Power and Distribution

The struggle of power within the United State's government led to a separation of powers between the three branches of government. With this separation came controversy and the creation of a checks-and balance system that Americans know today through the form of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of our federal government. The Executive branch is in charge of enforcing the laws, policies, and regulations of our nation. The Legislative branch concerned with the creation and debate laws. The primary concern of the Judicial branch is maintaining justice for all through hearing cases that require interpretation of law(s). The three separate branches have specified and limited powers. In this essay we are going to focus on the Executive and Legislative branches of government. Due to the issues raised concerning the authority of the Executive branch to command or control the military forces in America the War of Powers Resolution act was established. Separation of power was established early on in this nation's history because of the conflicts concerning the branches of government and which branch had the power to control certain aspects of government activities or duties. This separation was intended to reduce the abuse of power by the separate branches of government.

The Executive branch of the United States' government can best be described as "...the president, the vice president and 15 Cabinet-level executive departments" (Executive Branch, 2008, ¶1). The President is a candidate that is elected every four years and can only serve two terms of office. He or she is considered the commander-in-chief of all the military forces in the United States and the leader of our country. The President's powers include such things as calling Congress to meet, "appoint ambassadors", "appoint Supreme court justices" or other "federal judges", and enforce the nation's laws (Executive Branch, 2008, ¶2). A Vice-President is nominated by the president as his or her "running mate" (Executive Branch, 2008, ¶2). Some of the duties required by the Vice-President are such things as take the role as President if the President is unable to perform his or her tasks, is impeached, assassinated, or medically incapacitated. The Vice-President also heads the Senate in which he or she can use their vote to decide a tie (Executive Branch, 2008). The cabinet members are appointed by the President and are approved through the Senate (Executive Branch, 2008).

The Legislative branch is in charge of making laws to better promote a healthy and prosperous society. The Legislative branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, otherwise known as Congress. "The primary function of these two bodies is to write, debate and pass bills and to send them on to the president for his approval or veto" (Legislative Branch, 2008, ¶3). One of the powers of the Legislative branch is that of overturning a veto by the President by two-third vote. That is to say, if a bill that is sent to the President is vetoed Congress can override this veto so long as more than the majority vote for the passing of the bill. If the President does nothing and ten days pass the bill will, by default, become law. Congress is also held responsible to work in conjunction with the Executive and Judicial branches of government. Congress has the power to "...declare war: in addition, it has the power to coin money and is charged with regulating interstate and foreign commerce and trade" and "is responsible for maintaining the military' (Legislative Branch, 2008, ¶5).

The War Powers Resolution act was passed in 1973 after President Nixon had vetoed the proposal (Grimmett, R. F., November 1996). The intent of this resolution was to make sure that Congress and the President worked together in deciding to become involved in a situation that may include hostilities (Grimmett, R. F., November 1996).As stated by author R.F. Grimmett (Nov., 1996) "Criteria for compliance include prior consultation with Congress, fulfillment of the reporting requirements, and congressional authorization" (¶2).Without the authorization from Congress for missions to take place all forces must be withdrawn within sixty days (Grimmett, R. F., November 1996). This was all to ensure that no one power had the authority to put U.S. soldiers or others in unnecessary or imminent danger or hostile situation. The War Powers Resolution act has created a check-and-balance to decision making when dealing with situations that are or may become hostile so that no one branch of government can abuse such powers as declaring war or entering into a war.

Both the Executive and Legislative branches of government have the power to declare war but with the passing of the War Powers Resolution act both branches have to console with one another to ensure that powers are not abused. It is apparent to this author that such power struggles would be more apparent in the area of foreign policy rather than in domestic policies because most of the situations involving U.S. military becoming involved in hostile environment(s) are overseas in foreign regions or countries. According to this author this would effect domestic policies but not to the same extent. This resolution protect the democracy of the United States and allows for justifiable consideration by both the Executive and Legislative, more specifically Congress, branches to come to a well thought out decision when considering entering a hostile or possible hostile situation that could endanger the lives of American citizens.

Reference

Grimmett, R. F., (November 1996) 81050: War Powers Resolution: Presidential Compliance. Retrieved July 25, 2008 from, web site: http://www.fas.org/man/crs/81-050.htm

Trethan, P. (2008). Legislative Branch. Retrieved July 25, 2008 from, web site: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/legbranch.htm

Trethan, P. (2008). Executive Branch. Retrieved July 25, 2008 from, web site: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/execbranch.htm