Name: ANSWER KEY
Unit 5 Review: Our Federal Government
Directions: Answer the questions below in complete sentences.
1.
-
What questions do political scientists ask?
What do governments do?
How are governments organized?
What are the values and principles connected to government?
What is the role of citizens in government?
2. What is the main purpose of government?
- To make and enforce rules
- To provide security to citizens
3. The United States has a constitutional government and a representative government. Explain what
this means.
- A constitutional government is based on a written document that establishes the powers and limits
of the government.
- A representative government is when people give representatives the authority to make decisions
for them.
4. Why did the writers of the Constitution form three branches of government?
- They did not want any one branch to become too powerful. They wanted to balance the power
among the three branches.
Describe the jobs of each of the three branches of government:
-
The Legislative branch makes the laws and passes the laws.
The Executive branch enforces the laws.
The Judicial branch decides what laws mean.
5. What are the two parts of the legislative branch?
- The two parts of the legislative branch are the House of Representatives and Senate.
6. How do the President and the members of Congress get their jobs?
- The President and the members of Congress get their jobs through an election. People vote for them
to have their jobs.
How does this differ from how members of the Supreme Court receive their position?
-
Members of the Supreme Court receive their positions when they are appointed by the President
and approved by Congress.
7. What checks and balances are in place in our federal government to make sure all the branches have the
same amount of power?
-
The Executive branch (President) can veto a bill.
The Legislative branch can override a veto.
The Judicial branch can declare a law unconstitutional.
8. In your notes, review the powers granted to the state and the federal government. What are two powers
granted to the state government? Two powers granted to the federal government?
State:
- Handing out driver’s licenses
- Creating public schools
- Making marraige laws
- Establishing local governments
Federal:
- Printing money
- Operating post offices
- Making treaties with other countries
- Maintaining an army
Why are different powers granted to the state and federal governments?
-
It would be difficult to do anything outside of your own state if each state had its own money,
military, and leader. These things are all the responsibility of the federal government.
9. What is the purpose of the Constitution?
-
It contains the basic rules used to run the United States.
It provides the structure and limits the power of the U.S. government.
10. What does the it mean that no one is “above the law”?
-
The laws are the laws for everyone and nobody should be able to not follow them. If they break the
law, they will have to face the consequences just like anybody else, no matter who they are.
11.Where does the power of a republican government come from?
-
The power of a republican government comes from the idea of popular sovereignty, or that people
hold the power of government.
12. In which branch is the Vice President the President of the Senate?
-
The Vice President is the President of the Senate in the ​
Legislative branch​
.
13. The Constitution of the United States separated the Federal Government into three branches. Each branch
was given certain powers and each branch has leaders that are important to each branch. Please fill in the
organization below with the correct information.
14. Describe two reasons why the Constitution was written dividing the Federal Government into three
branches.
15. Political scientists ask questions about what governments do, how governments are organized, the values
and principals connected to government, and the role of citizen in government. Take the role of a political
scientist and respond to the following statement. Using specific details discussed, read about, and studies in
the unit “Our Federal Government”, there are 5 key purposes of government listed below:
a. to protect the rights of people
b. to make and enforce laws
c. to provide leadership
d. to keep people safe
e. to provide public services
Choose 1 of the 5 purposes of government and explain 2 reasons how the government completes that
purpose. Please include an appropriate example in your answer.
16. Below is an organizer you will need to fill in with an example of why the United States has a government
that created rules for its citizens. Please give an example of a situation or place that may affected by a rule or
lack of rule for each scenario (in school, in the community, and in the country).
Give an example
If there were no rules at
School:
If there were no rules controlling
the
Community
If there were no government
helping the
Country
Give one negative result of having
no rules or laws in each situation.
Give one positive result of having
rules and laws in each situation.