Introduction
The federal government comprises of three main bodies i.e. the legislature, the judiciary and the executive arm of the government. It helps to ensure the smooth running of the social, political and economic aspects of the nation. This paper gives a brief history about the development of the federal government in the nation besides exploring the different branches of the government.
History of the system
The American constitution of the 1987 created a system that counterbalanced interests, powers, and ambitions. Majority injustices and the popular disturbances disturbed James Madison, one of the founding fathers of the federal government in America. While concerned by the 1780s turmoil in Massachusetts as well as the commotion that took place in his own state of of Virginia, Madison blamed the majority abuses on the weakness of the confederation. He beilieved in the majority rule coupled with the protection of majority rights. His major concern was to change the government to preserve the spirit of the republicanism.
The founding fathers reflected on the relationship between the individual and the governemnet and on the very nature of republicanism. Serious deliberation took place in during both the American Revolution and in the debates at the constitutional convention of 1787. Certainly, few people in the 1776 envisioned a strong national government. Between 1776 and 1787, serious deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation, the nation’s first written constitution, became apparent. They agreed that the governing system needed to be changed while retaining the states. This called for the revision of the articles of confederation to favor federalism an aspect that brought about a heated debate within the nation.
Following the constitutional convention of 1787, both federalists and anti-federalist wanted some form of federalism-“a system of government in which powers were divided between state and national governments” (Drake, and Netson 7). Both stressed the importance of a virtuous citizenry who would put the public good ahead of their won selfishness. The federalist viewed both the levels of the government to be responsible directly to the people, as creators of both the state and the national governments. Madison showed undying support for the development of a new form of government. This is expressed in the Tenth Federalist. Madison wanted “core values set in republican principles to guide American practices in the government” (Drake, and Nelson 10). Madison’s appeal to a ‘middle ground’ or; practicable sphere’ between localism and distant leaders establishes the importance of both the state and national governments in the American federal system. Both governments, says Drake and Nelson, act to provide the framework for the American laws and public actions.
The Legislature
The congress in the US forms the legislative arm of the federal government. The symbolizing of dedicating the first article of the American constitution to the Congress offers and important indication of the significance of significance the founding fathers of the nation placed on the position of the national legislature within the American federal government. The congress possesses two very crucial powers. They raise and spend money. Additionally, they declare and fund wars besides regulating the armed forces of the United States. Other formal powers of the congress are also parceled out to one or other chamber exclusively, notably the senate’s particular power to confirm executive appointments to the Supreme Court, the cabinet ambassadors, as well as to ratify international treaties negotiated by the executive branch. It is noteworthy that the congress remains a remarkable exception of the general pattern of the legislative weakness in industrialized democracies.
Operations of the legislative arm of the government are not in any way affected by politics. The congress possesses a constitutionally-mandated independent base of political authority. The decentralized and fragmented system of the American government as established by the constitution has played a pivotal role in the augmentation of the specific congressional powers conferred by it to Congress.
The congress acts entirely as a law making body for the entire nation. The law that it makes, provided the president signs them or Congress overrides his vetoes, are applicable nationwide and enforceable by the executive branch of the federal government. The collection of the 535 voting members who reach the two houses of the congress by different routes serve different constituencies for different term lengths.
The American Bicameralism: House and Senate
Like the Westminster parliament, the Congress is a bicameral legislature. It is divided into two chambers namely the house of Representatives and the Senate. Unlike the Westminster, The House of Commons clearly dominates the House of Lords. These national American Chambers are co-equal in their status and authority. Singh argues that “there is no ‘upper’ or ‘lower’ chamber, although the senate is undoubtedly prestigious of the two” (156). However, only the senate has the constitutional right to confirm executive appointments and judicial nominations and to ratify treaties. This makes the senate the more prestigious body and a senate seat more desirable than the house.
The house of representatives has been viewed as the populist body in the national American government thus displaying more sensitivity to the public mood. According to Singh, with all of its members subject to re-election every two years, the framers of the constitution deliberately intended that the House to be close to popular opinion. The House has also been the chamber where party plays crucial role in organizing national legislative life. With a total of 435 members, the need to formulate rules procedures as well as norms by which the House can go about its legislative business is greater than in the senate. Without some type of legislative action or rather direction, the House would be unable to coordinate its legislative business and would thereby adversely affect the interests of the all its members.
Compared to the House, the Senate is a much more individualistic body. The senate is perceived as the ‘incubator’ of future presidents of the nation. Examples of American leaders who sat in the senate before going to the White House are Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Obama. With its longer terms, staggered elections, and the indirect method of election, the Senate was supposed to represent an American-style of the House of the Lords. Senators of Experience, wisdom as well as well public spirit play the pivotal role of cooling the passions of the popular house.
Another important aspect of the legislative arm of the federal government is the work of the committees. The committee system comprises of full standing committees and their various subcommittees, alongside ad hoc committees and special committees. In this sense, the Congress is itself a highly decentralized legislature within a powerfully decentralized federal and separated system of the government (Singh 161). Most standing or rather permanent committees are divided on the basis similar to that of the overall chamber. The majority party has majorities on the committees and can, if not too divided, therefore have a major say in what emerges. Members join some of the committees typically to try to defend the and protect their home constituencies interests. Such committees include the agricultural committee as well as the armed forces committee. Unlike the Westminster committees that are government dominated, the influence of the congressional committees is substantial. They have the power to:
- Identify and research public problems
- Convene hearings at which concerned parties may testify
- Examine proposals introduced by individual law makers, party leaders, as well as the president
- Publish reports on their findings
- Draft legislation
- Recommend or reject executive branch nominees
- Investigate executive actions and individuals
It is thus evident that the committees are the key generators of the laws from consumer protection to transport programs. It is noteworthy that the action of the committees can jeopardize a president’s prospective appointments. Additionally, committees have the power to hold hearings , investigations and to subpoena witnesses.
The Judiciary
The reasons for the crucial role of course in the American community are clear. One of the characteristic features of the American government is the enduring tension between the democratic and liberal values. The judiciary enables those who govern to be accountable for their actions. Americans revere the rule of law, the federal constitution and the system of limited government that it established.
The key function of the courts in liberal democracies is conflict resolution. Conflicts are of many forms-from mundane and petty to the profound. But once the subject of litigation conventionally falls to courts to adjudicate on them. This adjudication can take several forms. In the American courts, one of the key conflicts that must be resolved are between the state and the individual citizen. Individuals as well as groups often litigate in courts because they are convinced that the state has intruded on their constitutional liberties. For instance, the death row inmates may litigate against their sentence on the grounds that ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ is prohibited by the 8th amendment. In such cases, courts are charged with deciding whether the state has infringed an individual’s constitutional rights as a citizen of the nation. The courts also resolve conflicts between different branches of the government at the same level. This may take the form of conflicts between the president and the Congress. They also deal with cases between different tiers of the government. In the federal system of governance, conflicts invariably arise between the state and the feral governments over which the branch has authority to legislate particular areas. It falls to the judicial system, the courts, to resolve these disputes.
There are three main reasons that are responsible for the significance of the distinctive power of the American courts. One of the reasons is the common law. Unlike the traditional civil law that holds sway in the continental Europe, America’s colonies inherited the Engkish tradition of common law. In this case, the two bodies that have significance are the statutory laws passed by the Congress and the state legislatures and ‘judge-made’ common law in which precedent is built upon precedent as judges interpret what laws mean. The other reason that has given the American courts distinctive power is the judicial review. The crucial power that federal courts exercise is that of constitutional judicial review. This refers to the power to hold unconstitutional, and hence unenforceable, any law, any official action based on a law or any other action by a public official that a court deems to be in conflict with the basic or supreme law i.e. the US constitution (Singh 181). The third reason for the extraordinary influence of the American courts is the difficult of reversing a court ruling on constitutionality. This can only be achieved via a formal amendment of the US constitution which extremely difficult to achieve. It is noteworthy that when the American courts decide cases, their rulings can have far reaching political implications.
The structure of the court system
One of the best ways of envisaging America’s court system is as a pyramid with the Supreme Court at the top. The supreme court receives cases from the thirteen United States courts of Appeals, the Courts of Military Appeals and the state courts. Statistics show that the Supreme Court receives nearly 5,000 cases each year. Each year, the court decides about 150 cases and about three quarters of the decisions are announced in full published opinions (Singh 182).
When a case it taken to the Supreme Court, the nine justices make a decision about whether they have a jurisdiction. Two kinds of jurisdictions exist: original and appellate. Original jurisdiction means that it can act like a trial court whereas appellate means that the court can review the decision-making of a lower court on appeal. It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction on a very small proportion of the cases. They include cases involving ambassadors, public ministries and consuls. In most cases, the Supreme Court acts as an appeals court.
The congress sets that number of justices that serve on the Court. The least number of justices that ever served in the Court is five while the maximum number is tem. However, since the Judiciary Act of 1889, the Court has consisted of nine members-one chief justice and eight associate justices. Justices have precedence according to the seniority of their commissions and each is assigned to one of the courts of appeals for emergency purposes. The American constitution specifies only one function of the Chief Justice, which is to preside over the impeachment trial of the president before the Senate.
The executive arm of the federal government
The executive arm of the government comprises of the president, the vice president and the cabinet. These fifteen departments have some duties assigned by the officials, included Transportation, Defense, Interior and Education. The main decision making power rests with the president, his vice president and his Cabinet members. A main function of the managerial branch is to make sure that laws are carried out and compulsory to facilitate such day-to-day every day job of the federal government as collecting taxes, protecting the homeland around the world.
The President is the main head of the executive branch as well, who formulate laws of administration. The President is selected by the whole country and serves on the terms of working four years for the country. The President approves and carries out laws passed by the legislative branch. He removes cabinet members and officials. He negotiates acts as main head of the state and commander in chiefs of the armed forces. When talking further about the executive branch, we come to know that it also includes the other officials and the vise president being one of the main members of the cabinet. The cabinet consists of the heads of the fifteen major departments of the government. The cabinet provides his services in assisting the President on important issues and some official and confidential matters. The Cabinet works side by side with a number of secretaries including Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of Health and Human Services to promote all kinds of services in the whole country. All the secretaries are bound to provide their specific services and perform their duties without any delay and in effective ways.
The success of the executive arm of the government is based on the ability of the president to coordinate all the various parties to attain their goals. However, it is difficult to assess the how effective or rather successful presidents are as leaders. The success of the president or rather presidential success can be assessed based on several aspects. Some of the aspects are the ability of his governance to achieve legislative priorities, economic success as well as the foreign policy achievements.
Conclusion
As aforementioned, the major role of the federal government is to ensure that the social, political and economic aspects of the nation run smoothly. For this to occur there must be a proper coordination of the various sectors of the economy which cannot be attained by one of the branches of the government. Therefore, all the branches i.e. the legislative, judicial and executive arms of the government are equally important for the smooth running of the nation.
Works Cited
Drake, Frederick, and Nelson, Lynne. States’ Rights & American Federalism: A Documentary
History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. Print.
Singh, Robert. American Government and Politics: A concise Introduction. London, GBR: Sage
Publications Inc., 2003. Print.
