The Constitution

The Constitution is the document that lays the framework for the American government. It dictates who gets what powers and what is legal and all of the essentials needed to create and run a nation. It is based on the idea of Separation of Powers, meaning a system in which the responsibilities of running a nation lie on multiple branches. In the case of the Constitution, three branches were created.

Branches of Government

At the time of its conception, the United States was to be the only democratic nation in the world. Democracy itself was a very unusual idea at the time, as many societies were under the influence of absolute monarchies. Tired of the oppression of the individual under such governments, the founders of the United States wanted to create a nation where the duty of government would lay in the hands of the citizens. The people. The founding fathers drew from ancient governing structures consisting of Greek direct democracy and Roman representative democracy. They went on to create a governing body of three branches, each with a system of checks and balances on the other so no branch would be able to attain absolute power.

Legislative Branch

The legislative branch is a culmination of the aforementioned ancient governing systems: Greek direct democracy and Roman representative democracy. Direct democracy embodies the House of Representatives which is a subdivision of the Legislative branch. The House of Representatives is an assembly of elected representatives from each constituency of each state and territory of the United States. Currently there are a maximum of 435 seats for representatives In The House. Representative democracy comes in play with the US Senate. The Senate is an assembly consisting of two senators from each state, bringing the total from 50 states to 100. Collectively, the Legislative Branch, also known as Congress. Has its own set of responsibilities and duties. First and foremost, Congress is responsible for making all the laws in the United States. The process of making a law is long and complicated and more information about it can be found can be found “here”. Along with lawmaking Congress is also responsible for the annual budget taxes on the citizens declaring war on other countries.

Executive Branch

The executive branch is responsible for enforcing all the laws created by Congress. It consists of the president, vice president and cabinet. The president is elected by an electoral college on election day and the cabinet members are hand selected by the president who need to be approved by Congress The cabinet consists of Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Justice, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of State, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of Veterans Affairs. While this is a very long list the main point is that everyone in the executive branch is responsible for upholding the laws of the nation and keeping its inhabitants safe and healthy.

Judicial Branch

The judicial branch is the nation’s justice system. It is a complex hierarchy of lower courts and judges. At the top of the chain is the Supreme Court, whose say is final in all decisions and cases. At the supreme court, there are 9 federal judges who serve life terms and are selected for the job by the president with Congressional approval, The judicial branch as a whole is responsible for upholding the law and holding all citizens who break them accountable. The supreme court is responsible for interpreting the law itself, a power which can be very influential in future cases. According to the US constitution, every person has the right to a fair trial, and so everybody is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. There are also numerous stipulations regarding the judicial branch within the Constitution.

Checks and Balances

Checks and Balances are a system of keeping all three branches of the government in level with each other. Under this system, no branch can get too powerful as its powers are dependent on and interlinked with the other two branches. For example, the executive branch has the power to make necessary executive orders, yet the financing for them depends on the Congress, as it has control over the national purse. Another example of Check and balances would be how The executive branch appoints Supreme Court Judges, yet they rely on Congressional approval once more. A full list and explanation to this system can be found here