#4: CIVICS 101: On Democracy and Its American Interpretation
Q&A #4: What contributions has our country made to the institution of government?
Our American Government
Our American Government is a small book published by the House of Representatives for citizens and those who seek a greater understanding of the American interpretation of democracy. It follows a question-and-answer format and covers a broad range of topics dealing with the three branches of our Government, the electoral process, and the role of political parties.
The Savvy Citizen is reproducing the 169 questions-and-answers through a series of posts called Civics 101. Each post will contain the Q&A as well as some additional commentary to add historical context, fun facts, or anything we believe will add to our collective understanding of these topics.
Think of it as your adult Civics class, but without the test!
Let’s keep at it.
SECTION: Democracy And Its American Interpretation
Q&A #4: What contributions has our country made to the institution of government?
Some of the U.S. contributions to the institution of government are as follows: a written constitution, an independent judiciary to interpret the Constitution, and a division of powers between the Federal and State Government.
My Thoughts …
I want to focus again on the division of powers between dual sovereigns: the Federal and State Governments. This dispersion of power is what makes ours a federal government, as opposed to a socialist or communist government. This type of shared power is usually referred to a federalism. Q&A #2 explains this concept is a bit more detail.
Federalism Is a Uniquely American Concept
Federalism is one of the BIG ideas underpinning the U.S. Constitution. It's simple on its face, but quite complex in practice, particularly as the population of the country has grown since our founding. There were about 4,000,000 people in the U.S. in 1787, there are over 330,000,000 now!
We’ll explore this concept more when we get to Article IV of the Constitution, which introduces and establishes federalism as a cornerstone of American Government.
No federalism, no United States of America!
—
Back tomorrow with a new section, The Constitution, and a new Q&A: #5: What is the Constitution?
xo,
Kelley for the Savvy Citizen Team
October 10, 2024