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Ana Macanovi
United States
A number of sub-national entities form
the United States
The primary division is the state
System of parallel sovereignty,
meaning than states are units which
compose the US
Federal Government and State
Government have specific areas of
jurisdiction
Federal Government
The federal government is composed of
three branches:
1.Legislative (Congress)
2.Executive (The President)
3.Judicial (The Supreme Court)
The powers and duties of these branches
are defined by acts of Congress
This principle was formalized in 1788, with
the ratification of the Constitution
Separation of government
Separation ensures that no person or group would
gain too much power
Each branch is balanced by two other coequal
branches:
The President can veto the laws of the Congress
The Congress confirms or rejects the Presidents
appointments and can remove him from office in
exceptional circumstances (impeachment)
The justices of the Supreme Court who can
overturn unconstitutional laws, are appointed by
the President and confirmed by The Senate
Federal Government
"Governments are
instituted among Men,
deriving their just
Powers from the Consent
of the Governed.
Authority
Political sovereignty is divided between the
states and federal government
States take care of law enforcement, public
education, public health, transportation and
infrastructure
Today, many of these are being partially or fully
funded by federal funds
All powers not granted to the federal
government are reserved for the states and the
people
All state governments are modeled after the
federal government and consist of three
branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
State Government
All powers not granted to the federal
government are reserved for the states
State governments are modeled after the
federal government
They have to uphold a republican form,
although they are not required to have all
three branches
State Government
Executive branch: Governor (directly elected by
the people)
Every state has different executive organization
Legislature branch: Elected Representatives
Approve state budget and initiates tax legislation
Judicial branch: State Courts (usually led by the
State Supreme Court)
Local Government
Local governments include two levels:
Counties (also boroughs or parishes)
Municipalities or cities/towns
Thecountyis the level of administration
subordinate to the state.
County seat is the administrative center
of a county
Sherifis generally the highest lawenforcement official for the county, and is
often elected by the people of the county
Municipal governments
A local government is granted power by the state
where it is located
Municipalities can be structured in numerous ways.
They are called: villages, townships, boroughs, towns
or cities (also census-designated places and
unincorporated communities)
Representatives (councils, mayors and other
governing bodies) are in most cases directly elected
by the people
They vary greatly in size, from several millions to
several hundreds
Municipal governments
The End
Sources
UMKC School of Law. (2013) The Question of States' Rights. Retrieved November 13,
2013, from http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/statesrights.html
U.S. State. (2012). InWikipedia. Retrieved November 15, 2013, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state
United States Courts (2013) Difference Between Federal and State Courts. Retrieved
November 13, 2013, from
http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/UnderstandingtheFederalCourts/Jurisdiction/Di
fferencebetweenFederalAndStateCourts.aspx
White House. (2013) State and Local Government. Retrieved November 12, 2013,
fromhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/state-and-local-government
White House. (2013) The Executive Branch, The Legislative Branch, The Judicial
Branch. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/ourgovernment
Wikibooks. (2012) United States Government/Federalism and State Authority.
Retrieved November 13, 2013, from
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/United_States_Government/Federalism_and_State_Author
ity