Levels and Branches of Government
Government works at different levels: local, regional and national; in many countries power is also split between those who make laws, those who carry them out, and those who judge disputes
What a learner can do afterwards
- Sort decisions by level of government (e.g., 'fixing our street is local; printing money is national')
- Explain why power is often split between branches (so no one person or group decides everything)
- Name an official at each level and one thing they are responsible for (e.g., mayor, governor, president or prime minister)
1 · Read
A stop sign near home tells cars to stop, but who made that rule? Local government handles things close to home, like your town or city. Regional government, sometimes called a state or province, handles bigger areas. National government handles the whole country, including printing money and making treaties. A mayor leads a city, a governor leads a state, and a president or prime minister leads the whole country.
Within a level, the job is often split too. Lawmakers write the rules. Leaders, like a mayor, governor, or president, carry the rules out. Judges settle arguments about what the rules mean. Splitting the job this way means no single person or group gets to decide everything alone.
When Mia found a pothole on her street, she called her city council, not the president. Fixing streets is a local job. If the council votes on a new parking rule, that is the lawmakers at work. If a driver argues the rule is unfair in court, a judge settles it.
Governments split jobs by level, from local to national, and within each level by branch: writing rules, carrying them out, and judging disputes.
The rewritten readings were written for this dataset.
More to read
How governments share jobs
Federalism means sharing government power between a whole country and its states or regions. The country's constitution gives each level its jobs.
Countries can divide power differently. In a unitary system, the national government has the final authority, even when local governments do many jobs. In a confederation, the states or regions keep most power.
The United States Constitution gives the national government jobs such as issuing money and national defence. States have the main responsibility for schools. Both levels can collect taxes. Dividing these jobs can put decisions closer to the people facing a problem.
Bring your ideas to government
US citizens have several ways to take part in government. People and groups can contact different government levels and branches.
To ask for repairs to a park near you, try your town or city government. A wider problem may need state or national attention. Each level has leaders who make decisions and can hear people's views.
Sharing power keeps one person from deciding everything. Different groups can offer ideas, which leaders must weigh against one another. This gives people ways to speak up, though it does not guarantee that everyone is heard equally.
Federalism in Action
The Constitution divides power between the national government and the state governments. This system is called federalism, and it creates more than one level where rules and laws get made.
That means a law can be shaped, carried out, or challenged at different levels. Sometimes the national government decides something, and sometimes a state decides for itself. When the levels disagree, they have to work it out, and sometimes courts help decide who is right.
Think about a big problem, like keeping people healthy during an illness that spreads. The national government might give money and advice, while each state chooses its own rules for schools and stores.
Having many levels lets each place respond in a way that fits its own people.
Info Brief: Separation of Powers
Separation of powers is the way a government splits its power between three branches. The legislative branch makes the laws. The executive branch carries the laws out. The judicial branch judges disagreements about what the laws mean.
When the writers of the US Constitution built the new government, they worried about any one part becoming too strong. So they divided power at the national level into these three branches on purpose.
Each branch can also check the others. For example, the president can say no to a law Congress passes, but Congress can override that no with enough votes. The courts can say a law is not allowed by the Constitution.
States and the Federal Government: Lesson Overview
In the United States, government is shared between local, state, and federal governments. Each level has jobs it is in charge of.
Some powers belong only to the national government, like making money and making treaties with other countries. Some powers belong to the states, like setting up schools and local elections. Some powers are shared, which are called concurrent powers, like collecting taxes and building roads.
The national government also gives money to states and towns. Sometimes the money comes with rules about how to spend it, and sometimes states get more freedom to choose. The balance of power between the levels has changed over time as the country's needs have changed.
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