The legislative branch of government is responsible for making laws within a country. Legislatures are made up of people called legislators who, in democracies, are elected by the country’s population. Under political systems employing the separation of powers model, the legislative branch of government has the authority to pass legislation and regulate government taxation and spending, as well as other powers such as approving executive or judicial appointments. In the United States, the legislative branch of government is called Congress, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both of which are elected and possess roughly equal legislative powers. Laws passed through both houses are known as Acts of Congress, which are subsequently enforced and implemented by the executive branch of government, and interpreted and applied by the judiciary. The legislature in the United Kingdom operates somewhat differently to the United States Congress. Whilst the UK Parliament also consists of two chambers, the House of Commons and House of Lords, only the former is elected by the people, whilst the latter is mostly appointed by the Prime Minister. Moreover, the House of Commons has much more legislative power than the House of Lords, as the latter cannot veto laws passed by the former but can only review and propose amendments to bills placed before it. Laws passed by Parliament are known as Acts of Parliament. See also: Branches of Government, The Executive, The Judiciary
Our federal government has three parts. They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts). The President of the United States administers the Executive Branch of our government. The President enforces the laws that the Legislative Branch (Congress) makes. The President is elected by United States citizens, 18 years of age and older, who vote in the presidential elections in their states. These votes are tallied by states and form the Electoral College system. States have the number of electoral votes which equal the number of senators and representatives they have. It is possible to have the most popular votes throughout the nation and NOT win the electoral vote of the Electoral College. The Legislative part of our government is called Congress. Congress makes our laws. Congress is divided into 2 parts. One part is called the Senate. There are 100 Senators--2 from each of our states. Another part is called the House of Representatives. Representatives meet together to discuss ideas and decide if these ideas (bills) should become laws. There are 435 Representatives. The number of representatives each state gets is determined by its population. Some states have just 2 representatives. Others have as many as 40. Both senators and representatives are elected by the eligible voters in their states. The Judicial part of our federal government includes the Supreme Court and 9 Justices. They are special judges who interpret laws according to the Constitution. These justices only hear cases that pertain to issues related to the Constitution. They are the highest court in our country. The federal judicial system also has lower courts located in each state to hear cases involving federal issues. All three parts of our federal government have their main headquarters in the city of Washington D.C. You know that in a representative democracy the people have a voice in the making of their laws. Voters in our country elect people to represent and to serve as their voice in the law making process. Laws are made by the men and women who are elected to Congress by the voters of each state. Congress is made up of two houses, just the way most of the state legislatures are made up. One house is called the Senate, and the other house is called the House of Representatives. Men and women who belong to the House of Representatives are called representatives. They may also be called congressmen or congresswomen. The number of senators in Congress is spelled out in the Constitution. Under the Constitution, each state has two senators. However, the number of representatives a state has depends on the population of the state. Every state must have at least one representative though. Law now sets the total number of representatives at 435. This means that as the population changes in a state, so does the number of representatives that state is allowed to have. But the total must not change! Therefore, as some states gain representatives, other states may lose representatives. Each of the fifty states elects two men or women to the Senate of the United States. These senators stay in office for six years. Then they must try to get elected again if they want to stay in the Senate. The number of representatives a state sends to the House of Representatives depends on how many people live in the state. Representatives stay in office for only two years. If they want to stay in the House of Representatives, they must run for reelection every two years. Congress meets in Washington D.C., the capital city of the United States. "D.C." stands for the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia is not a state. It is not in a state, either. It is a district which acts like a combination of a city and state. The District of Columbia is a unique area where national government business is conducted. TASKS: Use this web site: Office of the Clerk: U.S. House of Representatives What is the total number representatives for your state?_________ Add the total number of representatives and senators. That number is your electoral number, meaning the number of electoral votes your state has in the presidential election. What is that electoral number?______ Determine which state or states have the most representatives:________________ Which state or states have only one representative?_______________________
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