Foundations of Georgia Government

Purpose of the Georgia Constitution

The Georgia Constitution helps with protecting freedom, ensuring justice, keeping peace, helping people be happy, and giving future generations liberty

Three parts of Georgia’s Constitution

Preamble, Articles, and Amendments

Georgia’s Bill of Rights

Elaborates the rights of the people in Georgia (EX: Right to Life, Liberty, and Property)

Three branches of Georgia government

Legislative (General Assembly), Executive (Governor), and Judicial (Courts)

Legislative Branch

Makes laws and can propose constitutional changes or override vetos from the Executive Branch, which can impeach officials

Executive Branch

Enforces the laws and can veto laws that the Legislative Branch makes or can call a special session with them.

Judicial Branch

Interprets the laws and they administer justice and can also determine whether laws are constitutional or not

Separation of Powers

This allows different branches to have different roles in the government

Checks and Balances

A system that ensures that one branch doesn’t receive too much power. This allows all of the branches to keep each other in check or correct an error from another branch, balancing it out

Importance of Checks and Balances

This prevents one branch from growing too strong and messing up the entire government system

Georgia’s State Motto

Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation

Wisdom

Reminds the legislative branch to be wise in creating laws

Justice

Appeals to the judicial branch for fair and just decisions

Moderation

Urges the executive branch to carry out laws calmly within the boundaries of the law

Articles of Confederation → Constitution

The Articles of Confederation gave the states a lot of power, which made it a weak document for America to thrive on. However, the Constitution fixed everything bad about the Articles and gave the federal government power in the form of three branches that all balance each other out, forming a strong government.