by Sabrina Kohrt and Sydney EgelerThis book was created and published on StoryJumper™
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Table of Contents
1. Intro
2-3. What is the government?
5-16. Constitution
17-21. Congress
22-25. President
26-27. Bureaucracy
28-32. The Judiciary
33-34. Policy Making Process
35. Parties
36-38. Elections
39. Media
40. Interest Groups
41-44. Civil Rights/ Civil Liberties
Hia! My name is Ked, join me on my underwateradventure to discover how our government works!
Hey Ked? So what exactly is thegovernment?
Hey Jip! well...
The government is the ruling body of our nation, state, and community!
It enforces the laws to provide public service's, like building roads, schools, and collecting
taxes!
What is the government?
What does it do?
There are three bodies of
government: Judicial, Executive,
and Legislative branch.
wait...wait... a minute...
where did this all comefrom?
well Jip...
Where does it all begin?
Lets first look at thefirst Constitution!
Articles of Confederation
Ratified in 1781, the Articles were a written agreement by the 13 original
states declaring the United States as
a society of sovereign states. It is the
first Constitution of the U.S!
The Continental Congresswas the founders and writers
of the Articles!
however, the articles werenot perfect...
They had a few mistakes within the document that had caused problems
throughout society such as...
There was no regulation of commerce! This meant that states had
no fair share of funding.
There was no way of taxingcitizens. This meant that the
government did not have
enough money to function.
There was no organized military! Therefore, the U.S could not protect
itself in an organized way.
There were no creation of courts;meaning they had no real way of
solving problems.
Wait! That is why theycreated the Constitution!?
Right....?
You got it Jip!
The preamble introduces the
Constitution while the Articles
describe the powers that the
three branches of government
have.
While the amendments
are a list of rights that
we have as U.S citizens!
The bill of rights are the first 10
amendments to the
Constitution, and are a list of
everyone's civil rights for
example, having the
right to freedom of speech.
The Constitution is made upof 3 parts:
-The preamble
-Articles
-Amendments
Okay Ked, so we have a Constitution...What does
this do for the fish of the
sea?
well Jip...
The Constitution was created to by the states to
serve the states. It sets forth rules for how the
government must behave. The Constitution establishes
recognized limits of powers of the national
government and the state government, which is what
we call Federalism.
The Constitution is considered the "Supreme
Law of the Land" meaning that no other law in
the U.S overpowers the laws within the
Constitution.
Hia Bill! How are you doing?
I happened to be eavesdropping on yourconversation, and it seems like the
Constitution was a big deal Ked...but...Who is it a big deal to?
I thought you'd never ask...
The Constitution directly affects institutions and our whole policy making process. It affects not
only the people, but directly applies to the President,
Congress, Bureaucracies, and the Judiciary.
Lets look into it!
Congress
Congress is the lawmaking branch of our government. It shares powers with our president and the Supreme Court, and is listed
first in the Constitution.
Congress is made up of two parts:The SenateHouse of Representatives
Each U.S State is represented by two senators, which is the highest member of the Senate, for
6 years!
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has 435members, the Speaker of the House being the highest
member, where the number of representatives each
state gets is based on the states population!
Some powers of Congress include -laying taxes
-borrowing money
-declaring war
-regulating trade
-punishing piracies...
WHO likes those darn pirates?!
Hey Ked, so if Congress is the lawmaking body of our government, how do they make
what I want into an actual law?
Swim my way and lets find out!Congressfish have to follow these steps to making
sure a bill becomes a law!
1. A fish presents an idea
2. Must get a fish of Congress for bill to be proposed to
the House of Reps.
3. Once introduced, the bill is placed to wait its turn.
4. A clerk assigns a bill number and then refers it to
other fish for review
5. Is sent to another group of fish for review to
determine if its important.
6. The bill is reported when all the fish agree
7. The bill is debated on sea floor
8. Members of Congress vote "yay" or "nay"
9. Referred to Senate if passed in House
10. Sent to head fish (president) to sign
11. ITS A LAW!
So the head fish...who is he?
The President? Well...The President
In order to be the head fish, you must be:
35 Years Old!
Natural born citizen like myself
Lived here for 14 years!
The Presidency is a 4 year
term, and Presidents can
hold a max of 2 terms.
The head fish has various powers such as...
-Commander and Chief of Military
-Chief of State
-Chief Citizen
-Chief of Diplomat
-Chie
WAIT!
Oh Crusty, not again...
WHHAATT DOES THISALL MEAN?!
Crusty, you see, the government is apart of what we call a
bureaucracy.
A bureaucracy is a organized
government program where
important decisions are made
from state representatives
rather than elected officials.
bureaucracies do not matter in size, just who has right to use power!
Some examples of governmentbureaucracies are...
The Department of Transportation! So you and I can
get to work everyday smoothly and safely!
The Department of State! So everyone can swim from
ocean to ocean legally and peacefully!
Judiciary
The Judicial Branch is the branch of government that interprets the laws.
A whole branch? Who all is in it?
Well, the judiciary consists of lots of lowercourts like federal, district, and appeals courts.
There are also special courts, like Tax Court,
and one Supreme Court.
Supreme Court? That soundsfancy! What is that?
The Supreme Court is the head of the JudicialBranch. There are 9 people called "justices"
who sit on the Supreme Court, and they take
controversial decisions from lower courts and
make the final decision.
Like what kind ofdecisions, Ked?
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