Unit 6: The Three Branches of Government
Constitution 101 with Khan Academy
Watch videos about the three branches of the national government—the legislative, executive, and judicial branches—and learn about each branch’s founding story, landmark Supreme Court decisions shaping the powers and responsibilities of each branch, and constitutional debates over each branch that remain ongoing today.
Videos in Playlist: 35
Scroll down to see all the videos.
To toggle between the different videos in the playlist, click on the icon in the upper right corner of the video.
Videos in Unit 6 Playlist
- Why is it valuable for cases to work their way up the court system?
(Run time: 2:28 minutes)
- What is it like to be a judge?
(Run time: 2:33 minutes)
- How has the Electoral College changed over time?
(Run time: 2:18 minutes)
- Why did the founders create the Electoral College?
(Run time: 2:23 minutes)
- Why did the founders think that judicial independence was important?
(Run time: 1:43 minutes)
- How does a case work its way through the federal court system?
(Run time: 1:46 minutes)
- What was the founders’ vision for Congress?
(Run time: 5:22 minutes)
- What can we learn from the election of 1800?
(Run time: 7:59 minutes)
- What were the founders' different visions for the presidency?
(Run time: 3:23 minutes)
- How does the Electoral College work?
(Run time: 1:04 minutes)
- What is the War Powers Resolution?
(Run time: 3:29 minutes)
- What are some of the constitutional debates over the use of military force?
(Run time: 3:03 minutes)
- What are some of the key constitutional debates over the administrative state?
(Run time: 2:42 minutes)
- How has the president’s power grown over time?
(Run time: 3:32 minutes)
- How does the impeachment process work?
(Run time: 1:54 minutes)
- How did George Washington shape the presidency?
(Run time: 3:10 minutes)
- What is the filibuster?
(Run time: 5:42 minutes)
- What is Congress’s role in American democracy?
(Run time: 1:28 minutes)
- When can the president use executive orders?
(Run time: 1:52 minutes)
- What is the “administrative state?”
(Run time: 1:33 minutes)
- How does the modern president compare to the founders vision?
(Run time: 2:27 minutes)
- What does Article II say about the powers of the president?
(Run time: 4:33 minutes)
- Why does the Supreme Court choose to hear a case?
(Run time: 1:48 minutes)
- What is it like to argue before the Supreme Court?
(Run time: 3:55 minutes)
- Why was George Washington important to the founders’ vision of the presidency?
(Run time: 2:26 minutes)
- What are ‘faithless electors?’
(Run time: 1:27 minutes)
- Why didn’t the founders choose to select the president through a national popular vote?
(Run time: 3:45 minutes)
- How do Supreme Court oral arguments work?
(Run time: 1:35 minutes)
- How does a case end up at the Supreme Court?
(Run time: 2:58 minutes)
- What was John Marshall's constitutional vision?
(Run time: 5:44 minutes)
- What was the founders’ vision for the Electoral College?
(Run time: 2:08 minutes)
- What happened in Korematsu v. United States?
(Run time: 4:57 minutes)
- Where does the president get the power to issue executive orders?
(Run time: 2:07 minutes)
- What was Alexander Hamilton’s vision for the presidency?
(Run time: 1:22 minutes)
- What was the founders’ vision for the presidency?
(Run time: 1:39 minutes)
Browse all the units on our Constitution 101 student course page or explore the full course on the Khan Academy website.
