American Government

in Ten minutes
The Basics of Democracy and American Government
The basics of Democracy
Democracy
 Citizens have the power to vote for elected officials or have a voice in who
they want elected
 Majority rules, meaning at least 51 percent of citizens, and elected
officials must have same thoughts on decisions
 With Majority Rule, there has to be protection put in place for the
minority
 Due Process, and Equality before the law
 There are two types of Democracy
• Direct
• Representative
Direct Democracy
 Gives citizens a better opportunity to voice opinions
 Also gives citizens an easier way of presenting a problem they are facing
 Usually seen on a local scale
• Town meetings
• School Board
Representative Democracy
 Issued when the outcry of citizens in a direct democracy becomes
overwhelmingly popular
 Citizens elect officials to represent them in a meeting or discussion with
other elected officials
 Not as easy to voice opinions and concerns
 The American Government is the perfect example of Representative
DEmocracy
Capitalism
 Capitalism is an economic ideology that is based on private property, and
ownership
 Capitalism is based on the law of supply and demand
• What is the Law of supply and demand?
 Owners of production companies compete against each to make a profit, which
in turns funds their production
 Capitalism allows for the taxation of income and capital gains tax
• What is a Capital Gains Tax?
 Example of Capitalism:
• United States of America
The American Government
History of the American Government
 The American Revolution
• Before the American Revolution, tensions had been high between the home land,
Great Britain, and the thirteen colonies
• For Example: The stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party
• The beginning of the American Revolution started in Lexington and Concord,
Massachusetts on April 19th, 1775.
• Roughly a year and a few months later, on July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of
Independence was ratified
• Revolutionary war ended in 1781, but fighting did not actually end until 1783
History of the American Government
 Articles of Confederation
• American’s first try at creating a government
• Was thought to be a “firm league of friendship” rather than an actual
constitution.
• There was many problems to the Article of Confederation:
• Could not Levy taxes
• Gave Congress the power to create Laws, but not enforce
 The creators, also known as the Framers, knew they needed a better
government.
 The framers meet for many months at the Constitutional Convention
The Constitution
 Was Signed on September 17th, 1787
 was first Ratified by Delaware, then Pennsylvania
 Consists of the Preamble, The bill of Rights, and seven articles that
explain the workings of the government
 1791-addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution
 There are 27 Amendments in the constitution
“We the People of the United States, in Order
to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”

Preamble of the American

Constitution
The Bill of Rights (Amendments I-V)
 I. Freedom of religion, speech, and the Press, The right to peaceful
Protest, and the right to petition the government
 II. The right to bear arms
 III. No soldier should occupy a residence during peacetime and war, also
without the consent of the owner
 IV. No unreasonable search and seizure, and can not obtain a warrant
without probable cause
 v. Due Process before, has the right to not incriminate themselves, and
double Jeopardy shall not be applied
The Bill of Rights (Amendments VI-X)
 VI. Right to a fair speedy, and Public trial, The defense has the right to
question his accuser, and have legal aid
 VII. The right for civil cases to be tried by the federal government,
specifically the Supreme Court
 VIII. No excessive fines, and no cruel or unusual punishment
 IX. A person has rights even if they are not specified in the constitution
 X. Rights not stated by the federal government, is then given to the
states, or people
Categories of American Government
 The American Government is divided into three categories

Federal
State
Local
Local Government
 made up of Cities, towns, and counties
 Each county has a court, that presides over all criminal activity
 Cities, and towns are ran by a mayor
 Can not make laws, but elects representatives to voice peoples opinions
at the state level
State Government
 A smaller version of the federal government
• Is a bicameral legislative, which means a state congress is made up of a senate and House
of Representatives
• Has a governor that signs bills into law, very similar to the president
• The governor has the right to declare state of emergency for their state
 has the right to make laws, due to the tenth amendment in the constitution
 Issues birth certificates, drivers license, and occupational licenses, like an
attorney, or teacher
 has to work with federal governments for funding of public administrative
projects
Federal Government
 Can override state laws
 Levy Taxes, and Regulates the worth of money
 Can declare way, and can maintain an army
 Three branches of the American Government:
• Executive
• Legislative
• Judicial
Executive Branch

• The Executive Branch contains the office of the

president, the office of the vice President, the
President’s Cabinet, and other Federal Agencies
• For example:
• The Department of Education
• The department of Homeland Security
• The President has the ability to sign bills into law,
or reject the bill
• The Executive Branch’s job is to enforce laws
• If the president dies or is impeached, the vice
President will become the president
Legislative Branch
 The Legislative Branch consists of Congress
 Congress is made up of two houses (Bicameral Legislative):
• The House of Representatives
• When a bill is being introduce to congress, it must first be heard in a committee of congressman,
if they agree to introduce the bill, it will first go to the House of Representatives
• House of representatives can bring charges of impeachment against the president, or other official
• The Senate
• If a bill is passed by the house, it will then be taken to the senate, where they also will vote on it.
If it passes it will arrive on the presidents desk to be signed.
• The senate tries the accused
• If the accused is an official the President of the Senate will be the judge
• The Vice President is the President of the Senate
 Can declare war, and levy taxes
 Judicial Branch
 The judicial Branch is the Supreme Court
 The Supreme Court has nine judges, or justices, one of these justices is termed
Chief Justice and is the leader of the Supreme Court
 The justices will hear over 5000 cases a year
 If the justices deem a cases necessary they will collect all official records and
papers from lower courts
 The Supreme Court does not included a jury, but uses the rulings of lower courts
to help make a decision
 IF the supreme court rules in favor of the case, they can make it a statutory law
 The chief Justice of the Supreme court becomes the judge of a presidents
impeachment
Political Parties
 There are two major political parties in America
• Democrat
• Main Beliefs of Democrats:
• Abortion should be legal
• Gay marriage should also be legal
• Stricter gun laws
• Opportunities for financial aid
• There should be affordable, and accessible healthcare
• Republican
• Main Beliefs of Republicans:
• Abortion should be illegal
• Marriage is between a man and woman
• Should be able to own any gun
• Limited involvement in education
• Maintains capitalist views in healthcare
 There is another group of individuals that do not necessarily align with either
Democrat or Republican, but accept views from both parties, these individuals
are called independents
Hope you enjoyed
and have a nice
day!