Download Guided Notes on the Organization of the National Government

Name:___________________________
Date:_____________________
Guided Notes on the Organization of the National Government
1. The Organization of the National Government comes mainly from the
Constitution
a. It consists of three main branches
i. ____________
ii. ____________
iii. ____________
b. This is called __________________
c. Absolute Power ______________________
2. Legislative Branch
a. Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution states: “All legislative Powers
herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…”
i. Basically, Congress is the _____________ body of the country
b. The legislative branch is a _____________ body with committees playing
a major role in the legislative process
c. The bicameral (two house) body, otherwise known as Congress consists of
the ___________ and __________________________________
i. ______________: 100 members, with each state having two
senators and serve 6 year terms
ii. _______________________________: 435 members, with
representation based on the population of the state(s) and serve 2
year terms
d. Congressional committees
i. Committees are organized by subject matter.
ii. Because of the large volume of work, committees are essential to
the legislative process.
e. Powers of Congress
i. _______________________________
ii. _______________________________
iii. _______________________________
iv. _______________________________
v. _______________________________
vi. _______________________________
vii. _______________________________
viii. _______________________________
f. Implied powers allow Congress to do all things “_________________” to
carry out its expressed powers.
3. Executive Branch
a. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution: “The executive Power shall be
vested in a President of the United States of America.”
i. The _________________ is given the law-executing, lawenforcing, law-administering powers of the National Government
b. The executive branch is headed by the President and Vice President, who
are supported by the Executive Office, the cabinet, and the federal
bureaucracy.
Name:___________________________
Date:_____________________
c. Responsibilities and Powers of the President and Vice President
i. _________________________________________
ii. _________________________________________
iii. _________________________________________
iv. _________________________________________
v. _________________________________________
vi. _________________________________________
4. Judicial Branch
a. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution: “The judicial Power of the
United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior
Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”
b. Thus, the federal courts and most importantly the Supreme Court, interpret
and apply the laws of the United States in cases brought before them
c. Powers of the Judicial Branch
i. _________________________________________
ii. _________________________________________
iii. _________________________________________
iv. _________________________________________
v.
vi. _________________________________________
vii. _________________________________________
5. Checks and Balances
a. The three branches are not completely independent of each other
b. Each branch is subject to a number of ______________________
(restraints)
c. Each branch has certain powers with which it can check the operations of
the other two
i. See chart on Checks and Balances
d. _____________________
i. One of the most important checks
ii. The ability of the _________________ to determine whether or
not something the government does is within the limits of the
Constitution