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Chapter 10
ReviewQuestions
1. (a) Name our country. (b) Name the capital city of our country.
2. Where is our capital city located?
3. Why is D.C. added to the end ofWashington?
4. The center of a country’s government is known as its _____________ .
5. Thebuilding inwhich the lawmakingbodymeets is called its _____________.
6. What two groups make up the legislative branch of our national
government?
7. What is the name given to the entire group of the legislative branch?
8. What is themain purpose of the legislative branch?
9. How many people do Pennsylvanians elect to the national House of
Representatives?
10. Awritten idea for a law is called a/an ___________ .
11. What is themain purpose of the Executive branch of government?
12. The department leaders who help the President run the government are
calledhis ___________ .
13. What is themain purpose of the judicial branch of government?
14. What is the name of the highest court in our country?
Judicial Branch of
Our National
Government
T
he judicial branch of government
deals with our court system. People
in this branch of government
explain the law. The highest court in our
nation is the
Supreme Court
. This court
was set up by our Constitution. There are
nine judges appointed for life (or as long as
they like). A Supreme Court judge is
selectedby thePresident. The judgemust be
approved by the Senate.
Membersof theSupremeCourt decidewhat
cases they will hear. Hearing means that the
judges will listen to arguments prepared by
lawyers. These hearings are concerned with
decisionsmade by lower courts.
Remember, the judges deal withnational
laws.National laws canbe anythingdealing
with our Constitution, or other federal and
state laws that have been passed. The
SupremeCourt voteswhether a specific law
goes against ourConstitution. The Supreme
Court decisions become a guide for every
judge and lawyer in our nation.
Our national government has 94 United
States federal district courts — at least one
per state. Judges are in charge of these
courts. People canbe brought to trail by jury
for breaking any national or federal law.
If you have learned about our national
government, then learning about our state
government should be easy. There are few
differences. In fact, our state had a
Constitution and a Supreme Court before
our nation did!
