Branches of Power

You are about to play

Let’s see what you will

learn…

There are THREE main characters?

They represent the THREE branches of our government!!

Let’s see who the three main characters represent?

The President represents the ________________ branch. Executive

Who do the three main characters represent?

The legislator represents the ________________ branch

(Congress). Legislative

Who do the three main characters represent?

The Supreme Court Justice represents the ________________

branch. Judicial

What do the towers represent?

_________ becoming _______! Bills

laws

At the beginning of the game you, as

President, will give a speech about three

issues! My fellow Americans: I

am here today to make a pledge to each and every one of you. While there

are many important issues facing us, these three issues will be my

top priority…

This speech, is given once a year by our President to our Congress, it is known

as the…

__________of the _________ Address

State

Union

Bonus QuestionThe State of the Union is an

example of the President setting the __________.

a)vetob)time limitc)agenda

agenda

What is another way the President could start an

issue tower?

press conferenc

e

That’s right! The President brings attention to issues by talking to the press

and the citizens

Now the responsibility shifts to

the Legislative

branch…

Legislators are responsible to the people

they represent.That’s us!!

What is one way that they hear citizens’ ideas and

get their support?

We holdTOWN HALL MEETINGS!

Bonus QuestionWhy do the citizens’ views

matter?

a)Their views don’t matterb)The citizens vote for the

legislatorsc)Everyone has to vote on all

laws

Now that the issue has support

among the public…

Crafting Bills

That’s just a

fancy way of

saying that we

write stuff that

might become

law!

Crafting Bills

Legislators write policies or amendments

to attach to bills. There are 100 Senators

and 435 Representatives.

It’s hard to get that many people to

compromise on ideas!

Crafting Bills

Luckily, everyone doesn’t have to agree!

How much support does a bill need to pass in the

Legislature?A bill requires more than ______% to pass in Congress!

50

Now the responsibility shifts to the Executive

branch…

Here are the options when a bill comes in

front of the President? If the President approves the bill he

must _________ it.

If the President disapproves of the bill

he can _________ it.

SIGN

VETO

Out of this list, pick two things the President must think about before he

signs or vetoes a bill:

- How much support it has from citizens- Whether or not it will raise his salary

- Did his buddies like it or not - Making sure that it is Constitutional

Bonus Question

BUT WAIT!!The President can’t veto

a bill that is

_________________!A bill requires at least ______% (or 2/3rds) support in the legislature to be veto-proof!

67

veto-proof

Now the responsibility shifts to the Judicial

branch…

What do Supreme Court Justices use as their rulebook when judging

laws?The CONSTITUTION is our rulebook!

What happens if a law is NOT allowed

by the Constitution? The Court

will strike it down and

the legislative branch will

have to start over

again!

Each branch of government has the ability to influence

what the other branches can and cannot do…

This is calledchecks and balances!!

Now it is YOUR turn…

If you could play one of these roles in real life, which would you

choose? PresidentLegislator

Supreme Court Justice