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A Balanced System of Government

The Founders of the United States of America designed a balanced system of government that sets the stage for limiting the power of each one. We call this a system of checks and balances. It is a system that rests on the principle of the separation of powers.1

At the federal level, the president is in charge of the Executive Branch. The president

  • sees that laws are carried out,
  • offers suggestions for new laws,
  • signs bills passed by Congress into law or allows a bill to become law without his signature,
  • has the power to veto laws passed by Congress,
  • is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and
  • oversees foreign policy.

The legislative branch is the government’s lawmaking body. It is comprised of two houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

  • Members of these bodies follow a process laid out in the Constitution to make laws.
  • Congress has the authority to override a veto of a proposed law by
  • Spending bills originate in the House of Representatives.
  • The Senate has the authority to approve treaties.
  • Congress has the authority to try and remove federal officials, including the president, from office. This process is called impeachment. The House of Representatives and the Senate each has a specific responsibility in this two-step process.

The Supreme Court is the highest body in the judicial branch of the United States government.

  • Judges serving in this branch in numerous federal courts have the responsibility of reviewing and interpreting laws in light of the supreme law of the land, the Constitution of the United States.
  • Courts can declare a law unconstitutional and thereby strike it down, making it null and void.

 

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Copyright © 2016 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.

1The summary herein is consistent with each of these articles on the three branches of government in the United States.