Levels & Branches of Government

Government in the U.S.• You just read about the 3 different levels of

government in the U.S. – •National (also called federal)• State• Local (county/city)

• But within each of those levels there are 3 branches too – • Legislative•Executive• Judicial

An easy way to look at the 3 levels and branches is to put them into a table that would look something like this –

Legislative

Executive

Judicial

National National National

State State State

Local (county/city)

Local (county/city)

Local (county/city)

Lets take a look at the LEGISLATIVE branch at each level

• At the national/federal level the legislative branch is called Congress• Congress is made up of the

House of Representatives and the Senate• Members of Congress are

called Representatives and Senators• Some of their responsibilities

include – making laws, approving the national budget, declaring war etc.

National LevelLegislative Branch

• At the state level, the legislative branch is called the Utah State Legislature• The Utah State Legislature is

also made up of a House of Representatives and Senate• The members of the Utah

State Legislature are also called Representatives and Senators• The responsibilities of the

Utah State Legislature include – making laws, raising money through taxes, reviewing the general condition of the state

State LevelLegislative Branch

• In Davis County the legislative branch is made up of a Board of Commissioners• There are 3

commissioners that are elected to office and serve 4 year terms• Responsibilities of the

Board of Commissioners includes – property taxes, libraries, local recreation, emergency services etc.

Local LevelLegislative Branch

Now let’s look at the EXECUTIVE Branch at each level

• At the national level the executive branch is led by the President and his 15 cabinet members• The members of the cabinet

are called Secretaries and they lead different departments• For example, the Secretary of

Education (Arne Duncan) runs and leads the federal Department of Education• The executive branch is in

charge of enforcing laws, commanding the military, vetoing laws etc.

National LevelExecutive Branch

• At the state level the executive branch is led by the Governor along with the Attorney General and Secretary of State• The current Governor of

Utah is Gov. Gary Herbert• The executive branch at

the state level is in charge of enforcing state laws, running state business and vetoing Utah State Legislature laws

State LevelExecutive Branch

• At the local level the executive branch is led by the mayor of the particular city and usually a city council• Syracuse City Mayor is Terry

Palmer he is a member of the city council along with 5 other elected members• The executive branch at the

local level is in charge of enforcing local city ordinances, running the different departments of Syracuse city etc.

Local LevelExecutive Branch

Lastly, lets take a look at the JUDICIAL branch at each level

• The judicial branch at the national level is called the Supreme Court• The Supreme Court is made up

of 9 Supreme Court Justices – 1 Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices• The responsibility of the Supreme Court is to hear cases and determine whether or not they are unconstitutional (agree with the Constitution)

National LevelJudicial Branch

• The judicial branch at the state level is called the Utah Supreme Court• The Utah Supreme Court

is made up of 5 Justices – 1 Chief Justice and 4 Associate Justices• The responsibilities of the

judicial branch at the state level is to determine whether laws are unconstitutional and punishments for breakers of the law

State LevelJudicial Branch

• At the local level, the judicial branch are the Justice Courts at both the county and city levels• The judges at the county

and city levels are appointed by county and city officials for 6 year terms• The responsibility of the

judicial branch at the local level is to determine punishments for law breakers

Local LevelJudicial Branch