1. U.S. CONSTITUTION Power Point Project Pauline Zahrai Masihi Period:04 December 2009

2. The Executive Branch The President is both the head of state and head of government of the United States of America, and Commander in Chief of the armed forces. It is outlined in Article II of the Constitution. The have been 44 presidents. The president has the power to sign legislation into law or veto bills enacted by congress.

3. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH The federal government of the U.S. has the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The legislative branch includes the congress consisting of two chambers- the Senate and the House of Representatives. Article one of the Constitution, the legislative branch is charged with making laws for the United States. There are 100 senators and 435 representatives. A bill has to go through the Congress to get to the President.

4. THE JUDICIAL BRANCH Members of the Judicial Branch are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Article III of the Constitution, which establishes the Judicial Branch, leaves Congress significant discretion to determine the shape and structure of the federal judiciary. The judicial branch is the system of courts which interprets and applies the law in the name of sovereign or state.

5. CHECKS AND BALANCES To prevent one branch from becoming supreme, and to induce the branches to cooperate, governance systems that employ a separation of powers need a way to balance each of the branches. Typically this was accomplished through a system of "checks and balances", the origin of which, like separation of powers itself, is specifically credited to Montesquieu. Checks and balances allows for a system based regulation that allows one branch to limit another, such as the power of Congress to alter the composition and jurisdiction of the federal courts.

6. SEPERATION OF POWERS The separation of powers is a model for the governance a model for the governance of democratic states. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic. Under this model, the state is divided into branches or estates, each with separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility. The normal division of estates is into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary.

7. The Bill Of Rights Freedom of Religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. Right to keep and bear arms in order to maintain a well regulated militia. Right of trial by jury in civil cases. Powers reserved to the states.

8. ELECTORAL COLLEGE When Americans vote for a President and Vice President, they are actually voting for presidential electors, known as the electoral college. The Electoral College insulates the election of the President from the people by having the people elect not the person of the President, but the person of an elector who is pledged to vote for a specific person for President.

9. THE PREAMBLE A preamble is an introductory and explanatory statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. The preamble may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute, It is distinct from the long title or enacting formula of a law. We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

10. U.S. CONSTITUTION The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the U.S. and the federal government. Both houses elect their own officers: Vice President of the Senate and the House electing it’s leader, namely, Speaker of the house.