in charge. The question is, who?
There are many different forms of government. Some have one leader who has all the control. Others give power to the people. Here are some forms of government that exist (or have existed) in the world:

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Who Rules?

In a monarchy, a king or queen rules the country. The king or queen is known as a monarch.
Monarchs usually come to power through their family line: The current king or queen’s oldest child becomes the next king or queen. In some monarchies, especially those in historical times, the monarch held all the power and had the final say over the government.

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​Monarchy

A dictatorship is a form of government where one leader has absolute control over citizens’ lives. Citizens have no rights or freedoms.

A dictatorship is a form of government that is unlimited. Rulers in an unlimited government can do whatever they want without regard to the law. In an unlimited government power belongs to the ruler or rulers. No rules or laws exist to limit what the ruler can or cannot do. In unlimited governments, leaders have almost total power. Citizens in an unlimited government do not have many rights and freedoms.

Dictatorship

Multiple Choice

What is an unlimited government?

• A government with strict limits on its powers

• A government that has complete control over its citizens

• A government that shares power with its citizens

• A government that allows free elections

Multiple Choice

Which term describes a ruler with absolute power in an unlimited government?

• dictator
• president
• governor
• monarch

Many countries—including the United States, Canada, and Mexico—have democratic governments. A democracy is a form of government in which the people elect leaders and rule by majority. In most democratic countries, citizens are free to choose representatives to make and enforce the laws. In a democracy, a government gets its power from the people.
The United States has a representative democracy, where citizens elect leaders to represent their rights and interests in government. U.S. citizens, for example, elect members of Congress, who make the laws, and the president, who enforces those laws
Citizens hold the ultimate power, though, because if they don’t like what their representatives are doing, they can vote in new ones!

Democracy

Categorize

Options (6)

Governed by a king or queen

Power is inherited at birth, you are born into it

single ruler has absolute control over people's lives

Citizens have no rights

Citizens hold all the power through their vote

Power is granted by those who are elected

Correctly match the types of governments with their descriptions.

Monarchy

Dictatorship

Democracy

In 1776, Americans rose up against the British and declared their independence. They fought the British and won a few years later. The American Revolutionary War happened because the British king, George III, and his government were not fair to the people of the thirteen colonies. King George's government was unlimited.

​Founding the U.S. Government

When the American Revolutionary War ended, Americans had to figure out a better way to govern themselves.

Creating a new government wasn’t easy. Americans didn’t agree on how much government they needed. In general, people wanted their new American government to have the power to govern, but they also wanted to make sure they could limit that power.

​The United States

Multiple Select

What are characteristics of an unlimited government? (Choose 2 correct answers).

• Government rulers have all the power.

• Citizens have rights that the government cannot take away.

• Government rulers do not have to obey the laws they make.

• Free and Fair Elections

Limiting Government? What’s the Big Deal? Sometimes you might hear people talking as if government is an evil monster. Are they overreacting? Are there reasons to fear government? Whose side is government on, anyway?
Throughout history, there have been governments that had too much power and ended up abusing that power. They limited people’s freedom, mistreated people, and even committed mass murders.
In some places, that still happens today. Government isn’t evil—but the people who run governments do need to be kept in check so they can’t abuse their power.

​Limiting Government

The founding fathers needed to figure out how a new American government would work, and what powers it would have. So leaders from the 13 states decided to hold a meeting in Philadelphia. We call this meeting in Philadelphia the Constitutional Convention.

The state leaders argued a lot. Some of the men at the convention did not want to give one person— the president— too much power. They wanted a limited government. During that long, hot summer, each leader had to compromise. This meant that they all had to accept that they would not get exactly what they wanted.

Finally, on September 17, 1787, the state leaders finished their work and signed what they called the Constitution of the United States. It was a plan for a new system of government.

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​Constitution

A constitution is the rulebook for a country’s government. A constitution usually explains what kind of government a country has and how that government functions.
It also tells how a country’s laws are made, and it explains the rights and responsibilities of citizens.

Constitutions set limits on how much power government officials have so that they cannot take advantage of the people.

In the United States, the idea of limited government is written into the United States Constitution.

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​Constitution

Dropdown

A ​

Select answer

is a set of rules that guides how a country or state works.

Multiple Choice

The Constitution was adopted on which date?

• September 17, 1787
• March 1, 1881

• June 21, 1988

• July 4, 1776

When the founders were creating a new American government, the unlimited power from a single ruler were fresh in their minds. They didn't want another king! The writing of the Constitution was the first time in history when a group of people came together to give power to their government, while also limiting that power. The United States government was designed to prevent any single person or group from becoming too powerful.  HOW?​

What exactly is a limited government?

The rule of law is embedded in the U.S. Constitution. The rule of law means laws are fair, they’re enforced, and nobody is above the law. When a country has the rule of law, everyone must follow the law—the government, government leaders, and even the president! Citizens feel secure that the government can’t just do what it wants, and there are procedures in place to make sure the law is enforced.

RULE OF LAW

Separation of power is dividing power among several branches of government. By dividing up the power, a country can make sure that no one person or part of government gets too much control.
The U.S. Constitution separates the government's power into three branches. Each branch has separate responsibilities, but they all must interact with each other in different ways. Separation of power works because each branch of government is able to “check,” or limit,what the other branches can do.

Separation of Power

When you give your consent, you are giving permission. The consent of the governed means that the citizens of a country give their permission to be governed by the country’s government, and they do this by voting. Citizens have the right to vote, and they can use their vote to change the government. By voting, citizens can even change the constitution!

Consent of the Governed

Dropdown

A ​

Select answer

is a system of government that is restricted by laws

Multiple Choice

The idea that no one is above the law, and that everyone is accountable to the same laws.

• Unlimited Government

• Authoritarian Law

• Totalitarian Law

• Rule of Law

Dropdown

The United States government is made up of ​

Select answer

branches that handle different responsibilities

Multiple Choice

How do citizens of a country give their permission to be governed by the country’s government?

• Through voting.

• By paying taxes annually.
• Through public protests only.
• By following government orders without question.

At the time the Constitution was written, most countries were ruled by kings and queens.
Before the U.S. Constitution, the idea of government getting its power from the people was only an idea.
Even today, more than 230 years later, Americans can go to Washington, D.C., and see the original signed Constitution on display at the National Archives building. Not only that— every library in the country has a copy of it.

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Anyone who sees the U.S. Constitution notices that the first three words are the biggest words on the page: We the People . . . . This means that our government gets its power to make laws from the people—not from a king or a president.

We the People means that we decide what the laws should be, and no one can be above the law. We the People also means that it is up to us whether this is a country of good laws or bad laws.