The U.S. Government Explained for English Language Learners

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer. You may not love

politics, but it's important to have a basic

understanding of how your government works.

Can you explain what kind of government you have in your country?

In this video, Ill give you an overview of the U.S.

government and some key vocabulary.

Quick quiz. How many U.S. states are there?

Through what process do people become part of the government?

Let me tell you the answers. The United States of America is a

Federal Republic. That's the name of the system we have.

We're a union of 50 states. We also have a federal

district, Washington, D.C., the District of Columbia,

which is our capital. In addition to all that, we have several territories,

like Guam and Puerto Rico. We have elected officials who represent us in

the government so that indirectly we have a voice.

Not everyone in our government is elected. Some people are chosen from

within. Our elected officials can appoint or

nominate someone for a specific job.

"Appoint" means officially name someone. "Nominate" means propose or suggest someone.

If you're appointed by someone, there's likely another person who has to confirm

that appointment. If you're nominated, there are others who

have to vote to make it official.

Another quick quiz. In the U.S., how many branches of government

are there? Does the U.S. President hold the most power?

How do we know what each branch is responsible for?

The procedures for elections and appointments can be confusing,

but the basic structure of our government is simple

and clear. We have three branches of government.

Each branch is responsible for different things to avoid any conflict of power.

This is called the separation of powers. No branch can be all powerful because we

have a system of checks and balances. This means

that two branches can limit the power of one.

The separation of powers and all the checks and balances

are outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution provides the framework

for our government. It's the supreme law of the land, meaning

the highest law in our country.

The United States was formed in 1776. The Constitution was written in 1787.

It was ratified or approved in 1788. It went into effect in 1789.

So, what are the three branches? Maybe you know them.

Let's see. What branch does the President belong to?

The executive branch. This is the branch that

executes or carries out the law.

The President has a Cabinet. This is a group

of advisers. The President appoints members of the Cabinet,

but they have to be confirmed by another branch.

What's the branch that makes laws?

The legislative branch. This is the branch

that confirms the President's appointments.

Our legislative branch is called the U.S. Congress.

It's made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Their main job is to legislate, which means to make or enact laws.

What's the branch that interprets the laws?

The judicial branch. "Judicial" is related to "judge."

Where are judgments made? In court. The highest court is the U.S. Supreme Court.

It's made up of nine justices.

One chief justice and eight associate justices.

The judicial branch is made up of the U.S. Supreme Court

and all the other federal courts in the system.

Quick quiz. What other titles does the U.S. President have?

Which members of Congress serve two-year terms?

The President of the United States is our Chief Executive.

He or she is vested with or given executive powers. Our president

is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Our president is elected by the people, indirectly through our representatives,

for a four-year term. The President can serve

a maximum of two terms.

The President may be our Commander-in-Chief, but only

Congress can declare war. Remember our system of checks and balances?

All members of Congress are elected officials.

We have two Senators from each state for a total of 100 Senators.

They serve six-year terms. They can run for re-election.

U.S. Representatives serve two-year terms, so they're up for re-election more often.

They can also join the House of Representatives at a younger age.

Here. Try a quick matching quiz.

The U.S. President must be at least 35 years old.

A U.S. Senator must be at least

30 years old. And a U.S. Representative must be at least

25 years old.

There are more U.S. Representatives than Senators because the number of

representatives depends on the population of a state.

A state with a large population has more congressional districts, and all

the districts have their representatives.

Another quick quiz. How long can someone serve on the Supreme Court?

Is a Supreme Court justice appointed or elected?

The Supreme Court of the United States has nine justices.

I believe the number has been the same since 1869.

Sometimes there's talk about "packing the court."

which means adding more justices so that the political party in power

can appoint people who will interpret laws either more conservatively

or more liberally.

Recently, we lost a member of the Supreme Court:

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her passing left a vacancy. This means that at some

point, the President and Congress must work

together to fill the seat. The President can nominate someone, but

the nominee must be confirmed by Congress. Remember that system of

checks and balances?

A committee has the chance to review the nominee's qualifications.

It's a long process. The Senate Judiciary Committee

can then send the nomination to Senate for a vote.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, then the President can officially

appoint this person as the next Supreme Court Justice.

This is a lifetime appointment, so it's a pretty big deal to serve on

the Supreme Court.

One final question. Has the U.S. Constitution changed at all over the years?

The answer is yes and no. I said that the Constitution

outlines the separation of powers, but a lot of the details

weren't written right away. The Constitution has basically remained the

same, but over the years we've added 27 amendments.

"To amend something" means to make a change.

Very soon after the Constitution went into effect,

our founders wrote the Bill of Rights. That's what we call the first 10 amendments.

There was concern from the very beginning about the federal government

holding too much power. To avoid an all-powerful central

government, the Bill of Rights was written. It was

written to make sure that the rights of individuals and the rights of the states

were protected.

Can you name any of the first 10 amendments?

I talked about one of them in my video on gun control.

There's a lot of talk about second amendment rights.

That's the right to bear arms. The right to own a gun.

Perhaps we can go over the Bill of Rights and talk about individual

freedoms in another lesson.

We'll end here. Please like the video if you found it useful and interesting.

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