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Essay about Checks and Balances

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Checks and Balances When the framers of our revered Constitution came together to produce our governing system, they wanted to avoid the precedent of an all powerful entity that could control its citizens. They broke governments role into three important phases, which were the power to make laws, the power to interpret laws, and the ability to enforce them. To further decentralize these authority holding organizations, they created a system that allowed each of the three sections to have a say in each of the others ability to exercise said authority. This organization of overlapping power is referred to as a checks and balances system and was intended to create three equal powers to govern the United States. Over the years since its …show more content…

Congress enacts laws that touch every aspect of American lives, from the taxing policies, to what behaviors are against the law, as well as regulating interstate commerce. The Executive Branch is the second portion of the power sharing system and is headed by the president. It consists of his Executive Office, the vice president, and his Cabinet. The duties of the Executive Branch are covered in the second article of the constitution and establish the president as the leader of the armed forces, outlines his ability to make treaties, and develop a State of the Union address. The ability for the Executive Branch to enforce the regulations and laws imposed by Congress lies with the many departments that are delegated the authority to enforce them, for example the Department of Agriculture handles the many different areas of farming and the processing of the food Americans eat. There are many different organizations and the head of each one joins together to form the president's Cabinet in order to inform him on the important issues that may need government attention. The final portion of the power triangle is the Judicial Branch which is divided into lower district courts, a U.S. Court of Appeals, and then the highest level of power is the Supreme Court. The Judicial Branch is used to act as a bridge between the legislative and executive branches. If any citizen, business, or

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