Intro to CIVICS 101: Our American Government

A Concise Guide to Understanding the Fundamentals of American Democracy

School’s Never Out for the Pro

On June 20, 2003, the House of Representatives, with the Senate concurring, issued a Resolution (a non-binding proposal that expresses the collective sentiment of the House of Representatives) directing the Government Publishing Office to print the 2003 revised edition of their small book, Our American Government. It is my understanding that the 2003 edition is the most recent version of this publication.

Per the Foreword, Our American Government is “a popular introductory guide for American citizens and those of other countries who seek a greater understanding of our heritage of democracy. The question-and-answer format covers a broad range of topics dealing with the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of our Government as well as the electoral process and the role of political parties.”

Our American Government is a set of 169 questions-and-answers with supporting Appendices. It’s available online as a .pdf if you’d like to download it for yourself (just search for “our American Government 2003 edition government publishing office), or you can follow me here as I present each question and each answer in separate posts.

I’ll keep a running table of contents of my posts so you can easily reference them if you miss one or want to reference other posts at your convenience.

Think of it as your new Civics class, without a test!

What Topics Does Our American Government Cover?

The 169 Q&A’s cover the following subjects and proceed in the following order:

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

• Democracy and Its American Interpretation

• The Constitution

• The Legislative Branch

• The Congress

  • Members, Offices, and Staff

  • Congressional Process and Powers

  • Congressional Rules and Procedures

  • The Committee System

• The Executive Branch

  • The President and Vice President

  • The Executive Departments and Agencies

• The Independent Agencies and Commissions

• The Judicial Branch

  • The Courts of the United States

  • The Justices and Judges

• The Electoral Process

• Information Resources

SUPPORTING APPENDICES

• Glossary of Legislative Terms

• Selective Bibliography and References

• State Population and House Apportionment

• House and Senate Political Divisions

• The Declaration of Independence

• Constitution of the United States

  • Amendments to the Constitution

  • Proposed Amendments to the Constitution Not Ratified by the States

• Index

Since Our American Government is an official government publication and a publicly available resource (but probably not used very much), I’ve decided to present it here to provide baseline answers to common questions from which we can build as we consider historical and current events. I hope you find it as useful and I have …

Our next post will present Question #1 which falls under the topic:

DEMOCRACY AND IT’S AMERICAN INTERPRETATION

#1: What is the purpose of the U.S. Government?

Stay tuned … the answer is coming your way.

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Thank you for reading and supporting our work!

xo,

-Kelley for The Savvy Citizen Team

October 6, 2024