Dividing Power: The American System of Government
To understand American politics you must understand that Americans have distrusted any concentration of political power ever since the nation was founded. The American form of government was written down in a constitution adopted in 1787, shortly after the United States gained independence from Great Britain. Having just fought a war against what they viewed as the tyranny of King George III, the Americans were understandably eager to make sure no one person or persons in government would be allowed to have too much power. Wherever power was concentrated, they broke it up.
Read more in Access to English: Social Studies, pp. 190-198. Then do the tasks in the textbook and on this website.
Extra Tasks
Articles and Resources
Web resources
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Animation: How is power divided in the United States government? (TedED)
(ed.ted. com) -
Where US Politics Came From: Crash Course US History #9
(youtube.com) -
Audio: The Supreme Court (BBC)
(bbc.co. uk) "Letter from America" recording from 1980 by the legendary BBC correspondent Alistair Cooke -
The Senate
(senate.gov) -
The House of Representatives
(house.gov) -
The Supreme Court
(supremecourt.gov) -
U.S. Federal Government
(usa.gov) -
State Government Information
(loc.gov) -
Constitution of the United States
(archives.gov) -
The Declaration of Independence
(let.rug. nl)