Unit 3 Project

Christopher FieldsGovernment

The Three Branches of Government

• Executive– The White House

• Legislative– The U.S. Capitol

• Judicial– The Supreme Court

Branches of Powers• Executive Branch

– Carries out the laws made by the Legislative Branch

• Legislative Branch– Power to make laws

• Judicial Branch– Responsible for the administration of laws

Constitution

• The powers of each branch can be found in the first three articles of the Constitution.– Article I – The Legislative Branch– Article II – The Executive Branch– Article III – The Judicial Branch

Division of Power

• Power is divided into 3 parts to ensure that no one person or group has absolute power

• This allows that there is a balance of power and one branch of government does not become overly powerful

• Checks and balances

Pros of this system of government

• Everyone has a say in government through elections

• Everyone has an opportunity to run for elected office

• The President does not have absolute power, therefore eliminating a monarchy

Cons of this system of government

• Length of time it takes to pass laws because of the process they must go through.

• Disagreements between political parties can cause needed laws to be vetoed or not passed due to party lines.

• Immediacy. If someone attacks us, the president must jump through numerous hoops to respond.

Key Players

• Executive– President George W. Bush

• Vice President Dick Cheney

• Legislative– Congress

• House of Representatives• Senate

• Judicial– Supreme Court

Executive Key Players

• President George W. Bush– Commander-in-Chief– Chief Executive– Policy Maker– Chief Diplomat– Head of State– Legislator

• Vice President Dick Cheney• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Legislative Key Players

• Speaker of the House – Nancy Pelosi• Senate Majority Leader – Harry Reid• House Majority Leader – Steny Hoyer• Senate Minority Leader – Mitch McConnell• President of Senate - Vice President, Dick Cheney

Judicial Key Players• Supreme Court

– John G. Roberts, Jr. – Chief Justice– John Paul Stevens – Associate Justice– Antonin Scalia – Associate Justice– Anthony M. Kennedy - Associate Justice– David Souter - Associate Justice– Clarence Thomas - Associate Justice– Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Associate Justice– Stephen Breyer - Associate Justice– Samuel Alito, Jr. - Associate Justice– Sandra Day O’Connor (retired) - Associate Justice

Executive BranchTeamwork Tactics

• President George W. Bush is the quarterback of the team. He is their public speaker and he represents the agenda of the United States of America.

– Negotiates with other leaders, both domestic and foreign– Sets goals and policies– Compromises with other foreign leaders without relinquishing the safety of the United

States• Vice President Dick Cheney remains in the background. He only plays minor policy-making

and public roles.– Casts deciding vote

• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice implements President Bush’s foreign policy.– Builds consensus

• Secretary of Defense William Gates is a major contributor to our wartime strategy.

Legislative BranchTeamwork Tactics

• Speaker of the House – Nancy Pelosi– Sets the agenda for what will be voted on– Second in presidential line of succession

• Senate Majority Leader – Harry Reid– Elected spokesman for political party and platform

• Senate Minority Leader – Mitch McConnell– Elected spokesman for political party and platform

• House Majority Leader – Steny Hoyer– Elected spokesman for political party and platform

• President of Senate - Vice President, Dick Cheney– Casts tie breaking vote on legislative issues in the Senate

Judicial BranchTeamwork Tactics

• John G. Roberts, Jr. – Chief Justice– Presiding officer of the court– Assigns Associate Justices (and himself) to circuits– Procedures of the court– administrative leadership of the entire federal judicial system– Chairman of the Judicial Conference of the United States– Chairs the Federal Judicial Center

• Associate Justices– Vote on cases – Write opinions (for either majority or dissent)

Checks and BalancesMany times an action is taken by one branch of our government. Unfortunately not all branches agree or support their ideas and/or actions.

Executive Action

• Power of Veto– If President George W. Bush does not agree with

laws passed by the legislative branch he can veto the bill and many times it will die.

Legislative Action

• Power to override a Veto– With 2/3’s of a vote the Congress

can override a veto by President George W. Bush.

Judicial Action

• Power to rule that laws are unconstitutional and change them accordingly.– Even if President George W. Bush

and the legislative branch passes a law, the Supreme Court can rule that the law is unconstitutional rendering it void.

Rank Order

• Judicial Branch is most powerful in my opinion, because they have the final say on whether a law is constitutional or not.

• Executive Branch is the second most powerful due to the fact that the president has the authority to veto any law that comes out of the legislative branch.

• While the Legislative Branch drafts laws, the laws they draft are subject to the presidents veto and if they override the presidents veto they are still subject to the supreme courts review as to whether they are constitutional.

TeamworkThe system of checks and balances is designed with compromise in place. Due to the system of Checks and Balances, no party can dictate completely the legislative agenda of the country. Each branch has means available to override or defeat the other’s policies. Therefore, they must work together as a team to reach common ground that benefits the country as a whole.

Founder’s Thoughts

The founders of the country envisioned a democratic society. Coming from a monarchy where one person decided the direction and fate of the nation our founding fathers wanted a system of checks and balances to ensure the views of the majority were implemented.

What I Dislike About This System• Checks and Balances

– Difficult to get laws passed– In fighting between the parties– Doing what’s best for their political party, not the people– Look bad to the rest of the world when the president is

not supported.

What I Like About This System• Checks and Balances

– Keeps extremist laws from being passed– Prevents a popular public figure from legislating his own viewpoint– Ensures the constitution is followed– Brings various viewpoints to the table

Evaluation Rubric• Development = 4 points

– Using the organizational plan, I provided accurate, specific, purposeful information that is extended and expanded to fully explain the topic. For example, in addition to listing the three branches of government on the second slide, I noted where that branch is housed and provided a picture of each.

• Organization = 4 points– I followed the organizational plan created by the instructor, included each of the parts

and followed the directions within each. To do this, I created multiple slides for each item that my project needed to address.

• Attention to Audience = 4 points– In order to provide information relevant to the needs of the audience, I highlighted the

main points of each area and when appropriate provided pictures of the key players. I also included various political cartoons and other images that grab the audience’s attention.

• Language = 4 points– I consistently provided language choices to enhance the project. I used correct

terminology and identified the key players and their positions.