Three Branches

Why is power divided between the legislative, executive, and

judicial branches?

The Constitution of the Roman Republic (509-27BCE)

had a separation of powers with the ultimate source of power being the people.

In the mid-300sBCE Aristotle speaks of a “mixed government” as being the best form. This combines democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy. James Madison used the term “mixed government” in the Federalist Papers.

“When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty.” – Montesquieu, Spirit of Laws, 1748

Origins of separation…

From what type of government had they come?

Autocracy, monarchy- one person is in charge. In a monarchy, the powers to make, enforce, and judge laws were all held by the King or Queen. England did have a Parliament, but many English

people did not feel as if the representatives in Parliament really represented them.

When English colonists came to America in the 1600s, they had the opportunity to govern themselves in daily matters. They did not want to create the same type of government from which they had come.

Why were many colonists so adamant about a separation of

powers?

Separation of powers is so important that it is one of the six principles of

government!Six principals:

Separation of Powers- each branch has separate and unique powers

Checks and Balances- each branch of government is able to check, or restrain, the power of the others

Limited Government- a government that can do only what the people allow it to do

Popular Sovereignty- the idea that power lies with the peopleFederalism- power is shared between the national government

and the statesJudicial Review- the Court can declare acts of either other

branch to be unconstitutional

WHERE is it explained?

Article I of the U.S. Constitution WHO is a part of it?

Congress House of Representatives

435 Representatives that are divided between states based on population

Senate 100 Senators = two per state

Legislative Branch

WHAT do they do? Write laws Approve presidential appointees Govern Washington, D.C. And mannnnny others things about

which you will read HOW do they do it?

WAIT- 535 people negotiate and compromise on one law at a time?! Nope.

There are committees in the House and Senate that are responsible for certain issues. Ex. Agriculture, Veteran Affairs, Homeland Security

WHERE is it explained?

Article two of the Constitution WHO is it?

Not just the President. It includes the Cabinet (all of those “Secretaries”).

WHAT are the President’s powers? Veto bills Serve as Commander in chief of the armed forces Make treaties with other countries Appoint heads of agencies, Supreme Court Justices

and Ambassadors Many other things about which you will read

Executive Branch

WHERE is it explained?

Article three of the Constitution WHO is it?

Nine Supreme Court Justices. Currently they are John Roberts, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Bryer, Sonia Sotomayor, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia

WHAT do they do? Hear cases Decide if laws are constitutional

Judicial Branch

Checks and Balances

Another way to look at it…

“The principle of the Constitution is that of a separation of legislative,

Executive and Judiciary functions, except in cases specified. If this principle be not expressed in direct terms, it is clearly the spirit of the Constitution, and it ought to be so commented and acted on by every friend of free government.” –Thomas Jefferson (1797)

“[T]he great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachment of the others.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 10, (1787)

“The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern, some of them in our country and under our own eyes.: - George Washington, Farewell Address, (1796)

What did the founders have to say about the separation of powers?

The Constitution is vague in some

descriptions of powers. How can this cause conflict between the branches?

Which branch do you think is the most powerful? Why?

Why did the framers believe that a separation of powers was so important?

Does each branch really perform its proper function?

Let’s talk.

So what?

How have we seen the separation of powers limit the power of a particular branch?

Is power in the government balanced today? Does the system still function well?

Think about it… In a parliamentary system, like England's, the

executive and legislative powers are often closely interconnected. In a presidential system, like the United States', these powers are separated. What are some of the pros and cons of each system?