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.        

The Wisdom of a Triangle

 

Look at the triangular shape of the image above and imagine the triangle as the three branches of our government--to the left the Legislative Branch, in the center the Executive Branch, and to the right the Judicial.  The point of the image I chose is the beauty and strength of a triangle as a symbol of the wisdom of our Founding Fathers.  

 

My blog of March 5th, 2025 made clear that the desire of the Americans was not a dislike of the British people.  In fact, they had family and friends there, they did business with the English, and sent their children to school there (if they could afford it).  It was the desire for independence as a free nation, not ruled by a king, that drove the desire for freedom.  

To achieve that, a new type of government was necessary.  That is how the structure of the triangle,  appeared.  They created The Legislative Branch, The Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch.  Each branch held power over the others in some way, but were also subjected to the powers held by the others.  

Here is how the triangle works.  The Legislative Branch has both the House and the Senate.  The House has 435 members, elected every 2 years, the number held in each state determined based on state population adjustments.  House members must be at least 25 years of age, a U.S. Citizen for at least 7 years, and a resident of the state they represent.  They introduce Bills and Resolutions, offer Amendments, and Serve on Committees, and they have the authority to impeach the President.  The Senate is also part of the Legislative Branch but is separate from the House.  There are 2 Senators from each state, regardless of their state's population.  They must be at least 30 years old and a citizen for at least 9 years.  They serve 6 year terms, with elections of 1/3rd of the Senators rotated to maintain experienced Senators.  They have the authority to not only approve or disapprove the President's nominations for his cabinet, they can overrule the President in certain situations, and should the House impeach the president, the Senate has the responsibility to conduct the trial and either dismiss or convict the President. 

As you can see, the Legislative Branch has powerful responsibilities, often influenced by whether they are majority or minority parties serving under a President. There are also differences in whether different parties have chosen to work with or ignore/oppose the other elected party members.  In recent years there has been less cooperation. 

The next part of the Triangle is the Executive Branch, which includes the President, Vice President, and his Cabinet, as well as government agencies.  The President holds important parts of the Triangle, but he is not a King, which of course was the whole purpose of the war with England.  There is no question that the President has significant powers, some of which are in question.  This blog is not my attempt to define those powers.  It is about reflection on the intentions and efforts of our Founding Fathers to create a Nation without Kings, with checks and balances to keep our precious nation on course.  The third branch in the triangle is the Judicial Branch.  Members of the Supreme Court are nominated by the President.

We tend to pay attention to the Supreme Court, however there are many Federal Courts that can be important on a national level. The United States Supreme Court is able to try only a small portion of cases sent to them on appeal.  Most are rejected, left for the rulings of the lower courts.  However, according to Sandra Day O'Connor, "Each year the members of the court must read the briefs in the 100 or so cases on which the court hears oral arguments.  After argument, the case has to be decided and explained in published opinion."  From her book, The Majesty of the Law.  I can only imagine the amount of responsibility on the Court today, nor am I familiar with the manner in which they try to perform those responsibilities.

In the Triangle of the Judicial Courts, from District Courts to Courts of Appeal, to the Supreme Court, I am generally proud of my profession as an attorney. Today, being a government judge is an ominous responsibility, and sometimes a dangerous one.  Members of the Supreme Court are not beyond disciplinary action, although it has almost never been applied.  I am troubled by some of the neglect of traditional rules of past members of the court, like dissociating themselves from tempting "gifts"' and obvious expressions of opinion by family members of some of the Justices.  But, I am proud of the responsibilities, discipline, and courage other judges, lawyers, witnesses, and members of juries have shown.  Without those courageous and disciplined people, there could be no third Triangle.