Understanding our Government

 

A few weeks ago, I posted a diagram of how our government works.  You may want to return to that blog to review the diagram; however, I hope you enjoy this additional explanation of our system.

First of all, I want to explain something that may be confusing.  The provosion of checks and balances has three separate but equal branches of the Government--the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch.  However, within the first branch there are two different houses--the House of Representatives and the United States Senate.  Together, they are spoken of as the legislative branch, but they operate separately. 

  The Legislative Branch.  The House of Representatives, known as the Lower House, is so important because it makes and passes Federal Laws, including the power to initiate all revenue bills.  It also is entrusted to initiate the impeachment of the President.   The United States Senate is referred to as the Upper House.  In a way, they are the watchdogs on the House and the President.  They have the power to pass or defeat federal legislation, to approve or reject treaties, and to revoke or approve the impeachment of the President. They also have the power to vote up or down the president's choices for his Cabinet.  This check & balance on the President's choices is not intended necessarily to be a party vote but rather an evaluation of the qualities of the persons selected for the job,  

The Executive Branch.  Now to the Executive Branch, headed by the President of the United States.  The President is charged with implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress.  He is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and he selects the members of his cabinet, subject to the approval by the Senate.  

The Judicial Branch.  The third branch, part of the effort of the founding fathers to create a balance of power from becoming too strong for any one branch, is the legal branch.  Article III of the Constitution invests the judicial power of the United States in the federal court system, but Article III gives Congress the power to establish inferior courts, the authority to create the lower federal courts, and the ability to decide how to organize it, which has included over the years altering the number of Associate Justices.     

The genius of the Founding Fathers was to create a system of checks and balances.   Each branch has its own authority but is subject to the check of another part of the system.  These checks and balances keep any one part of the system from assuming full control.  Our system fails if the checks and balances are ignored.    If any branch attempts to dominate another branch by intruding into its authority. our system is threatened.  If we as citizens do not understand the importance of the Three Branch system or intentionally facilitates wrongful use, we threaten our democracy.  

Unfortunately, most of us do not fully understand exactly how this works.  I don't recall a civics class in school, although some schools have included civics' classes.  The Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey found that less than half could name all three branches of government. When asked to name the protections in the First Amendment, Freedom of speech was cited by only 62%, Religion by 24%, Freedom of the Press by 20%, Right of Assembly by 16%, and the right to petition the government only 6%.  All of these were down from previous survives. 

If we are to protect and preserve our precious Constitution, we must know how it works.  The survey quoted above suggests that too many of us have neglected that responsibility.