Civics Basics

A citizen is a person born in, or naturalized in, the United States. At age 18, a citizen has both the right and the responsibility to vote in every election.

• Naturalization is the process of becoming a citizen of a country other than the one in which you were born. • The requirements for naturalization in the U.S. include: o Being a lawful, permanent resident of the U.S. for at least five years; o Having sufficient knowledge of speaking, reading and writing English to pass the Citizenship Test; or o Being the adopted child of a U.S. citizen.

• Legislative (U.S. Senate and House of Representa6ves) • Judicial (Supreme Court and lower federal courts) • Executive (President and cabinet departments)

• Passing laws that serve to advance democratic ideals.

• The Executive Branch is mainly responsible for enforcing laws, creating treaties with other countries, signing and vetoing bills passed by Congress, issuing executive orders when appropriate, and acting as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

The Judicial Branch is mainly responsible for interpreting the constitutionality of laws, providing the orderly settlement of disputes between 2 parties, and determining if a law was decided correctly.

“Checks and Balances” refers to the existence of the three separate branches of the federal government so that they monitor each other and prevent any one branch from getting too much power.

The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, defined to protect the rights of the people.

Some of the responsibilities of being a U.S. Citizen include voting, obeying the law, paying taxes, and serving on a jury.

statements about a person that can injure their reputation, nor can you use words that will restrict what people are allowed to say. This freedom, however, is NOT absolute. For example, you may not make false statements about a person that can injure their reputation, nor can you use words that will incite violence.

Yes, the protections of the Constitution apply to anyone living in the United States. But non-citizens are not allowed to vote.