Who Governs

The framers of the Constitution had a vision for a new nation, and a new government to regulate it. They saw the conditions in which England existed under the monarchy, and decided to construct a different kind of government in which no one faction could hold too much power. Thus, they developed a system of checks and balances to prevent any one of the three separate branches of the government from becoming dominant. Today, the three branches still remain intact, and no single branch has enough power to completely nullify the decisions and rulings of the other two. However, even though the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches are fundamentally comparable in their command of the nation, today the Legislative branch exercises the greatest extent of power. Each of the three branches serves a different function. The Legislative branch, which consists of Congress, makes laws for the nation to follow. Congress also creates federal programs and agencies, and appropriates funds to carry them out. The Executive branch, composed of the President and Vice President, most accurately carries out the laws of the nation. This branch is responsible for appointing Supreme Court Justices and other federal judges. The Judicial

Thus, it is obvious that the very foundation upon which our nation was constructed, the Constitution, blocks any of the three branches from dominating the other two. The Judicial branch's power lies within its ability to declare laws and executive decisions unconstitutional. The veto is where a large part of the President's power lies. And while it is true that government has become more centralized than the framers of the Constitution had probably planned, it is still far from the monarchy of England. Congress gives birth to new ideas and laws constantly, and while the Executive checks protect against the passing of outrageous laws, they still cannot prevent the passage of laws in every case. Congress does not have free reign to pass any laws it pleases, however, because the President has the power to veto a Congressional bill before it becomes a law. So long as the government is working for the people, as it is now, it is in line with the original vision of our nation which was developed by the founding fathers. It has no armed forces or police at its disposal, so Judicial decisions are sometimes simply ignored. Also, the very structure of the federal court system makes it extremely difficult for the Judicial branch to enforce its decisions in many cases. This power allows the federal court system to nullify certain decisions made by the other two branches. This branch is endowed with the power to declare laws and other executive actions unconstitutional. One example of a president using this power was during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. It can only deal with them if a situation arises after they have already been set in motion by the Executive and Legislative branches. In fact, fifteen federal judges have been impeached by Congress up to date.