There is a sort of debate between who, or what, holds the most power in the United States Government. The purpose of the three branches was to balance out the powers of the government, so there would not be too much power towards one entity. This is known as the separation of powers, but a lingering possibility of an over powered branch still remains based on what abilities are bestowed upon them with the choice of doing the right thing or doing what is wanted of them.
The three branches of government are known as the executive branch, judicial branch, and legislative branch to ensure a separation of powers to not overpower any specific branch. However, for the most part the current focus will be on the legislative branches and executive branches, not the judicial branch. The legislative branch or the Congress in particular is made up of two houses: The House of Representatives and the Senate, making it bicameral. There are two houses in order to ensure that there is a balance in the government in a checks and balances sort of way. These two houses work together to make bills when they reach the floor that the president will either put into law or veto. Between both the Senate and the House of Representatives the power varies. However, the Senate is usually considered the more powerful between the two legislative houses.
The House of Representatives is considered, or in actuality it is, “the larger chamber and includes 435 members, divided among the states based on population size” (Morone & Kersh, n.d.). Back in the olden days when the United States government was barely being formed, those who desired a vote by population favored the House of Representation. Despite being the larger chamber in Congress, the House of Representatives is the lower chamber out of both of them, with the Senate being the upper chamber. In this house the majority composed of Republicans rather than the Democrats. This particular house has the power initiate impeachments when, or if, an official, or even the president, is accused of a crime. The House of Representatives does not, however, have the capability to decide whether or not to officially remove the officials.
On the other side of matters, the Senate is the smaller out of the two houses, but again is still the upper chamber. In history, those who desired a vote by state favored the idea of the Senate. The Senate is made up of one hundred members compared to the Houses 435 members. The current majority in the Senate is the Republicans. In this house, there is self-rule than in the House of Representatives. The Senators are even given the ability to place a legislative hold, which places a hold on the proceedings of a bill for an unknown amount of time, and have a filibuster.
There are many who think that the Senate, despite the entire checks and balances notion and not being larger, carries more power than the House of Representatives. The Senate is given powers that the House of Representatives are not. It is the Senate that carries the overall decision on whether or not to remove the officials that the House of Representatives would like to impeach, not the other way around.
More importantly, division between the two factions causes an inability to make decisions on certain topics. The apportionment of the house occurred because it would give Congress time to think over decisions rather than rush everything over so with the Senates ability to place both legislative holds and filibusters, there is more time to quarrel over a topic that the Senate places those holds on. However, this means that those outside of the government who need the discussion to be made are affected in the long run by the indecisiveness of the bicameral Congress. For example, in 2016 the squabbling of the House and Senate over the federal budget caused many deadlines to be missed affecting “schoolteachers, police officers, state health officials, and everyone else depending on federal funding” (Morone & Kersh, n.d.). It brings up the point of if the way the Congress is run needs to be improved in order to decrease the amount of time arguments cost it or if the power Congress has is too much.
On the other branch of things, the Executive branch contains one of the most well known figures in the government: the President of the United States. Along with the President are the Vice President and the other Cabinet members as members of the executive branch. The President also happens to be the head of state as well as commander-in-chief. This particular branch of government is able to give the President the authority to execute and enforce laws as well as veto them.
The matter on the extent of power for both the Congress and Executive branch and which is the more powerful out of the two, remains to be a debatable subject. One of the Congress’ purpose is to ensure that the power of the President does not hold too much power, so that would make it seem like the Congress’ power is greater than the Executive branches own power. The Senate even has to approve which foreign countries the President chooses to negotiate with by at least two-thirds majority and “has the sole power to review presidential appointment” (Morone & Kersh, n.d.). Any veto that the president tries to establish can be overridden by enough votes in the legislature.
However, the President is slowly gaining more authority as the years progress and finding loopholes to ensure they get their own way. The original limits placed on the President by the frameholders of the Constituion have been bypassed. The presidents have their own inherent powers and veto powers, even with the Checks and Balances system, there is still chance for overrule. Still, as of now, the Congress remains more capable of not allowing the president to overwhelm them.
A defining part of the United States is the political parties and interest groups. They are like placeholders where one puts those with similar mindsets in to work towards similar goals, but not the exactly the same either. In fact, whenever the United States was originally founded, the First President George Washington warned against the makings of political parties in fear that they would tear America apart. Obviously, his warning was not acknowledged since America has had so many political parties since his time. In some ways, the warning was needed but overall, they are a necessity in the U.S.
Currently the main political parties are the Democrats and the Republicans. Both groups have different sets of ideals that allow more people to side with either group. On the other hand, there is the possibility of being an independent, meaning you do not belong to either party but it still does not necessarily mean that the person will not tend to vote for a certain political candidate. Those in political parties are very immersed in what they do and are considered an “essential part of American government” (Morone & Kersh, n.d.). They have multiple goals unlike those in interest groups, which allows them to reach out to more people that also share the same goals.
Throughout the years of the United States, there has been multiple political parties that dominate the political field. A grand total of Six Party systems have existed up to present day America from the days of Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist to the Grand Old Party and to now. Each system varies based on the minds of those who lived during that time and where their interest laid or how the economy was. Overall a lot of factors played in to how the political parties were and who were in them.
Moreover, on a different yet similar side of things, the interest groups will stand. The interest groups are people who want to influence public policy. The difference between them and the political parties is that they do not overly attempt to run candidates for office like the political parties do. Their main focus is on a certain issue and they are more driven to influence a policy specific goal. Also, they want their interest to be protected by the federal government.
For example, the NRA, or National Rifle Association, is an interest group dedicated to securing their right towards the Second Amendment, meaning that they have the right to bear arms. There is also NOW, or the National Organization for Women, which is basically a feminist group that wishes to promote feminist ideals as well as eliminate gender discrimination. There are many other types of interest groups that exist in America based on business, agriculture, and even labor so they are not limited to two examples above. Unfortunately, since there is a plethora of interest groups, the chances of their opinions being heard can be limited because all of these voices are fighting for their reasons.
Furthermore, despite the difference between both groups, the political parties and interest groups do have another shared feature between them. They use money. Yes, money. In order to raise awareness about whatever it is they are aiming for, they host all sort of different events to gain money. There are campaigns, fundraisers, and ads that helps each of them to benefit in some way or form. It may be towards their goal or in their organization which allows an advantage over the political campaigners. They give their political candidates this money through political donations.