This LibGuide leads you to publications from the three branches of the U.S. Government; Sub-tabs to the left will take you to the appropriate branch.
- Executive 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.
- Judicial The Judicial part of our federal government includes the Supreme Court and nine Justices. This is the highest court in the U.S. The Supreme Court interprets laws according to the Constitution: these justices only hear cases that pertain to issues related to the Constitution. The federal judicial system also has lower courts located in each state to hear cases involving federal issues.
- Legislative The Legislative part of our government is called Congress. Congress makes our laws and is divided into two parts: the Senate and the House. There are 100 senators, two from each state. The second part consists of the House of Representatives; there are 435 representatives. The number of representatives in each state is determined by its population--some states may have two representatives, others as many as 40. Both senators and representatives are elected by the eligible voters in their states.
