Understanding American Government

There's More than Washington DC

Adapted from From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is much more to the system of American government than the federal government. The state governments actually have the greatest influence over most Americans' daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution, government, and code of laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between individual states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the voters of the state. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, the highest being the state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system

Chapters
(Select One)

	The Constitution: An Enduring Document
	Explaining the Constitution: The Federalist Papers
	The Executive Branch: Powers of the Presidency
	The Legislative Branch: The Reach of Congress
	The Judicial Branch: Interpreting the Constitution
	Landmark Decisions of the Supreme Court
	A Country of Many Governments

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America's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness, is our belief in second chances, our belief that we can always start over, that things can be made better.

-- Anthony Walton

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