The Five Limits Of Government

The United States government system is for the security and happiness of the people and for the union of this country. The government keeps us safe, and it keeps us free. There are three branches of government: Judicial branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch. The Supreme Court is head over the judicial branch, Congress is the head of the legislative branch, and the President is the head over the executive branch. Congress makes the laws, the Supreme Court interprets the law and the President enforces the law (house.gov)

The structure of our American Government was founded in the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was written to be the “supreme law of the land,” and produces a democratic republic, where citizens govern themselves (Our American Government, n.d). The purpose of our government, is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (Our American Government, n.d.). For our country to accomplish this purpose our Founding Fathers created three principles, “inherent rights, self-government, and separation of powers” (Our American Government, n.d.). The government was developed to ensure order in society and protect its citizens, but with all systems, there is strengths and weakness, let’s examine those strengths and weakness. Let’s first look at the strength and weakness of the U.S. Constitution.

What are ways the constitution limits the power of the federal government? There are three different ways the constitution limits power. The three different ways are the system of checks and balances, the bill of rights, and federalism. Along with ways the constitution limits power, there are the three branches of government as well. The first branch is the legislative branch, the second is the executive branch, and the third and final branch is the judicial branch. Each branch in the government has a lot of power and they use several ways to distribute their power evenly among other branches.

Our Founding Founders established the federal government with three distinct branches, each with powers over the other in order to have a proper checks and balances to ensure fairness across the board. The U.S. Constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the three branches of government and is a critical document for the federal government. Important laws and documents such as The Bill of Rights, The US Civil Rights Act and The Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) are managed by our Constitution. Below we will discuss three subjects which set up a diverse broad range of viewpoints that are essential in our democracy.

The rule of law is whereby the government and all those who govern are bound by the law and everyone must follow the law. Rule of law is also known as nomocracy. Government individual officials are not entitled to make any decision which is not in accordance to the law (Paulsen, Calabresi, McConnell & Bray, 2013). All the citizens are governed by the law including those who make the laws. A. V. Dicey has highly advocated for rule of law in modern times and has popularized it. In history the idea of rule of law can be traced back to the ancient civilizations like China, Mesopotamia, and Rome among others.

The purpose of a government is to enforce laws and protect individual rights of citizens. In the process of creating a government, the U.S Constitution was formed and signed on September 17, 1787, which gave American citizens rights of their own and the fundamental set of laws to obey by. Three major principles governed the constitution, checks & balances, rule of law and individual rights. In the constructions of the Constitution, the founding fathers relied heavily upon a variety of principles to create a form of government that was intended to balance government power and individual rights.

There is a disease running rampant on the streets of Washington DC. It is a disease that cripples the economy, destroys jobs and leaves Americans living on the streets. Inordinate spending perpetuates the sickness and corrupt politicians keep the cure at bay. Federal expansion is ruining the lives of American citizens and creating a society of impecunious and pusillanimous citizens, unable and unwilling to speak out against the higher power which controls every aspect of their lives. “Where are our (sic) Men of abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their Country?” George Washington once inquired to his fellow man, now, many Americans may find themselves asking this same question as the country continues its spiral downwards

Life without the constitution would inevitably have led to a classification of government with no limitations in place from which it can control its citizens. A constitution is a system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state, corporation, or the like, is governed. The U.S. conceived their form of a constitution September 17, 1787 to guarantee certain basic rights for its citizens and in order to establish crucial laws. In essence a government without restrictions would result in a tyrannical form of government. Tyranny is arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority. Thankfully for the inhabitants of the U.S., the constitution shields from such menaces through the use of checks and balances, by dividing power between the central government and state governments, and from maintaining equal representation from all states. All of this wouldn’t have been plausible without James Madison, The Founding Fathers and their aspirations to bring into existence a perfect union.

The text book definition of rule of law is simply stated as the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws. This in laymen’s terms simply means that power is no-longer the ultimate decider,

The Constitution establishes the structure of government in the United States, starting with the fundamental principle that the will of the people is the basis of the legitimacy of government. The Constitution’s first ten amendments, adopted in 1791 and known as the Bill of Rights including the checks and balances between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, as well as the reservation of significant authority and autonomy for the states joined together in a federal system—have been the basic building blocks of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people throughout U.S.

- The United States government was built on democracy and freedom. Today, the United States has twenty-seven amendments that protect the American citizens on a daily basis. “The First Amendment affects our daily lives by ensuring that as individuals in a free, democratic society we have the freedom to voice our opinions, criticisms, objections and passions largely free from government interference” (First Amendment Center). The most important amendment of the United States is the First Amendment because it gives the citizens of the United States freedom to be and do what they wish to do as long as it does not inflict on anyone else's rights.

The President of the United States is the most powerful wo/man in the world. There are few limits to what s/he can do. The Constitution created the institution of the presidency in 1789, power of the president has gradually grown from what was first envisioned. The presidential powers were set up to be limited by separation of powers into three branches of government, by the checks and balances scribed in the constitution, by federal systems, political parties and the media. The president is elected for a four-year term in office, maximum of eight years. Framers of the Articles of Confederation felt that liberty could only be enjoyed with checks set up by an executive branch of government. The

In his book Simpler: The Future of Government, Cass R. Sunstein delivers to his readings a thoughtful and in depth view of government regulations. He gives a clearly defined outline of the changes that have been made during his time at the White House, advocating for what he believed to reform national policy. Explaining that often government regulations are complex and decisions are made influencing their own well-being and gain, making many chose not to take part in the decision making.

Initially, laws are difficult to design because lawmakers can’t think of every possibility, every scenario, and every obstacle that may present itself in the democracy. Despite these difficulties, laws keep society together and provide unity for the citizens. Advantages for creating laws, include, but are not limited to, providing direction for the collection of taxes, declaring clear expectations for compliance and punishment of citizens and elimination of chaos.

“Rule of Law”, said Dicey in 1885, means “the absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power and excludes the existence of arbitrariness, of prerogative ,or even wide discretionary authority on the part of government.” (THE LAW OF CONSTITUTION 198 (8th ed.)