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- So that the president does not become too powerful, many of the executive powers require cooperation with Congress.
- Congress passes laws, but those laws generally must be signed by the president. If the president vetoes a bill, Congress needs a 2/3 majority to win it. Once a bill becomes law, the executive branch must carry it out and enforce it.
-  A great deal of the president’s power comes from the fact that the voters elect a president based on what they believe he or she will accomplish in office.

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- The Constitution created the federal court system, which hears cases about the U.S. Constitution, federal law, foreign treaties, international law, and bankruptcies.
- In this dual-court system, each court has the authority to hear certain kinds of cases, which is known as the court’s jurisdiction.
- Most of the branch's power comes from the courts' ability to interpret the Constitution and overturn laws that violate the Constitution.

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- The president is the head of the executive branch, which includes numerous executive departments that enforce the laws passed by Congress.
- There are currently 15 executive departments, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, the Department of the Treasury, and many others.
- Executive branch also includes numerous federal agencies, boards, commissions, government corporations, and advisory boards that carry out specific executive functions.

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-  Legislature is responsible for passing laws and is divided into two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate.
- The House is the voice of the people, directly elected by popular vote. Representation in the House is based on each state’s population.
- The Senate has the same number of representatives from each state. Initially, senators were elected by state legislatures. But in 1913 the 17th Amendment was ratified, which called for the direct election of senators by popular vote.

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- 1786, after much conflict and compromise the Constitution was drafted. Before it could become a law it had to be approved by 9/13 of the states.
-  One of their most persuasive arguments was that the Constitution balanced power between states and the national government and created 3 separate branches of government to divide its powers.
- The structure and functions of government as laid out in the Constitution made it impossible for one person, or even a small group to have absolute power.

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- The first ten amendments to the Constitution called the Bill of Rights lists the rights of Americans to speak and worship freely, bear arms, be free from unjustified government searches, and have fair criminal trails, among others.
- These rights are not unlimited but as individual rights are balanced with the government's need to provide for the public good.

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- The three branches of the government has a system of checks and balances, each branch exercises some control over the other two.
- Congress passes laws but the president can check that power by rejecting legislation.

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Separation of Power into Three Branches of Government

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Separation of Power into Three Branches of Government

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- The Constitution limits the national government by dividing power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Each branch has a specific duty in the government. This help any single government from becoming too powerful.

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- Describes the structure of American government.
- Power is divided between the federal, or nation, government and the state governments.
- Federalism creates a union while limiting central power.

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- A fundamental and essential to a democracy. One way the constitution limits power of the government is by specifying the powers and things that the government is prohibited from doing.

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- The Constitution is based on the concept of popular sovereignty.
- The government is based on the consent of the governed, the authority for government flows from the people.

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- The Constitution is based on many fundamental principles, that the government will be limited, that the power will be shared the national government and the states, and the national government power will be divided among three branches to keep one another in line.

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- The third part of the constitution consists of amendments/changes to the original document.
- The Constitution has been changed 27 times since it was approved. Some amendments describe people's rights and while others modify the rules or structure for government.

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- The Constitution included 7 main sections named articles. Each covered a different topic about how the government is structured.
- Many of the articles were divided into sections. Articles I, II, and III create the 3 branches of the national government. The legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

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- The men who gathered to create a new system of government for the U.S. had been through a Revolutionary war with Britain and 6 years as a nation under the Articles of Confederation.
- The government had not worked well under the Articles of confederation because it created a weak central government.
- The solution that the founders agreed on was a central government with limited power, and having the government divided into branches.