This is how a law gets made in the United States, starting with the Constitution. As of November 2026, the Supreme Court website says the United States has the oldest written Constitution still in force. In 1787, leaders called the Framers met in Philadelphia and wrote it; the Articles of Confederation, which came before the Constitution, essentially operated as a treaty between thirteen independent sovereigns, but at the 1787 convention the idea of amending the Articles was discarded and the assembly set about drawing up a new scheme of government.

Next came the question of how to build the legislature. At the 1787 convention the issue of representation threatened to destroy the seven-week-old convention. Edmund Randolph offered the Virginia plan, a bicameral legislature with each state's representation based on its population or wealth; William Paterson proposed the New Jersey plan, which provided for equal representation in Congress. Large-state delegates argued that their states contributed more to the nation's finances and defense, so they should have greater representation in both the Senate and the House, while small-state delegates demanded that all states be equally represented in both houses.

The Great Compromise gave each state equal seats in the Senate and seats in the House based on population. Britannica says the Connecticut Compromise was offered by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth to solve the dispute between small and large states over representation. On July 16, 1787, the convention adopted it by a margin of one vote. In the summer of 1787 the dual system of representation, equal seats in the Senate and population-based seats in the House, was a new idea. The Constitution's federal system was the central compromise that allowed thirteen skeptical states to ratify it in 1788, and in the Framers' federalism compromise the national government got only those powers specifically delegated to it.

The Constitution then lists what the new Congress may do: Congress has the power to collect taxes, to declare war, to regulate trade with other nations and among the states, and to establish post offices and post roads. It also has the power to make the laws that are needed to carry out its other powers. The Constitution says laws made under it are the supreme law of the land, and judges in every state must follow them. The Tenth Amendment says powers the Constitution does not give to the United States, and does not forbid to the states, belong to the states or to the people.

Next, the Senate. James Madison described the senatorial trust as one that requires greater extent of information and stability of character, and members of the House serve two-year terms, while senators serve six-year terms. A person must be at least 30 years old to be a U.S. senator. The vice president presides over the Senate and can cast a vote only when senators are tied; the president nominates Supreme Court justices, and the Senate has to confirm them.

Next, committees: each house of Congress has standing (permanent) committees and select (special and temporary) committees. House committees often begin with a public hearing, where members hear witnesses who represent different viewpoints on the bill. After hearings, a House committee holds a "mark-up" session, in which members study the viewpoints, may offer amendments, and vote to accept or reject the changes. A House committee can report a bill, with or without amendments, or table it, which means no further action on it will happen. When it votes to report a bill, it writes a Committee Report that describes the purpose and scope of the bill and the reasons for recommending approval.

After a committee releases a bill, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or amended. In the House, debate on a bill may be governed by a "rule", which is itself a simple resolution that the House must pass. Debate time is normally divided between supporters and opponents, and House votes can be taken by an electronic voting system that records each member's response, although votes may also be by voice vote, and no record of individual responses is available. If the Senate changes a bill, the House has to look at the changes; if the Senate and House pass different versions, a conference committee of members from both can settle the differences and report one identical bill back for a vote in each house.

Next, the president: after both houses pass a bill in identical form, it is called "enrolled" and is sent to the president. The president may sign an enrolled bill into law, veto it and return it to Congress, let it become law without a signature, or at the end of a session pocket-veto it. Article I, section 7 of the Constitution gives the president the power to veto bills passed by Congress. The Constitution gives the president 10 days, not counting Sundays, to act on a bill. A pocket veto cannot be overridden by Congress, and President James Madison was the first president to use the pocket veto, in 1812. When both houses of Congress vote to override a veto, the Constitution says the votes are by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and against the bill are entered in each house's journal. Even the threat of a veto can change the content of legislation long before a bill reaches the president.

Next, the courts. With his decision in Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall established the principle of judicial review. Judicial review is the power of the courts to examine the actions of the legislative, executive and administrative arms of government and decide whether they are consistent with the constitution. Nothing stated in the Constitution gave the Court that specific power, and judicial review, as the Court's power to check laws, was not confirmed until 1803. Britannica says judicial review, in the sense of courts checking whether actions fit a constitution, depends on there being a written constitution. Before 1789, state courts had already overturned legislative acts that conflicted with state constitutions. Chief Justice Marshall asserted that the Supreme Court's responsibility to overturn unconstitutional legislation was a necessary consequence of its sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. He wrote that it is "emphatically the province of the judicial department to say what the law is." Courts also have a long practice of reviewing the actions of administrative agencies, and this kind of review does not require a written constitution.

Next, the United Kingdom. A bill must be approved by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords before it becomes an Act of Parliament. As of November 2026, a bill agreed by Parliament has to be approved by the King before it becomes law. The Parliament Acts provide a rarely used way of solving disagreement between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In Canada, a bill is a proposed law that becomes an act of Parliament if the Senate and the House of Commons adopt it in identical form and it is then given Royal Assent. Royal Assent is the Sovereign's acceptance of a bill, granted by the Governor General or one of the deputies of the Governor General. Bills involving spending or taxation must be introduced in the House of Commons, though most bills may be introduced in either House.

Next, California. A bill starts when a person or group persuades a member of the Legislature to author it. After a bill passes its house of origin, it goes to the second house and passes through the committee process all over again. Most bills require a majority vote, while urgency measures and appropriation bills require a two-thirds vote. If the governor vetoes a bill, a two-thirds vote in each house is needed to override the veto. Local ordinances often follow set steps: public notice, a public hearing, a required number of votes, and publication of the final ordinance. Ordinances are similar to statutes enacted by a state legislature and are passed according to procedures required by state law or charter.

Agencies also make rules through rulemaking, which is the policy-making process by which federal executive and independent agencies develop and issue rules, which are also called regulations. An agency cannot issue a rule unless a law gives it the authority to do so. An agency often proposes a regulation in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking after it researches the issues and decides a new rule is necessary. A rulemaking process can lead to a new rule, an amendment to an existing rule, or the repeal of an existing rule. After the president signs a bill into law, it goes to the Office of the Federal Register, which assigns a law number and prepares it for publication as a slip law. The United States Code is a codification of all general and permanent laws of the United States.

Words to know

• bicameral: two-house
• enrolled: final passed copy
• codification: organized collection
• ordinance: local law
• regulations: agency rules