THE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT The president of the United States is in charge of the executive branch A representative democracy is one in which leaders are chosen in elections They are meant to represent the wishes of the people in the district that elected them VOCABULARY Countries around the world are led by governments A government makes important decisions that affect the lives of its people It guards them against outside enemies and keeps order within the country It provides services to its people States and cities also have governments 4
The United States is a representative democracy that is made up of three parts or branches These are the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch Each branch’s powers are given by the United States Constitution The legislative branch makes laws The judicial branch runs the courts and uses the Constitution and other laws to settle cases The job of the executive branch is to carry out the laws The U S Constitution lists the powers of the three branches of government 5
GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE The U S Constitution sets out the country’s most basic laws All other laws must agree with the U S Constitution In 1776 13 colonies in North America declared independence from Great Britain They fought a war for their independence and then formed the new country of the United States The Many people in the 13 colonies considered King George III of Great Britain a cruel and unfair ruler 6
colonies became states The newly independent citizens did not want a single leader to rule over them Many felt that the British king who had ruled over the former colonies was a tyrant who limited their freedom The new nation’s founders wrote the Constitution in 1787 They wanted to protect the rights of the country’s citizens The founders also wanted to make sure that one branch of government could not become more powerful than the others They did not want one leader to become as powerful as a king It took the work and ideas of many people to write the Constitution A tyrant is a ruler who has complete power over a country and who is cruel and unfair VOCABULARY 7
