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Our
federal government has three parts. They are the Executive,
(President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative
(Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial
(Supreme Court and lower Courts).
The
President of the United States administers
the Executive Branch of our government.
He enforces the laws that the Legislative Branch
(Congress) makes. The President is elected by United States citizens,
18 years of age and older, who vote in the presidential elections
in their states. These votes are tallied by states and form the
Electoral College system. States have the number of electoral
votes which equal the number of senators and representatives they
have. It is possible to have the most popular votes throughout
the nation and NOT win the electoral vote of the Electoral College.
The
Legislative part of our government is
called Congress. Congress makes our laws. Congress is divided
into 2 parts. One part is called the Senate. There are 100 Senators--2
from each of our states. Another part is called the House of Representatives.
Representatives meet together to discuss ideas and decide if these
ideas (bills) should become laws. There are 435 Representatives.
The number of representatives each state gets is determined by
its population. Some states have just 2 representatives. Others
have as many as 40. Both senators and representatives are elected
by the eligible voters in their states.
The
Judicial part of our federal government
includes the Supreme Court and 9
Justices. They are special judges who interpret laws
according to the Constitution. These justices only hear cases
that pertain to issues related to the Constitution. They are the
highest court in our country. The federal judicial system also
has lower courts located in each state to hear cases involving
federal issues.
All
three parts of our federal government have their main headquarters
in the city of Washington D.C.
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