Name the Three Branches of Government: Civics Question 16

Say legislative, executive, and judicial. The order does not matter.

Question 16 asks you to name the three branches of government. Officers accept the formal names, legislative, executive and judicial, and they also accept the everyday version: Congress, the president, and the courts. Use whichever set you can say cleanly. You do need all three, not one.

What Each Branch Does

The three names describe three jobs, and the jobs come in order.

• Legislative. Congress writes the laws. It is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
• Executive. The president carries the laws out, along with the vice president and the departments and agencies that report to them.
• Judicial. The courts decide what the laws mean and whether they follow the Constitution. The Supreme Court sits at the top.

Why the Officer Asks This

Question 17 asks which branch the president runs. Question 18 asks which part of the federal government writes laws. Both are answered once you can name the three branches and say what each one does.

This question asks for a list rather than a single fact. Practice saying all three names in one breath so you do not stall halfway through.

How to Remember the Three Branches

The formal names carry their own meaning if you look at the first few letters.

Legislative holds the word that shows up in legislature and legislate, which both mean making law. Executive holds execute, which means to carry out. A company’s top boss is a chief executive for the same reason. Judicial holds judge, and judges sit in courts.

So: make it, do it, judge it. Legislative, executive, judicial.

If the formal words tangle your tongue, the second accepted answer is three plain nouns: Congress, president, courts.

Common Ways People Get This Wrong

Some applicants name only two, usually Congress and the president, and forget the courts. The courts are the branch people think about least and the one most often dropped.

Others answer “federal, state, and local.” Those are three levels of government, not three branches. This question is about the federal government only.

What to Say on Test Day

Say “legislative, executive, and judicial.” If those words feel slippery, say “Congress, the president, and the courts.”

Give the three, then stop. You do not need to explain what any of them does.