Discussion Topic

The three branches or organs of government

Summary:

The three branches of government are the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, and the judicial branch interprets laws. Together, they create a system of checks and balances designed to ensure no single branch becomes too powerful.

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What are the three organs of government?

The three organs of government are the legislative, executive, and judicial. I will describe the role of each below. Most governments around the world, though arranged differently, exercise these powers in one way or another. Since many governments around the world have a system of government not unlike those of the United States and Great Britain, I have used them as illustrative examples:

  • Legislative: This refers to making laws, a power usually vested in a representative assembly of some kind. In the federal government of the United States, Congress is the legislative branch. It is divided into two houses, each of which must approve potential legislation by a majority vote. In Great Britain, this power is held by Parliament.
  • Executive: The executive power is broadly defined as the power to enforce, or carry out, laws. In the United States, this power belongs to the President and the Executive Branch. In most countries, the actual work of enforcing laws is done by an enormous and complex bureaucracy which the President is tasked with supervising. In Great Britain and other parliamentary systems, the executive power is exercised by a number of ministers who head offices similar to those in the United States.
  • Judicial: The judicial branch basically interprets and applies laws, including the Constitution, through legal decisions. In the United States federal government, there is a judicial branch headed by a Supreme Court that mostly hears important constitutional cases on appeal. Beneath the Supreme Court there is a federal appeals court system and a district court system responsible for civil and criminal cases in federal law. In Great Britain, the judicial power is also held by a judiciary branch which has gradually become independent from Parliament (it was formally made independent in the 2000s.) 

Remember that in most governments, these powers can overlap. The President, for example, can issue executive orders that carry the power of law. Moreover, in the American system of government each branch is granted certain powers, or checks, over the others. The Presidential veto is one example of this power. 

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What are the three branches of the national government?

The three branches of the national government are the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.

The legislative branch is the Congress.  In general, their job is to make the laws for the country.

The executive branch is headed by the President.  It also includes all the government workers like the FBI, the CIA, the IRS, the Park Service, etc.  Their job is to carry out (execute) the laws that are made by the Congress.

The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court.  It also includes other federal courts.  Its job is to interpret the laws made by Congress and to interpret the Constitution.

In these ways, there are three branches that all have different jobs to do.  This is called Separation of Powers.

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What are the three branches of government?

The three branches of government established by the United States Constitution are the legislative (Congress), the executive (the President) and the judicial (the Supreme Court and the federal court system). The President and the executive branch are responsible for carrying out the laws, which they do through the federal bureaucracy. The legislative branch makes the laws, and the judicial branch is responsible for interpreting and figuring out how to apply the laws under the Constitution. All governments perform legislative, executive, and judicial functions, but not all vest them in separate branches of government. The Framers of the Constitution gave the powers to the separate branches to ensure that no one branch, especially the executive, would become too powerful. They also granted each branch certain powers over the others (the presidential veto power, or the power to approve presidential appointments held by the Senate) to establish what have become known as "checks and balances" to further this process. 

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