Unit 8 · Government: Local, State, National

Picture a town with no rules at all. Anyone could drive on any side of the road. Anyone could dump trash in the river. No one would fix the potholes. Nobody would run the school. Life would be hard and unsafe. That is why people form a government. A government is the group of people who make rules for a community and see that the rules are followed.

A rule made by a government is called a law. Laws tell drivers to stop at red lights. Laws say a restaurant must keep its kitchen clean. Laws say children must go to school. A law is different from a family rule. If you break a family rule, you might lose screen time. If you break a law, the police or a court can act.

A government does more than make laws. It builds and fixes roads. It runs public schools. It keeps parks open. It pays firefighters and police officers. It checks that the water from your faucet is safe to drink. Every one of those jobs takes money and planning. That is the work of government.

You live inside three governments at the same time. The first is your local government. That might be a city like Chicago, a village like the one in the story, or a town. It is the government closest to your home. The second is your state government. If you live in Illinois, your state capital is Springfield. The third is the national government of the United States. Its capital is Washington, D.C.

Why three? Because some problems are small and close, and some are big and far. A stop sign on Maple Street is a local problem. The village board can handle it. A highway across the whole state is a state problem. Making money, running the army and dealing with other countries are national problems. The national government handles those.

Think of it like a school. Your teacher makes rules for your classroom. The principal makes rules for the whole school. The school district makes rules for every school in town. Each one has its own job. Government works the same way, with local, state and national levels.

Your local government does the jobs you see every day. It picks up the trash. It plows the snow. It runs the police and fire departments. It keeps the library and the parks open. A separate local group, the school district, runs the public schools. When the village in the story put up a stop sign, that was a local job.

The state government does bigger jobs. Illinois builds and repairs state highways. It gives out driver’s licenses. It runs state parks like Starved Rock. It sets rules for schools across the whole state, such as how many days a year school must be open. It runs state prisons. It decides how much sales tax you pay on a toy.

The national government does the biggest jobs. It prints money. It runs the army, the navy and the air force. It delivers the mail. It makes deals with other countries. Some jobs are shared. Roads, schools and helping people who are poor get money from more than one level. When you see a big highway with an interstate sign, both the state and the nation paid for it.

Think about the stop sign again. Someone had to decide to put it there. Someone had to dig the hole and set the sign. And if a driver runs the sign and gets a ticket, someone has to decide if the driver is guilty. Those are three different jobs. Governments in the United States split them into three parts called branches.

The legislative branch makes the laws. It is a group of people who talk, argue and vote. The executive branch carries out the laws. It is led by one person, such as a mayor, a governor or the president. It runs the police, the road crews and the offices. The judicial branch is the courts. Judges decide what a law means and whether someone broke it.

Why split the power? The people who wrote the U.S. Constitution more than two hundred years ago feared one person having all the power. A king could make a law, enforce it and judge you all by himself. With three branches, each one can check the others. The legislature can refuse to pass a law. A court can say a law is not allowed. No one branch gets to do everything.

In the story, six people sat at the long table. They were the village board. In a city, that group is called the city council. Council members are chosen by the voters. Chicago’s council has fifty members, one for each part of the city called a ward. The council is the legislative branch of the city. It votes on local laws called ordinances, such as where a stop sign goes or how late a park stays open.

The mayor is the executive branch of a city. The mayor is elected by everyone in the city. The mayor runs the city departments: police, fire, streets, water and more. The mayor also suggests a budget, which is the plan for how the city spends its money. The council votes on that budget. A village, instead of a mayor, often has a village president. The job is much the same.

Cities have courts too. In Illinois, most local cases go to the county’s circuit court. A county is a larger local area that holds many towns. Cook County holds Chicago and more than one hundred other towns. If you get a ticket for running a stop sign, a county judge might hear your case.

Drive to Springfield and you will see a tall building with a silver dome. That is the Illinois State Capitol. Inside meets the General Assembly, the legislative branch of Illinois. It has two parts, or houses. The House of Representatives has one hundred eighteen members. The Senate has fifty-nine. Every part of the state sends people to both houses. They vote on state laws about schools, highways, taxes and much more.

The governor is the executive branch of the state. Illinois voters elect the governor every four years. The governor signs laws or refuses to sign them. The governor runs state agencies, such as the state police, the parks and the office that gives out driver’s licenses. The governor also suggests how the state should spend its money each year.

The judicial branch of Illinois is its courts. At the top is the Illinois Supreme Court, with seven judges called justices. Below it are appeals courts and the circuit courts in every county. When people argue over what a state law means, Illinois judges decide.

The legislative branch of the United States is called Congress. Like the General Assembly, it has two houses. The House of Representatives has four hundred thirty-five members. States with more people get more of them. Illinois sends seventeen. The Senate has one hundred members, two from every state, big or small. Congress meets in the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

The president leads the executive branch. Voters across the country choose a president every four years. The president signs or refuses to sign laws passed by Congress. The president commands the armed forces and speaks for the nation to other countries. The president lives and works in the White House. Thousands of people in departments such as the Post Office and the Treasury work under the president.

The judicial branch is the federal courts. At the top is the Supreme Court with nine justices. The president picks a justice, and the Senate must agree. Justices keep their jobs for life. The Supreme Court can say that a law breaks the Constitution. When it does, that law can no longer be used. This is one of the most powerful checks in the whole system.

Every law begins as an idea. Maybe a student thinks all schools should have a recess every day. She writes to her state representative. The representative likes the idea and writes it up as a bill. A bill is a written plan for a new law. It is not a law yet. In Illinois, a bill can start in the House or the Senate.

Next a small group of lawmakers called a committee studies the bill. They hold hearings where people speak for and against it. They may change the words. If the committee says yes, the whole House votes. If more than half say yes, the bill goes to the Senate. The Senate does the same thing. If both houses pass the very same words, the bill goes to the governor.

The governor has a choice. Sign it, and the bill becomes a law. Or veto it, which means refuse. Veto comes from a Latin word meaning "I forbid." A veto is not always the end. If enough lawmakers vote for the bill again, they can pass it over the governor’s veto. In Illinois that takes three out of every five members. Congress and the president follow the same steps at the national level.

Who put those six people on the village board? The voters did. An election is a day when citizens choose their leaders by voting. In the United States, you can vote when you turn eighteen if you are a citizen. Before you vote, you register, which means putting your name on the list of voters. Then on election day you go to a polling place, often a school or a library, and mark a ballot.

A ballot is the list of choices. It shows every job being filled and the people running for it, called candidates. You mark your choice for mayor, for the school board, for governor, for president. Sometimes a ballot asks a yes-or-no question, such as whether the town should borrow money for a new pool. The votes are counted. In most races, the candidate with the most votes wins.

Elections happen on a schedule. Americans choose a president every four years, in November of a leap year. Illinois picks a governor every four years, too, but in a different year. Members of the U.S. House run every two years. Chicago picks its mayor every four years, in the spring. Voting is how ordinary people control the government. If leaders do a bad job, voters can choose someone else next time.

The word democracy comes from two old Greek words: demos, meaning the people, and kratos, meaning power. A democracy is a government where the people hold the power. In the village story, the neighbors spoke, the board they elected listened, and the board voted. Nobody had to ask a king. That is democracy at work.

There are two ways to do it. In a direct democracy, everyone votes on every question. That works in a small group, like a class deciding on a field trip. It would not work for twelve million people in Illinois. So we use a representative democracy. Voters choose a smaller group of people, called representatives, to make decisions for them. Your village board, the General Assembly and Congress are all made of representatives.

A democracy only works if people take part. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln stood at a cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He said this nation had a government of the people, by the people, for the people. That means the people are the government. They are not just its subjects. When you vote, speak at a meeting or sign a petition, you are doing your part.

Many schools have a student council. Each class elects one or two members. The council meets, argues and votes on questions such as a spirit day theme or how to spend money from a bake sale. Sound familiar? The student council is a small legislature. The council president, who runs the meetings and carries out the plans, is a small executive. When the principal says a plan breaks a school rule, the principal is acting like a court.

A student council faces the same hard choices as a village board. Money is limited. Not everyone wants the same thing. Fourth graders may want a dance. Second graders may want new playground balls. The council has to listen, argue and choose. Someone will be disappointed. Good councils explain their reasons, so even the losing side feels heard, just like Mr. Kowalski at the stop sign meeting.

Running for student council teaches what real candidates do. You make a campaign, which is your effort to win votes. You tell classmates what you would do. You listen to what they want. You put up a poster. On election day, your classmates mark a ballot. If you win, you have a job to do. If you lose, you can still speak up at meetings. That is how democracy works at every size.

A right is something you are allowed to do or have, and no one may take it away without a very good reason. In 1787, the people who wrote the U.S. Constitution set up the three branches of government. But many Americans said something was missing. Where was the list of rights the new government could never touch? They would not vote for the Constitution without one.

So in 1791 the states added ten changes to the Constitution. A change to the Constitution is called an amendment. Those first ten amendments together are called the Bill of Rights. Here the word "bill" means a list, not a plan for a law. The Bill of Rights protects your right to speak, to pray as you choose, to have a fair trial, and more.

The Bill of Rights is written as a list of things the government may not do. It says Congress shall make no law that stops free speech. It says no one may be punished without a fair trial. The writers had lived under a king who searched homes and jailed people who spoke against him. They wanted to make sure that could never happen again.

When the four friends in the story wrote a petition, they were using the First Amendment. The First Amendment is short, but it packs in five freedoms. Freedom of speech means you may say what you think, even if the mayor or the president does not like it. Freedom of the press means newspapers and reporters may print the truth, even when it makes leaders look bad.

Freedom of religion has two parts. The government may not set up an official church for everyone. And the government may not stop you from praying or worshiping as you choose, or from choosing no religion at all. In a public school, a teacher cannot make you pray. But you may pray quietly on your own. Both parts protect you.

Freedom to assemble means people may gather peacefully, for a march or a meeting. The right to petition means you may ask the government to change something, and it may not punish you for asking. The four friends’ one hundred forty signatures were a petition. Free speech does have limits. You may not lie to hurt someone or threaten to hurt a person. But sharing an opinion, even an unpopular one, is protected.

Imagine a police officer says you stole a bike. You did not. What happens next? In some countries, you could sit in jail for years with no chance to explain. The Bill of Rights says that cannot happen here. The Sixth Amendment promises a trial that is speedy, meaning soon, and public, meaning anyone can watch. Secret trials are not allowed.

The Sixth Amendment also promises a jury. A jury is a group of ordinary people, usually twelve, who listen to the evidence and decide if you are guilty. They are not police or judges. They are neighbors. The amendment says you must be told exactly what you are accused of. You may see and question the people who say you did it. And you may have a lawyer to speak for you.

Other amendments help too. The Fourth says police need a good reason before they search your home. The Fifth says you cannot be forced to speak against yourself. The Eighth says punishments may not be cruel. Together, these rights mean the government must prove you did wrong. You do not have to prove you are innocent. A person is innocent until proven guilty.

Rights are what the government owes you. A responsibility is what you owe back. Think of the crosswalk again. The city painted it. But the crosswalk only works if drivers obey the law and stop. A community where nobody follows the rules is not free. It is just unsafe. So the first responsibility of every citizen is to obey the law, even laws you do not like. If you think a law is wrong, work to change it.

The second responsibility is paying taxes. A tax is money people pay to the government. The crosswalk cost about one thousand dollars. Where did that money come from? From taxes. When you buy a toy in Illinois, part of the price is sales tax. Adults who earn money pay income tax. People who own a house pay property tax, which pays for most of your school.

Nobody loves paying taxes. But every road, park, firefighter, library book and school lunch is paid for with them. The Constitution gives Congress and the state legislatures the power to tax. The people we elect decide how much and on what. If voters think taxes are too high, or spent badly, they can choose new leaders. That is one more reason voting matters.

Remember the right to a jury? A jury needs jurors. That is where you come in. When you are eighteen and a citizen, your county may send you a letter. It says: report for jury duty. You go to the courthouse. You might be picked to sit on a jury and decide a real case. It can take a day or a week. Your employer must let you go. Jury duty is a responsibility because someone else’s right to a fair trial depends on you.

Voting is a right. But it is also a responsibility. A democracy where nobody votes is not really a democracy. In many elections in Illinois, fewer than half of the people who could vote actually do. That means a small group is choosing for everyone. When you turn eighteen, register. Learn about the candidates. Then vote in every election, not just the big one for president.

Some responsibilities are not written in any law. Learning about the issues is one. Being informed means knowing the facts before you decide. Reading more than one news source helps. Treating people with different opinions with respect is another. A democracy runs on argument. It falls apart when people stop listening to each other.

Jonah could have said nothing after the truck skidded. It would have been easier. But then the next kid might not be so lucky. Speaking up is a responsibility because a government cannot fix problems it does not know about. Your council member does not walk to Lincoln Elementary. You do. You know things leaders do not.

Speaking up works best when it is respectful and specific. Respectful means you attack the problem, not the person. "The corner is dangerous" works. "You don’t care about kids" does not. Specific means you say exactly what is wrong and what you want. The four friends did not just say Oak Street was bad. They said two hundred cars and sixty kids and no crosswalk. Numbers are hard to ignore.

Speaking up also means standing up for other people. A right that only some people have is not really a right. Later in this chapter you will meet Jane Addams and Ida B. Wells. Both were Chicago women who spoke up for people who had no power. They were not always popular. They were often right. That is what a good citizen does.

The United States has a constitution. So does Illinois. A constitution is the written plan for a government. It says what the branches are, how leaders are chosen, and what rights the people have. Illinois became a state in 1818. Since then it has had four constitutions. The one we use now was written in 1970. It was approved by the voters of Illinois in a special election.

The Illinois Constitution starts with a preamble, an opening statement of goals. It says the people of Illinois set up this government to provide for the health, safety and welfare of the people, to keep a fair and orderly government, and to work toward justice for everyone. Then its very first article is its own bill of rights. It protects free speech, religion and fair trials, just like the U.S. Bill of Rights, and it adds some more.

One right the Illinois Constitution adds is that no one may be treated unfairly in hiring or housing because of race, religion, national origin, sex or a disability. Another is a right to a healthy environment. The Constitution also says Springfield is the seat of government. That is why the governor, the General Assembly and the Illinois Supreme Court all work there.

A symbol is a thing that stands for something bigger. A flag stands for a country. A heart stands for love. States pick symbols too. Illinois has chosen a state bird, the cardinal, a bright red bird you can see in winter. Its state flower is the violet, a small purple flower that grows in spring. Its state tree is the white oak, which can live for hundreds of years.

Illinois has many more symbols, and most were chosen by the General Assembly after schoolchildren asked for them. The state animal is the white-tailed deer. The state insect is the monarch butterfly, which flies through Illinois on its way to Mexico each fall. The state fish is the bluegill. The state prairie grass is big bluestem, which once covered most of the state. The state snack is popcorn.

The state flag shows the Illinois seal: an eagle on a rock holding a banner with the state motto, "State Sovereignty, National Union." A motto is a short saying about what a place believes. The words mean Illinois governs itself but is part of one nation. The state’s nickname is the Prairie State, because of the tall grass that once covered it. License plates say "Land of Lincoln," for Abraham Lincoln, who lived in Springfield before he became president.

The four friends did not get a crosswalk by wishing. They followed steps that work for almost any change. First, find out who is in charge. A city street belongs to the city. A state highway belongs to the state. A school rule belongs to the principal or the school board. Asking the wrong person wastes time. Second, gather evidence. Evidence is facts that support what you say. The car count was evidence.

Third, put it in writing. A petition shows that many people want the same thing. A letter or email tells one leader exactly what you want and why. Keep it short. Say who you are, what the problem is, what you want done, and what your evidence is. Sign your name. Leaders get many letters. Polite, clear ones with facts stand out.

Fourth, show up. Every city council, village board and school board holds public meetings. There is usually a time called public comment when anyone may speak for a few minutes. It is scary the first time. Luis found that out. But leaders remember a real kid at the microphone longer than a letter. Fifth, follow up. Ask what happened. Say thank you when it gets done. That makes the next request easier.

Not every change needs a law. Some things you can just do. To volunteer means to give your time and work for free to help others. Picking up trash in a park, reading to younger kids, packing food boxes at a food bank, or shoveling snow for an older neighbor are all volunteering. Nobody pays you. You do it because the community is yours.

Volunteers do work that government cannot always do. In Illinois, thousands of people give time to food pantries, animal shelters, hospitals, libraries and youth sports. When floods hit river towns along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, volunteers fill sandbags side by side with government crews. A town with many volunteers is stronger and friendlier than a town with few.

Volunteering also teaches you things a book cannot. You see the problem close up. You meet the people it affects. Many people who go on to run for office started by volunteering. The four friends might not have cared about Oak Street if they had not walked it every day. Being there is the first step to caring. Caring is the first step to changing.

In 1889, a young woman named Jane Addams moved into an old brick house on Halsted Street in Chicago. The neighborhood was crowded with families who had just come from Italy, Germany, Poland and other countries. Many were poor. Children worked in factories instead of going to school. Garbage piled up in the alleys. Addams and her friend Ellen Gates Starr named the house Hull House and opened its doors.

Hull House became a place where neighbors could learn English, take art classes, get child care, and find help. But Addams did more than help one family at a time. She used her rights. She counted the garbage that the city failed to pick up and complained until the city made her a garbage inspector for the ward. She spoke and wrote against child labor, meaning young children working long hours in factories. She pushed for the first playgrounds and for a special court for young people.

Addams also spoke against war, which made her unpopular with many Americans for a time. She kept speaking. In 1931 she became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She died in 1935. Her work shows what one citizen can do with the rights to speak, write, petition and assemble. Hull House still stands on Halsted Street as a museum.

Ida B. Wells was born in Mississippi in 1862, during the Civil War, to parents who were enslaved. She grew up free, became a teacher, and then a newspaper writer in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1892, three of her friends, Black men who owned a grocery store, were dragged from jail and killed by a mob. No one was punished. This crime, killing a person without a trial, is called lynching.

Wells did what a free press is for. She gathered the facts. She counted lynchings across the South and printed the numbers and names. She showed that the excuses given for the killings were lies. Angry men destroyed her newspaper office. She could not go back to Memphis. She kept writing anyway, and she carried her investigation to the North and to England.

In the 1890s Wells settled in Chicago. She married a lawyer named Ferdinand Barnett and raised four children. She helped start the NAACP in 1909, a group that still fights for equal rights. In 1913 she founded the Alpha Suffrage Club, the first group in Illinois to organize Black women to vote. That same year Illinois let women vote for president, the first state east of the Mississippi to do so. Wells died in 1931. Today a Chicago street carries her name.