Function of the American Government the American

¶ … Function of the American Government

The American government has had a long-standing checks-and-balances efficiency within its three-branch system. Because of the separate governable powers within the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States, American law has been approved after many constant revisions and discussions. It is extremely commendable that the legislative branch takes into account the representation of both "state" and "people." This is not to say, of course, that the government system of the United States is utterly perfect; the executive branch certainly holds a bit more power within the government than one would like.

One major positive effect of the passing of laws is the representation included within those laws. Long before the House-and-Senate solution of Congress, there was always the problem of representation amongst the population of the respective states. State borders vary in land mass and population; how does one reconcile a largely-populated state such as California with a small state like Rhode Island? There remains a huge difference between representations within the House of legislative government. In-so-doing, the creation of a divided Congress, between the House of Representatives and the Senate, came to being. The reason behind this is that "if two separate groups must both approve every proposed law, there would be little danger of Congress passing laws hurriedly or carelessly" (America.gov, 2008). The House represents a population representation of each state, from a minimal of one representative for the small states, and to as high as 52 for California. The Senate, on the other hand, represents the state, and has a total of two appointed representatives per each state. Both House and Senate have separate legislative powers, and one can veto the other until further compromise.

This is important to note, especially with how the government passes laws within the three branches. The legislative branch has, perhaps the best balance of governmental power. And even within their jurisdictions, the branch does not exceed its powers, considering the judicial and executive branches are also at play. In some way, the bills written by the legislative branch still need to be reviewed by the executive administration, and must be judicially reviewed by the judicial branch. The Supreme Court is checked by the Senate, and the Senate is checked by the House (America.gov, 2008).