POS301 - Assignment about the government branches. PDF

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Assignment about the government branches....

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POS-301: Principles and Articles of the United States Constitution Worksheet Part I: Principles of the Constitution The constitution consists of some primary principles. Briefly explain the following principles and their significance in shaping American government.

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Self-Government: The significance of self-government shaped the American government by being able to have the freedom to do what they want as long as they follow the government’s rules.

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Separation of Powers: The significance of this is how the government functions such as legislation, law enforcement, and adjudication as well as the three branches of governmentthe president, Congress, and the courts. Mostly, all of the branches of government, they are all in charge with the legislation (Separation of Powers, para. 2).

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Checks and Balances: The significance of checks and balances is so the government has the control to limit the power of each other, so no one branch can become too powerful. They all stay the same.

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.

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Defend your rationale.

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Utilize the required readings, academic websites, and the GCU Library as resources for this assignment.

The system of checks and balances in the government is balanced out into three government branches. The system of balances and checks include the judicial, legislative, and the executive branch (Separation of Powers, para. 2). Each of them has to be equally powerful so they all work together as one. It should not be one more powerful than the other two. This also includes the President, Congress, the Supreme Court, etc. The president gets to choose to pass a law if he feels like it should be passed. If he doesn’t, then he is vetoing the passing of a specific law or laws. If he does, then it can cause an uprising. Either way, if he does or does not pass these laws, there will always be an uprising to passing or vetoing laws. I think that some of the simple laws © 2014. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

are simply argued among political people who think that they are right. For example, if gay marriages were not legalized, then there would be an uprising of gays that are protesting. The legislative branch would have put a stop to gay marriages being legalized. For some opinions, some of the laws that are passed can either be ridiculed or approved of. Those who are not for gay marriages, there are riots for those to restrict the power of gay marriages.

Part III: The Three Branches of the Federal Government Answer the following questions. Each response should be 150-200 words. 1. What are the duties and responsibilities of each branch of the federal government? Legislative: The legislative branch is a branch in the government that deals with all of the laws in the Unites States. They even write all of the laws, but the president gets to choose whether or not to veto it. The government makes the laws for the America and the legislature is also called Congress (Historic Roots of the Legislative Branch). The legislatures are what gives us our laws that we have to follow. The only ones who don’t follow the laws that are already passed, the people most likely are in jail or making the community better. “The legislative branch can confirm or deny most appointments to the president's cabinet, federal judgeships, and even the Supreme Court,” (Legislative branch, 2014, para. 1). The Legislative branch is powerful, but the checks and balances doctrine limit the power to become too powerful. There are limits to this branch, but their duties are to protect the United States. Judicial: The judicial branch deals with the cases under the nation’s laws and is made up of various courts as well as the main courts being federal district courts, circuit courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court (Key Positions in the Judicial Branch, para. 1). The courts are able to resolve disputes (T. McClory, 2010, p. 135). This explains how to resolve the issues of the laws. There are many things that the law requires, but sometimes that even backfires on us. “The key positions in the federal judiciary are the justices who serve on the Supreme Court, the judges who serve on the courts of appeals and district courts, and the magistrates who serve in the district courts,” (Key Positions in the Judicial Branch, para. 4). In the judicial branch, there are many positions and it can cause uproars from becoming too powerful. The judicial branch serves as a peacemaker from disputes. Executive: The executive branch consists of the president and all of the other individuals, agencies, and departments that report to the president and is responsible got administering and enforcing the laws that Congress pass (Executive Branch, para. 1). Basically, the vice president can support, advise and assume presidency if the president cannot serve, so the vice president takes over the duties of that the president does originally. The executive agencies from the executive branch falls under the authority of the president but is not part of the Cabinet. The executive branch is in charge of conducting diplomacy and the president chooses who can sign and talk about treaties, but then the Senate has to ratify them. The job of the executive branch is to carry out or execute the laws and judicial decrees of all of the states (McClory, 2010,

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p. 104). This branch basically says whether or not you should go through with the laws and decrees or if you should not. 2. Describe how these three branches are supposed to interact. These branches are supposed to interact together as the Separation of Powers, which is a doctrine of the three government branches (Separation of Powers, para. 1). It is the main foundation of the “Separation of Powers” doctrine. For each of these branches, they have to use the system of checks and balances. Each branch is connected to each other, and they practically do the same thing as of how far the laws go. They have to make sure that none of them will become too powerful and that no single branch becomes more powerful than the other branches. Not only this, but when all three branches interact, they can impeach the president. In statistics, they are not supposed to really interact with each other. They are more or less parts of something bigger, which makes it seem like they interact more with each other. 3. How effectively do you feel the three branches interact with each other today? I think that the three government branches interact with each other because the branches seem to equal each other out. I think that they are pretty effective considering that they balance each other out so one cannot just simple over rule the other ones. Especially in the 21st century, where there are many ways that one of the government branches could. These branches equal each other out to make everything the same and they pass laws through each other, after the laws have been accepted. I think that as long as these branches are equalized in power, then we won’t have to deal with who is more powerful than the other. I think that they are pretty effective because they work like a team. It makes sense to equalize these branches so they can work as a team, and none of them are too powerful, so they can’t really turn their backs on each other and be powerful.

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References: Executive Branch. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Retrieved May 18, 2018 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/law/encyclopedias-almanacstranscripts-and-maps/executive-branch Historic Roots of the Legislative Branch. Checks and Balances: The Three Branches of the American Government. Retrieved May 17, 2018 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/legal-and-political-magazines/historic-rootslegislative-branch Key Positions in the Judicial Branch. Checks and Balances: The Three Branches of the American Government. Retrieved April 24, 2018 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/legal-and-political-magazines/key-positionsjudicial-branch Legislative branch. (2014). Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 18, 2018 from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=ers&AN=98402130&site=eds-live&scope=site Separation of Powers. Dictionary of American History. Retrieved May 13, 2018 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesaurusespictures-and-press-releases/separation-powers T. McClory (2010). Understanding the Arizona Constitution. Retrieved May 20, 2018.

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