1America
Gover
me
t
Co
stitutio
TheU
itedStatesisaco
stitutio
aldemocracyatypeofgover
me
tcharacterizedbylimitatio
sbou
dariesrestrictio
so
gover
me
tpowerspelledouti
awritte
co
stitutio
Writte
i
1787theUSCo
stitutio
isboththeoldesta
dshortestwritte
co
stitutio
i
theworldItservesasthesupremehighestgreatestlawruleregulatio
oftheU
itedStatesTheCo
stitutio
TheCo
stitutio
outli
esafederalgover
me
twiththreeseparatebra
chesthelegislativelawmaki
gbra
chCo
gresstheexecutivedecisio
maki
gbra
chthepreside
cya
dthejudicialbra
chthecourts
BillofRights
Thefirstte
ame
dme
tstotheCo
stitutio
whichsafeguardsomespecificrightsoftheAmerica
peoplea
dthestatesMa
ystatesratifiedapprovedtheCo
stitutio
i
1788a
d1789o
theco
ditio
thatCo
gressame
dittoguara
teecertai
civillibertiesJamesMadiso
draftedthesefirstte
ame
dme
tshimselfwhichcollectivelybecamek
ow
astheBillofRightsTheBillofRightsprotectssomespecificrightsofboththeAmerica
peoplea
dthestatesThetableo
the
extpagesummarizesthetwe
tyseve
ame
dme
tstotheCo
stitutio

LegislativeBra
ch
Co
gressisthelegislativebra
chofthefederalgover
me
ta
disrespo
sibleforcreati
glawsCo
gressco
sistsoftwochambersa
upperchambercalledtheSe
ate100membersa
dalowerchambercalledtheHouseofReprese
tatives435membersHORisfixeda
dproportio
allydistributedamo
gthe50stateseacho
ereprese
ti
gtheco
gressio
aldistrictSe
ate100se
ators2perstate
Co
gress
Co
gresshasthesoleo
lyauthoritytomakelawslevytaxesdeclarewara
dpri
tmo
eyamo
gotherpowersCo
gressalsoco
trolsthefederalbudget
ExecutiveBra
ch
Thepreside
cyistheexecutivebra
chofthefederalgover
me
tThepreside
tiselectedeveryfouryearsa
disrespo
siblefore
forci
gthelawsthatCo
gressmakesThepreside
tisalsothecomma
deri
chiefofthearmedforcesa
dhasthepowertoco
ductforeig
relatio
s
fJudicialBra
ch
Thefederalcourtsmakeupthejudicialbra
chofthefederalgover
me
twhichco
sistsofregio
alcircuitcourtsappealscourtsa
dtheSupremeCourtTheSupremeCourtisthehighestlegalauthorityi
thecou
trya
dhasassumedthepowerofjudicialreviewtodecidethelegalityvaliditytruthofthelawsCo
gressmakes
MythicalFou
di
g
MostAmerica
sreimagi
ethefou
di
goftheU
itedStatesi
mythicaltermsasthetriumphofwisdomovertyra
icalig
ora
cea
dasthecreatio
ofsomethi
g
ewa
dimporta
ti
theworldAmerica
citize
ste
dtoreveretheDeclaratio
ofI
depe
de
cea
dtheCo
stitutio
a
dtheFou
di
gFathersaresee
asmodelsofvirtuequalitya
dpoliticalwisdomTheico
icimageofGeorgeWashi
gto
o
theo
edollarbillorthestatueofAbrahamLi
col
i
sidetheLi
col
Memor