Student Question

What is the primary function of the federal government's branches?

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The primary function of the U.S. federal government's branches is based on the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances. The executive branch enforces laws, led by the President and supported by agencies. The legislative branch, or Congress, creates laws and handles revenue and war declarations. The judicial branch, headed by the Supreme Court, interprets laws. Each branch has checks over the others to prevent any single branch from gaining too much power.

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The United States government is based on two basic principles: separation of powers and checks and balances. Separation of powers means that the powers and responsibilities of the government are divided between three branches of government: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. In addition, each of these branches has certain "checks" over the other branches to ensure that no one branch of government has too much power (this is the concept of checks and balances).

The Executive Branch is responsible for carrying out the laws of the United States. It is composed of the president, the vice president, the president's cabinet (which acts as the president's advisers), and various agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency (which help the President enforce and carry out laws). The President also serves as commander in chief of the armed forces.

The legislative branch makes...

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laws. It is synonymous with Congress, which is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. States send representatives to Congress in order to make laws, and Congress has special responsibilities, such as passing laws to raise revenue (taxation) and having the power to declare war.

Finally, the judicial branch interprets the laws passed by Congress. This branch of government is composed of the Supreme Court, which is appointed by the president, and lower federal courts. Whenever there is disagreement about what a law means, the Supreme Court can hear cases and appeals in order to interpret it.

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