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The rulebook for government

Civics & Economics · Government · ages 11-14

Name ______________________ Date ____________

What usually makes a constitution harder to change than an ordinary law?
- Every official has the right to rewrite it without approval
- Special amendment rules require extra agreement
- No country allows any of its constitutional rules to change
What is a constitution?
- The basic rules organizing government and its limits
- A yearly speech describing everything a leader hopes to do
- An ordinary tax law setting the amount every worker pays
Where courts have this power, stopping a law because it conflicts with the constitution is one branch checking another.
Circle one: True False
An executive president is elected separately from the legislature. What is a usual feature of a parliamentary system instead?
- The government depends on the legislature's support to hold office
- The government holds office through a separate election for prime minister
- The government depends on the courts' support instead of legislative support
A country's constitution allows its legislature to remove an executive leader for serious misconduct. The legislature uses that power. What does this show?
- The executive branch must disappear after its leader leaves
- The legislature has changed an ordinary law about elections
- One branch is using a check on another
Having a written constitution guarantees that leaders obey its limits.
Circle one: True False
Country A has no monarch and an elected president whose decisions no other branch can check. Country B has no monarch, an elected president, separate lawmaking and executive branches, and courts able to reject unconstitutional laws. Which is a republic with separation of powers?
- Both countries, because having no monarch and electing a president establish both features
- Country A, because its elected president can govern without checks from other branches
- Country B, because it has no monarch and its branches have checks
A student says, 'Checks and balances mean one branch gets all the power.' Which response explains the problem with that claim?
- Checks give every branch identical jobs and forbid all independent decisions
- Checks let branches limit one another's use of power
- Checks make the courts responsible for writing and enforcing every law

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

The rulebook for government W1-mt_kxIAbYuR5i-s1

Special amendment rules require extra agreement · Many constitutions have special amendment procedures, such as a larger vote or a public vote. These help keep basic rules stable.
The basic rules organizing government and its limits · A constitution sets the basic rules for government, including its powers and limits. It need not be collected in one document.
True · The legislature made the law. The court limits its application because it conflicts with the constitution. That is a judicial check.
The government depends on the legislature's support to hold office · A parliamentary government depends on legislative support. A separate election for prime minister or support from courts does not replace that relationship.
One branch is using a check on another · Under the stated constitutional rule, the legislature limits the executive by removing its leader. The executive branch itself still exists.
False · Writing limits down states the rules. For those limits to work, officials and institutions must follow and uphold them.
Country B, because it has no monarch and its branches have checks · Both countries are republics in this comparison. Only Country B also has the stated division of branch jobs and checks. An elected president alone does not establish separation of powers.
Checks let branches limit one another's use of power · Checks and balances let branches limit one another. They do not give one branch every power or require approval for every decision.