Understanding Our Constitution - Part 1 - Our Three Branches of Government

I am going to talk about how our republic is supposed to work - according to our Constitution.

I am not an “expert” in this area. My degree is in Secondary Education with a Major in Math. Post-Graduate courses are in Psychology. I am sure that someone with a degree in History or Political Science would be able to give more specific information than I am capable of. Hopefully, if I make an incorrect statement, someone with more expertise will point this out.

I decided to write these blogs because I believe that many people do not understand how our system is supposed to work or have misconceptions. Many things that are occurring, do not follow the dictates of our Constitution.

In order to fight this, we need to have the right “weapon” - which IS our Constitution. We must insist that our President and Congress adhere to it. That means that we need to understand what it states.

You will notice in my first sentence that I use the term republic - rather than democracy. In a democracy, all citizens speak for themselves. Any citizen can go to their Congress & voice their opinion.

With everyone speaking up, there is more of a chance of shouting, confusion, disruption, & fights. Hundreds of people can show up, who all want to voice their opinion.

Our forefathers recognized that this was not a good idea & chose instead to set up a republic - a representative form of government - electing individuals who will represent us in the Congress.

Our republic has three branches, the Executive, Legislative, & Judicial. Each branch serves a specific function and is independent of each other.

The Executive Branch - the President, Vice President, etc. - has designated power. The Constitution is very specific & gives this branch limited abilities. As we had been under a monarchy, where a king made all the rules & dictated to the people - the Constitution was written so that the President could not become that powerful.

The Legislative Branch is the “law-making” branch. Two Congresses were created. The House Of Representatives reflects the actual population of our nation. The more people in a State, the more representatives in the House. This gives highly populated States more power, for if they vote in a “block”, they have a better chance of getting legislation passed. In such a situation, States with small populations have little influence, unless they “band together”.

To correct this imbalance, the Senate was created, where every State, no matter what size, had two Senators. In this way, every State has equal power. Legislation must be passed by both Congresses - so legislation that comes from the House - which may have gotten passed by the more populated States, can be defeated in the Senate.

Today, State Power has been replaced by Political Power. Political Parties usually vote in a “block” in both Congresses.

After getting passed in both houses, the legislation must be signed by the President, the Executive Branch, to become law. The Constitution was written this way to assure that no law was passed that was unreasonable. The Executive Branch is supposed to act as one of the “Checks & Balances”. The President can veto legislation or send it back to the Congresses to be rewritten.

The Judicial Branch, the highest court in the republic, is made up of the Supreme Court Justices. It has one main function - to interpret the law & make sure that the Constitution is adhered to. To ensure impartiality, they are not elected - but instead are chosen by the US Senate. The Constitution states that only the Senate makes this decision. The House of Representatives is not involved.

The President sends his recommendation to the US Senate who, after questioning, votes on the Candidate. As it is a lifetime appointment, this is considered a major responsibility of the Senate.

Although the Supreme Court Justice is supposed to be unbiased, each Justice, through his/her life experiences, has a perspective of how laws should be interpreted. For example, a Catholic Justice will probably rule against abortion. The majority party in the Senate will work to appoint a Justice whose attitudes are closest to their beliefs.

What I have discussed so far is general information that is probably not “new” to you. In my next blog, I will look at more specific details.