Metzger_Assignment #3

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School

University of Kansas *

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Course

110

Subject

Political Science

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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pdf

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Uploaded by AdmiralUniverseSardine22

Bri Metzger POLS 110 30 August 2023 While the US uses federalism to balance powers between federal state and local levels it uses a different organizational strategy within just the federal government. This is called separation of powers. It ensures that all three parts of the federal government have to work together to be successful. These checks and balances are critical to a functioning democracy. To ensure proper separation of powers the US government is split up between three branches, the the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. Each branch has certain powers and certain limitations. The legislative branch has the most power even with the separation of powers but that is on purpose. Its main duty is to create bills that can turn into laws. Congress (which is the legislative branch) is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is also sometimes called the People's House and currently has 435 seats. It is called the People's House because the number of Representatives is dependent on the population of the state they represent making it the most direct line between citizens and the federal government. The House of Representatives is seen as reactionary whereas the Senate is seen as deliberative. Each state has two senators therefore they are insulated from the will of the voters. One large check and balance that the legislative branch holds is that if a president vetoes a law, a two-thirds majority of Congress can agree and override the presidential veto. The executive branch has the most concentrated power but also has the most limitations. The main power of the executive branch is to sign bills from Congress into laws. The president is the highest member of the executive branch. The second highest is the vice president. The rest of the executive branch is made up of the cabinet. The cabinet is made up of different departments including the agricultural department, the TSA, etc. The cabinet is also sometimes referred to as the president's toolkit as using these resources is technically up to presidential discretion. The only power the executive branch has that cannot be overridden by another branch is a presidential pardon which can give someone convicted of a crime at a federal level most if not all of their rights back almost as if the conviction never happened. Everything else can be overridden by one of the other branches.

Bri Metzger POLS 110 30 August 2023 The judicial branch’s Main job is to interpret laws. They do but don't set policies for the US. Outside of settling disagreements between states, the judicial branch is set up to make sure that bills that have been signed into laws (both new and old) are constitutional. Judges are appointed for life to help maintain their neutrality. Due to this, they are very picky about the cases they take on since whatever decision they make will likely be in place for at least 50-plus years. This limits change due to the severity of their decisions. Which is on purpose again to limit powers. The US government has changed in recent years with all branches becoming more of a war between political parties. The only thing that stops this from becoming a major issue is the separation of powers. Without these, it is very likely that the US would have already turned into some form of an autocracy.

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