...Count: 912 Final Exam Essay We in the United States of America have three branches in our Federal Government which are the Legislative Branch (congress), The Executive Branch (the President), and lastly the Judicial Branch (the US federal courts). Each branch is equally important for the successful operation of our nation and democracy however not each branch is equal in the power it holds. Fundamentally the Legislative Branch contains the most “power” in the federal government for Two reasons. One the system of checks and balances leans biasedly towards the legislative branch. Lastly congress is the body if government which decides what laws will be made while the Executive branch only...
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...following principles and their significance in shaping American government. * Self-Government: Is the most important principle in the Constitution of the United States and refers to the need to have a system which would make sure that everyone has a voice in the local, state and national governments.(www.4uth.gov.ua) Separation of Powers: Each branch is responsible for their job. Separation of power establishes that one person or group of people could not control the government alone. The Constitution states the power of each branch and their functions are completely separate. No one gets too much power help things run smoothly.(www.nationalparalegal.edu) * Checks and Balances: Ensure that no people can control the government alone. Because each branch has separate power, they can check and balance each other to make sure that the best interests of all people are served, rather than only the interest of a small group. Check and balances specifically assigns power to the states, but only what has not been delegated to the federal government (PATimes, 2014). This intergovernmental relationship was created to ensure that the people’s voices would be heard through their elected representatives. Part II: Balance of Power In the space below, write an analysis of approximately 250 words on how the system of checks and balances in the federal government helps to limit the concentration of power. * Cite specific...
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...HIS/301 Branches of Government Paper University of Phoenix July, 26 2010 Branches of Government Former President Thomas Jefferson once said, “Government are instituted among Men, deriving their just Power from the Consent of the Governed.” Since the second continental congress declared America’s independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776 the United States government has sought to realize the fundamental principle on which our nation was founded. This was the start of the government we now know and still honor today. As our school children say every morning in class, as our founding fathers wished for us, that all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This paper will answer a handful of questions such as; what were the reasons our forefathers divided the government into the legislative, judicial, and executive branches? How are the three branches of the U.S. government supposed to interact? Is the system successful? Why or why not? Are the branches balanced in power? How was the conflict between supporters of a strong federal government and champions of states’ rights characterized then as opposed to now? How could things have been designed more efficiently, if at all? Our founding fathers divided the government into three separate branches was because they planned to implement a democratic government that would work to serve the citizens and not regulate them. In other words, the founding fathers wanted to devise...
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...represent the three branches of government. The first article is The Legislative Branch, the second article is The Executive Branch and the third article is The Judicial Branch, the Farmers’ considered all of our branches of government equal, yet some appeared to be more powerful than others. The Farmers’ were concerned that these branches of government will abuse their powers, thus making a necessity for the separation of powers, and for checks and balances. Checks and balances is a system where the different parts of government have powers that can affect and control the other parts of government in order for the other branches cannot become too powerful. This is to prevent any branch of government from exerting too much power. Each branch of government has different powers and functions that they carry out, they are separate although they are constitutionally equal they are also independent from each other. This is the separation of powers. The Legislative Branch of government, which is the first Article of the Constitution, which is also known as Congress, is made up of the Senate, and the House of Representatives. The U.S. Senate consists of 100 members, and these senators are allowed to serve six years. The House of Representatives has 435 members which make up the HOR, these representatives serve two year terms. In total Congress is made up of 535 Congressmen. The Legislative Branch has many powers which are to pass all federal laws, pass the federal budget, establish...
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...Branches of Government John Freak HIS/301 November 26, 2008 Paul Hill Branches of Government The United States of America (U.S.A.) is known by most peoples the best country in the world. This country system of democracy has set the example for many countries in the world to emulate. Facts dating back to the 1700 and 1800 show the key guide lines in establishing the U.S. constitution. The articles of the Constitution today are in place to protect the rights of the citizens of the United States. The articles of Constitution are laws in place for the people to abide by. Reason the U.S. Government has the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Branches The forefathers of old was very wise and intelligence men because of their upbringing, education, and experiences of life. As the writer of this paper brainstorming on the reason the forefather made the three branches of government is to possess a checks and balances system. The branches of government would not have any more power than the other branches when making decisions. The checks and balances piece comes into play an approval process have to take place or a vote has to be completed. The three branches remind the writer of the paper of the chain of command in the U.S. military. According to eHow.com, “the first three articles of the Constitution were written to maintain a balance of power within the U.S. government. The three branches of government were designed to check each other, balancing power in order to...
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...checks and balances among the branches of the federal government. The federal government consists of three main branches that have separate powers. The three branches of the federal government include; the judiciary, the executive as well as the legislature. Among the three branches, each one of them is tasked with independent as well as separate functions and mandate. Among the three main branches of the federal government, there is none of them which can assume the functions of another. The separation of powers provides specific functions for each branch. The legislature which consists of the congress makes the laws for the nation, the executive that consists of the president implements the laws while the judiciary that entails the court system interprets and defines legal conflicts (Peterson 89). There is none of the three branches which can assume the functions of another. However, the three branches of the federal government are interrelated. They collaboratively work with each other hence checks and balances for the federal government. The checks and balances ensure that there is no single arm of the government that attempts to assume too much power (Peterson 78). Under the checks and balances for the federal government, the functions of one arm of the federal government are used as to control as well as modify the powers of the others. For instance, the President consents to the legislation by the legislature and appoints top government officials which must be approved...
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...The Branches of US Government Team D HIS/301 United States Constitution On May 25, 1787 one of the world’s most important documents was written, the United States Constitution. This Constitution has stood the test of time, in fact it is the oldest written Constitution still being used by a nation in the world. This proves that it was well thought out and planned. The 55 delegates who created the Constitution wanted it to be the heart of the body of law for the country. They put in place checks and balance to protect the tilt of power from becoming out of balance and created it to evolve with the country and the people it protected. One way they accomplished this major undertaking was to create three distinct Government branches. The government of the United States is divided into three groups, the legislative, judicial, and presidential branches. Our forefathers were concerned that the government could become under rule of a totalitarian regime. One person would obtain so much power that he or she would become sole ruler, or dictator. Our forefathers believed that they could create a government with checks and balances, which would help prevent too much power going into one person or groups hands. “Our forefathers created a governing system that had really yet not existed” (Why, 2011). This was new, something the world had never seen before. “Democratic governments already were in existence yet, our forefathers, wanted to create a government unlike...
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...our government is and how it works? Has anyone ever thought about another country's government and who runs it and how it works? I have thought about these questions which are what led me to read about the United States government and Russia government. The United States government and the Russian government are run very differently than each other. Although the United States and Russian government can be somewhat similar to each other in their unique way. The United States is run by the federal government branches as to the Russian government it is run by the Prime Minister’s, the deputy Prime Ministers, and the federal minister. The United States and the Russian governments seem to some of us very different to one another, but they have more in common than what we think. The United States government has a part in making the rules. The government is has three different distinct branches. The branches of the United States government are the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the...
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...among the local, state, and federal governments Weakness of the Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation gave final authority to the state governments, creating conflict between states. For example, if one state passed a law that affected citizens visiting from another state, no one could settle the dispute. Also, the federal government had no way to protect the people and nation as a whole. Solution in the U.S. Constitution Article VI of the Constitution makes federal laws supreme over state laws. Article IV of the Constitution says the states must respect each other’s laws and explains the duties of the federal government to protect the states. Article I of the Constitution allows the federal government to create and maintain a national military force to protect the nation. Limited Government Idea that government should be restricted to its basic function of protecting people`s natural rights Weakness of the Articles of Confederation Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government was too weak and limited. For example, it could pass laws but not enforce them. Solution in the U.S. Constitution The Constitution expanded and listed the powers of the federal government. Through Article I, Congress could raise taxes. Article II establishes the president as the leader of the military. Articles I(One), II (Two), and III (Three) expanded federal power but still limited it by dividing its powers into the three branches and by specifying who is qualified...
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...distributing the power between the two governments. Federalism has given separate states power over the federal government. The state's government and federal government also share powers such as they can borrow money or...
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...constitution consists of some primary principles. Briefly explain the following principles and their significance in shaping American government. • Self-Government: Self- Government is when the people of a country get to create their own rules and doesn’t have outside governments making decisions for them. This helped shape the American government by giving citizens of our country the responsibility to and the right to have a say in the rules that are being created. • Separation of Powers: Separation of Powers is when the government shares power between the three branches which are executive, legislative, and judicial. This helped shape the American government by making sure that powers weren’t being abused. Separation of Power is also a part of Checks and Balances. • Checks and Balances: Checks and Balances is when the U.S. Constitution divides the government into the three branches executive, legislative, and judicial to make a decision for our country. This helped shape American government because not only on branch could say yes or no on a decision, one may say no and two may say yes two might veto a decision and on may not but a decision has to be made by the three branches. Part II: Balance of Power In the space below, write an analysis of approximately 250 words on how the system of checks and balances in the federal government helps to limit the concentration of power. • Cite specific examples. Defend your rationale. Utilize the required readings, academic...
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...The roles of the three branches Team A His301 3/11/13 Janice Harder The Constitution of the United States is the permanent document upon which this nation’s government was formed and continues to rely upon in order to maintain the democratic republic. In its conception and many evolutions throughout the past 237 years, the rights of the country’s citizens and the roles that all federal and state governmental bodies play were established. Articles I, II and III contain the multifaceted powers as well as the checks and balances for and between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. This paper examines the reasons and benefits of the three divisions in the government, the obstacles to creating legislation due to the division of power among the branches, and the conflict and issues between supporters of federal versus states rights were characterized at the nation’s birth and at present. When the American forefather divided the government they did it with our futures in mind, a government for the people. In order to make sure things are done correctly and fairly they decided to make three branches, the legislative branch is the House of Representatives which is the congress and also includes the senate which is used for law making decisions. Our forefathers made it this way so that each state had proper representation. The legislative branch receives thousands of bills ever two years and it is the legislative branches duties to make sure only necessary bills...
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...Branches of Government Branches of Government The United States of America is run by our country’s Constitution. After the American Revolution, the newly named Americans realized the need for government and law. Our Constitution, once put into place, establishes three branches of government. It is important for all of Americans to understand why the founding fathers decided on three branches of government. It is also important to know what obstacles the division of power present for enactment of important legislation and how conflict has been characterized between supporters of a strong federal government and the supporters of state rights both in the past and now. The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 by James Madison. This is considered the main law of the land. Any laws made for the country must agree with the Constitution. James Madison is the father of the constitution. Madison was the one that came up with the conspire that one branch could not have complete control. “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether on or a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-pronounced to very definition of tranny” (Spaeth & Segal 1999). This is when our three branches were born. In the Executive Branch we have our President, vice president, and all of the cabinet. Our president is allowed to make or laws, pass, or veto them. The legislative Branch has 435 representatives and 100 senators forming a party of 535 members...
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...Explain the different roles of the federal and state government. The American legal system consists of two separate levels of court, defined as federalism, which together administer and enforce the laws in the United States. Federalism distributes the government powers between both the federal governments and the state governments, which ensures that the power of the national government is decentralized. The US Constitution divides the federal government into three branches - legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch, consisting of the House of Representative and the Senate, make laws, the executive branch, consisting of the President, Vice President, and his cabinet, carry out the laws, and the judicial branch, consisting of the Supreme Court and other courts, evaluates the laws. Additionally, each branch has the power to change acts of the other branches. The President has the power to veto laws passed by congress, Congress can confirm or reject the president’s appointments and can remove the president from office, and the justices of the Supreme Court can overturn unconstitutional laws. The State government is modeled after the federal government and contains the same three branches; however, each state has their own constitution, which is often more detailed than the federal constitution. All powers not allotted to the federal government are reserved for the state governments. In the state government, the executive branch is lead by a governor...
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...Running Head: THE MAINLEVELS OF THE U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT The Main Levels of the U.S. Federal Government Lynn Todd Colorado Technical University Online PBAD200-0904A-13 American Government Professor Jamie Boyd October 12, 2009 The U.S. Government is composed up of three key branches, the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch. Each branch has its own powers, functions, checks, and balances. First, we will look at the history of the Constitution. During the 1600’s many Europeans left Britain in search of economic, political, and intellectual freedoms. However, they remained under the power of Britain, which functioned under a unitary system of government with one national power that permitted it to take action against any individual. During the Revolutionary war, the states battled with Britain, and won their freedom from the unitary system of government of Britain (CTU online, 2008, phase 1 multimedia presentation)....
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