Legislative, Executive And Judicial Branches Of The Federal Government (Essay Sample)

Name of Author Course Name of Tutor Date of Submission The Three Branches of the Federal Government At the drafting of the American Constitution in the year 1787, the leaders from different states believed that Americans deserved a fair set of rules that would deliver justice and equity to the people. Besides merely being able to protect the people’s individual rights and freedoms, the laws put in place were supposed to create a strong nation with the necessary systems to find, improve, and share resources fairly among its citizens. This needed a strong institution of presidency with all the systems that support it. Secondly, effective law making and implementing bodies were also needed. Markedly, it soon became clear that all these powers could not be vested on a group of individuals within one institution. Such would lead to the potential abuse of power (Schmidt, Mack, and Barbara 25). This resulted in the creation of different arms of the government and the subsequent separation of powers among these branches. They include the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the Federal Government. The legislative arm of the government is composed of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives, and is responsible for making the law. Notable elements common to both the houses are the majority leader and minority leader positions. The former position gets occupied by the party that controls the house whereas the latter comes from the party with fewer members in the house. A hundred senators occupy the offices in the senate, two from each state. They are headed by the Vice President of the United States who also functions as the head of the senate. Nonetheless, the Vice President does not take part in any vote unless a tie exists. The House of Representatives is composed of 435 representatives who also come from the states based on population. They are headed by a Speaker of the House, who is elected by the representatives after assuming office (Small 15). While senators serve six-year terms, the representatives’ terms only last two years. Once laws have been made by the legislative arm of the government, they are made official, approved, and carried out by the executive branch, which is headed by the President of the United States. The president get’s elected by a national vote tallied through the Electoral College system and serves for four years. Every president is allowed to serve at most two terms of office. The President has the powers to appoint and remove cabinet members and other officials, function as the commander in chief of defense forces, negotiate treaties, and represent the country in international platforms (Rice 4). Other members of the executive encompass the Vice President and the cabinet, which is made up of fifteen secretaries in charge of different departments. The third and last branch of the federal government is the judicial arm. It is entrusted with the task of interpreting and explaining the law and comprises the court system in the land. At the head of this court system is the Chief Justice, who heads the Supreme Court of the United States. There are other eight jud...