Balance In The Government

The government of the United States of America is a federal constitutional republic. In layman 's terms, this means that the country 's national, central government and the smaller, unitary governments of the fifty states are co-equal in their power, and that the citizens of America have a say in public policies by electing representatives who voice their respective opinions. More importantly, both the central government and the state governments are subject to the supreme law of the Constitution. Under this document, the central government is set up into three branches (the legislative, executive, and judicial) that are meant to check each other and balance out power. Their cooperation insures that the national government 's control is appropriate, and does not infringe upon the rights of the average American citizen.

responsibility to solve problems often exceed the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. On the other hand, policies developed at the national level may not sufficiently reflect the great diversity of interests across the U.S. to be effective at the local level. Moreover, the

The concept of power is a divisive matter in the American political system, as the actors holding it are sometimes unable to impose it as a result of their limited authority to do so. The legislative, executive, and judicial branches in the national government depend on each-others point of view. Part of the Constitution was designed with the purpose of making it impossible for either of these three to become more powerful than the others. Each of them has the ability to check and balance the way that the other two function. In spite of the fact that this system was created with the intention of preventing power from being shared unequally in the country, it sometimes serves as a tool for political gridlock, considering that the judicial branches can debate in regard to a particular topic for unlimited amounts of time before actually reaching a conclusion regarding the respective issue.

The first and most fundamental division of our government is “federalism or the constitutional allocation of governmental powers between the federal and state governments” (24). Throughout the years federalism has changed from what it was first described in the constitution. Contemporary federalism is what is used in our modern government, and with the dilemmas that we have now a more centralized government has been used, which was not planned when our government was created. The second division is separation of powers. This division has a major impact on public policies. The constitution “distributes the powers of the federal government among three branches, each capable of applying checks and balances to the other two” (29). These three divisions can either work together, which makes policymaking smooth and able to get things done, or they can veto each other which makes policymaking harder and nothing gets done. The third division is subgovernments, or can also be described as iron triangles. This division has three actors involved the first is interest groups, the second is congressional committees or subcommittees, and the third is the administrative agency (31-33). These actors work off each other to help get policies implemented. These three division help compose our public policies in the United States.

Lastly we move to federal government this is one in which the powers of government is divided between a central government and several local governments. There is a authority superior to both the central and local governments which makes this division of powers on a geographic basis; That division cannot be changed by either the local or national level acting alone. Both levels of government act directly on the people through their own sets of laws, the officials, and agencies. In the United States, for example the National Government has certain powers and the 50 states have others. This division of powers is set out in the Constitution of the United States.

State, county, and local administration responsibilities are to serve specific demographic areas. These governments are municipal. Unlike the federal government, they don’t organize international concerns, they are focusing internally. Both the state and federal governments work hard to keep our homeland running safely and smoothly. The responsibilities that federal, state, and local governments have in common are structure and what is in the best interest of those who live in the United States (Shafritz, Russell, Borick, & Hyde, 2017, 104).

The federal government and state governments have had a long history of powers struggles. The struggle goes back and forth between who has the right to make decisions and if there is a problem who should fix it. Sometimes it is better for the federal government to fix issues and during other situations it is better for the state or local governments to fix other issues. In the PBS special of the United States Constitution, Peter Sagal travels around the states documenting the various roles and impact the government has on the country as a whole and on the individual states.

Over 200 years ago the United States’ Founding Fathers created a unique system of government that allowed a balance to exist between both the federal government and the separate state governments. Through the three branches of government, specifically the executive and legislative branches, the United States has been able to act as a unified body with several varying individual parts. With the executive branch and the legislative branch each having outlined powers of their own the Founders were able to equally balance the power of the national government and the state governments. Although this system has managed to stay in tact for two centuries and has allowed the United States of America to become a dominate player in international affairs, there has consistently been a battle of power between the president in the executive branch and the two houses of congress in the legislative branch. As the United States continues to evolve and face multiple obstacles, so does the relationship between these two branches.

The Local and state officials? The inability to enforce laws from the federal level uniformly throughout counties

Like nature, the United States government has evolved to meet the demands of an ever growing population, the increasing terrorist threat, and a new state of mind in terms of what government should look like. Each branch of the federal system plays a key role in controlling the populace. The Executive branch handles day-to-day maintenance of the federal government, makes sure laws are enforced and carried out, as well as represents the U.S. to foreign interests. The Legislative branch passes laws and allocates funds for use in running the federal government and providing assistance to the states. The Judicial branch hears cases that involve disputes between interpretations of the laws or those that challenge them. A delicate balance

The relationship between a governor and its elected or appointed bureaucrats are important for a state bureaucracy. It is very likely that most – if not, all bureaucracies share the common agreement: that the executive and legislative bodies must work together fairly with state agencies to reach their goal, which is to establish, control, and enforce certain policies that help create a perfect society. However, in the bureaucracy of the state of Texas, that goal seems to be unachievable. There are two articles that exploits the struggles between the state’s agencies and the state legislature. One explains the issue of budgetary powers for a Texas governor, and the other describes the frustration of authority between the Texas legislative lawmakers and one powerful state agency. There seems to be a fragmentation within the Texas bureaucracy, which can be rooted to the “Plural Executive” form of government that’s established in the state’s constitution, and the influence of interest groups on the state legislature.

American politics is often defined by a continuing power conflict between the executive and the legislative branches of the government. This struggle for political power between the two stronger branches of the three is inherent in the Constitution, itself. The concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances ensure that the branches of government will remain in conflict and provide a balance that keeps the entire government under control. As it was first established, the executive branch was much smaller and weaker than as we know it today. Consequently, the legislative branch was unquestionably dominant. Over the course of history, the executive branch grew in both size and power to the point where it occasionally overtook the

The United States government operates under a federalist system meaning that there are two or more governments who share the same power over one geographic region. In this case it would be the state and federal governments. The 10th amendment of the U.S. Constitution summarizes the idea of federalism, stating that “The powers not delegated to the US by the Constitution, nor prohibited by the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people” (U.S. Constitution). This means that the federal government, whose jurisdiction is very limited, has jurisdiction over some thing while the state government has jurisdiction over

Short Essay – Policy-making in the Federal System. The U.S. government’s expansive role in public policy is caught in a swirl of conflicting cross-currents. On the one hand, popular expectations about government’s responsibility to solve problems often exceed the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. On the other hand, policies developed at the national level may not sufficiently reflect the great diversity of interests across the U.S. to be effective at the local level. Moreover, the search for effective policy is further complicated by theoretical debates about the constitutional framework of federalism, e.g., what limits on national power can be derived from the 10th Amendment?

STATE VS FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONS: It should first be noted that state constitutions contain the supreme laws of each state, mostly by detailing the limitations of authority and specific protections for maintaining individual liberty. The US constitution does this too for the federal government and provides the fundamental Bill of Rights that identifies national liberty protections. Many states model their protections on these rights but some add other levels of security. In general, states put a greater emphasis on their legislative branches (where the elected representatives have input) than on the executive branch, though clearly some governors are as visible as is the President of the United States who conducts the daily administrative activities of the federal government.