Question

The checks and balances between the three branches of American government. Is any one branch more powerful than the other two? Why or why not? What could be done to more evenly distribute power between the branches?

Answer 1

The federal government has three branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. Checks and balances are the ways that the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of U.S. government can limit each other's powers so none can overtake the others and rule completely.

• Checks and balances are significant because they ensure that the government branches will always have equal power.
• The executive branch consists of the president, vice president and the cabinet and its purpose is to carry out the laws and policies of the nation. The excecutive branch limits the legislative branch by being able to veto laws but the legislative branch checks the executive branch because they are able to override this veto. The executive branch checks the judicial branch because it choses the members of Supreme Court and the judicial branch checks the executive branch because it can declare that a presidential action is unconstitutional.
• The legislative branch consists of the House of Representatives, which has proportional represenation for all states, and the Senate, which has equal representation for all states. Its job is to create laws. Its power is balanced because the Senate equally represents all states and the House of Representatives proportionally represesnts all states.
• Lastly, there is the judicial branch which mainly consists of the Supreme Court, which has the job of deciding whether or not laws or cases are constitutional.

These three branches make sure the power is seperated so one branch isn't more powerful.