The U.S. Government Explained for English Language Learners - Free Educational videos for Students in K-12

The U.S. Government Explained for English Language Learners - By JenniferESL

Transcript


00:00	Hi everyone . I'm jennifer from english with jennifer .
00:04	You may not love politics but it's important to have
00:07	a basic understanding of how your government works . Can
00:12	you explain what kind of government you have in your
00:14	country in this video ? I'll give you an overview
00:18	of the U . S . Government and some key
00:21	vocabulary . Mhm . Yeah . Quick quiz . How
00:31	many U . S . States are there through ?
00:35	What process do people become part of the government ?
00:41	Let me tell you the answers . The United States
00:45	of America is a federal republic . That's the name
00:49	of the system we have where a union of 50
00:52	states . We also have a federal district Washington D
00:57	. C . The district of Columbia which is our
01:00	capital . In addition to all that , we have
01:03	several territories like Guam and Puerto rico . We have
01:08	elected officials who represent us in the government so that
01:12	indirectly we have a voice . Not everyone in our
01:18	government is elected . Some people are chosen from within
01:22	our elected officials can appoint or nominate someone for a
01:27	specific job . A point means officially named . Someone
01:34	nominate means propose or suggest . Someone . If you
01:42	are appointed by someone there's likely another person who has
01:45	to confirm that appointment . If you're nominated , there
01:50	are others who have to vote to make it official
01:56	. Another quick quiz in the U . S .
01:59	How many branches of government are there ? Does the
02:04	U . S . President hold the most power ?
02:08	How do we know what each branch is responsible for
02:13	? Mm The procedures for elections and appointments can be
02:19	confusing but the basic structure of our government is simple
02:23	and clear . We have three branches of government .
02:27	Each branch is responsible for different things to avoid any
02:31	conflict of power . This is called the separation of
02:35	powers . No branch can be all powerful because we
02:39	have a system of checks and balances . This means
02:43	that two branches can limit the power of one .
02:50	The separation of powers and all the checks and balances
02:53	are outlined in the U . S . Constitution .
02:56	The constitution provides the framework for our government . It's
03:01	the supreme law of the land , meaning the highest
03:04	law in our country . The United States was formed
03:10	in 1776 . The constitution was written in 1787 .
03:16	It was ratified or approved in 1788 . It went
03:22	into effect in 1789 . So what are the three
03:29	branches maybe you know them ? Let's see what branch
03:34	does the president belong to ? The executive branch .
03:41	This is the branch that executes or carries out the
03:44	law . The president has a cabinet . This is
03:50	a group of advisers . The President appoints members of
03:55	the cabinet but they have to be confirmed by another
03:58	branch . What's the branch that makes laws ? The
04:06	legislative branch ? This is the branch that confirms the
04:10	president's appointments . Our legislative branch is called the U
04:16	. S . Congress . It's made up of the
04:19	Senate and the House of Representatives . Their main job
04:23	is to legislate which means to make or enact laws
04:30	. What's the branch that interprets the laws ? The
04:34	judicial branch ? Judicial is related to judge where our
04:39	judgments made in court . The highest court is the
04:45	U . S . Supreme Court . It's made up
04:47	of nine justices , 1 chief justice and eight associate
04:52	justices . The judicial branch is made up of the
04:56	U . S . Supreme Court and all the other
04:59	federal courts in the system . Quick quiz . What
05:06	other titles does the U . S . President have
05:13	? Which members of Congress serve two year terms .
05:20	The President of the United States is our chief executive
05:24	. He or she is vested were given executive powers
05:30	. Our President is also the commander in chief of
05:33	the armed forces . Our president is elected by the
05:37	people indirectly through our representatives for a four year term
05:43	. The president can serve a maximum of two terms
05:49	. The president maybe our commander in chief but only
05:52	Congress can declare war . Remember our system of checks
05:56	and balances . All members of Congress , our elected
06:00	officials . We have two senators from each state for
06:05	a total of 100 senators . They serve six year
06:09	terms . They can run for reelection . U .
06:13	S . Representatives serve two year terms so they're up
06:17	for reelection . More often , they can also join
06:20	the House of Representatives at a younger age Here ,
06:24	try a quick matching quiz mm . The US president
06:29	must be at least mhm . 35 years old .
06:34	A U . S . senator must be at least
06:38	30 years old and a U . S . Representative
06:42	must be at least 25 years old . There are
06:51	more U . S . Representatives than senators because the
06:54	number of representatives depends on the population of a state
06:58	. A state with a large population has more congressional
07:02	districts and all the districts have their representatives . Another
07:10	quick quiz . How long can someone serve on the
07:13	Supreme Court ? Mm Is a Supreme Court justice appointed
07:19	or elected . The Supreme Court of the United States
07:26	has nine justices . I believe the number has been
07:30	the same since 1869 . Sometimes there's talk about packing
07:35	the court which means adding more justices so that the
07:39	political party in power can appoint people who will interpret
07:44	laws either more conservatively or more liberally . Recently ,
07:50	we lost a member of the Supreme Court Justice Ruth
07:53	Bader Ginsburg . Her passing left a vacancy . This
07:58	means that at some point the president and Congress must
08:01	work together to fill the seat . The president can
08:05	nominate someone but the nominee must be confirmed by Congress
08:10	. Remember that system of checks and balances a committee
08:15	has the chance to review the nominee's qualifications . It's
08:19	a long process . The Senate Judiciary Committee can then
08:23	send the nomination to Senate for a vote . If
08:27	the Senate confirms the nomination , then the president can
08:31	officially appoint this person as the next Supreme Court justice
08:35	. This is a lifetime appointment . So it's a
08:38	pretty big deal to serve on the Supreme Court .
08:44	One final question Has the U . S . Constitution
08:48	changed at all over the years ? The answer is
08:54	yes and no . I said that the Constitution outlines
08:58	the separation of powers , but a lot of the
09:01	details weren't written right away . The constitution has basically
09:06	remained the same . But over the years we've added
09:09	27 amendments to amend something means to make a change
09:16	Very soon after the constitution went into effect , our
09:20	founders wrote the bill of rights . That's what we
09:23	call the 1st 10 amendments . There was concern from
09:29	the very beginning about the federal government holding too much
09:33	power to avoid an all powerful central government . The
09:37	Bill of Rights was written . It was written to
09:40	make sure that the rights of individuals and the rights
09:43	of the states were protected . Can you name any
09:49	of the 1st 10 amendments ? I talked about one
09:52	of them in my video on gun control . There's
09:55	a lot of talk about Second Amendment rights . That's
09:59	the right to bear arms , the right to own
10:02	a gun . Perhaps we can go over the bill
10:05	of Rights and talk about individual freedoms in another lesson
10:11	, we'll end here , please like the video if
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10:24	always , thanks for watching and Happy Studies . Thank
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