The U.S. Constitution was made to limit the power of the Federal Government and to show us how to establish it. It shows us that it must consist of three branches: the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial. These three branches must have an equal amount of power so that one branch does not rule its way into tyranny. Like Patrick Henry, one of the Founding Fathers, stated, “The Constitution is not an instrument for the Government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the Government-lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”
The Legislative branch is Congress, the law-passing body. This particular branch has two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives has a major role in passing bills and making Federal laws.Federal laws are laws that apply to all the states. Also, it is made up of representatives from each of the fifty states, and their leader is called the Speaker of the House. There are a specific number of representatives,depending on how large the population of the state is. The Senate also has a big role in passing laws. As in the House of Representatives, there are members from each state. Both are elected by the people of that state. If Congress cannot agree on passing or not passing a bill, the Vice President will cast the deciding vote.
The Judicial branch is the Courts. The Supreme Court is where a case goes if the state courts think it needs superior judging. The Judges in the Supreme Court are called Justices. All the Justices are appointed for life, but there is only one top man, the Chief Justice. A Justice can never be fired if the people don’t like him or her. Only if he or she is convicted of a crime can he or she be impeached. To be impeached means to be voted out of office for crime. If a Justice wants to quit, he or she is free to. In the Supreme Court there is no jury. Instead, the nine Justices serve as the jury.
The Executive branch is the President. In some other countries there is no other government besides the monarch. A monarch is a single ruler born into royalty with all the power there is to have. He or she cannot be impeached. The President is allowed to send armed troops to another country for a limited time, but first Congress has to declare war. He also is in charge of enforcing laws and has the last say in making laws. When elected, the President will choose the new Vice President. If the President dies, then the Vice President will take over and appoint a new Vice President. But if both the President and the Vice President die within 24hours of each other, then the Speaker of the House (from congress) will become president. He or she will choose the new Vice President.
Today we see these three branches all processing bills and working together to try and create a better country. Here is an example of how they pass a law: Let’s just say a certain political group wanted a law saying, “All public and private school textbooks must be examined and approved by a selected board of historians, scientists, mathematicians, language experts, and so on and so forth.” Then the Committee must approve the bill and send it to the House of Representatives. Then, if the House of Representatives will give approval, then it is sent to the Senate. If the Senate agrees on the bill then it is sent to the President to sign. If the President will not sign the bill, then it is called a veto. It is sent back to Congress. Congress can either make small changes to the bill to try to get it approved, or they can vote and push it through the President’s veto. If Congress makes a law the people don’t like or agree with, they can take a vote and remove it.
Also, if the Supreme Court thinks a law or bill is unconstitutional, they will take Congress or the President to court and decide whether the law is unconstitutional or not.
The separation of powers is vital to our government and country, and without it the United States of America would be a totally different place.
