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Our Great Government
Government overview
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Veto | The right or power of a president (or governor) to reject a bill that has been passed to prevent it from becoming a law. |
| Suffrage | The right to vote. |
| Inauguration | The ceremony of swearing in a public official. |
| Chief Justice | The lead judge of the Supreme Court. |
| Cabinet | A committee of advisors responsible for helping the president create government policy. |
| Bill | A written plan for a new law that will be debated in Congress. |
| Primary | An election to choose the candidate who will represent a political party to run in the general election. |
| Judicial Branch | The Judicial Branch interprets the laws. The Judicial Branch includes the Supreme Court and other federal courts. |
| Executive Branch | The Executive Branch enforces laws. The Executive Branch includes the president, vice president, and federal agencies. |
| Legislative Branch | The Legislative Branch creates laws. The House of Representatives and the Senate make up the Legislative Branch. |
| Bill of Rights | The first 10 amendments made to the Constitution of the United States. |
| Ratify | To accept or officially approve. |
| Amendment | A change that is made to a legal document or law. |
| Constitution | The system of fundamental principles according to which a nation or state is governed. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America and the source of government powers. |
| Federalism | A system of government in which the national and state governments share power over the people. |
| Communism | An authoritarian form of government in which individual people do not own land, factories, or machinery. The state owns these things instead. |
| Dictatorship | An authoritarian form of government in which a leader has full authority over the decisions made by the government. |
| Republic | A form of government in which citizens elect other people to represent them in the government's decision-making. |
| Monarchy | A form of government with a king or queen as the head of government. |
| Democracy | government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. |
| Government | The form or system of rule by which a community, city, state, or country is governed. |