The United States Government’s Levels and Branches

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Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
The National Constitution
Levels of the Federal Government
Subsidiaries of the Executive Level of the Federal Government
Levels of the State Government
Local Governments
References

Abstract

The National Constitution divides national power between the Federal and State governments. The Federal government has 3 levels – Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. The biggest level is the Executive headed by the President; under it are 15 departments and 56 agencies and commissions all of which combine to form the government. The Cabinet advises the President on matters related to each one’s responsibilities. State governments are not subsidiary to the Federal government, but retain their own sovereignty and have their own differently worded Constitutions. They also have Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary levels. Local governments are subsidiaries of State governments that directly cater to the requirements of Americans, 75 percent of whom live in areas governed by them.

Introduction

The United States is a federal union that comprises 50 states while the District of Columbia contains the federal government. In the early stages, the U.S. government was based mainly on the state government pattern. Before the American Revolution, the country was divided into 13 colonies, all of which had come under British rule. After the War, these colonies, despite coming together under the newly formed Articles of Confederation, essentially ruled themselves because they were apprehensive of being subject to a powerful central government similar to the one they experienced under British rule. Nevertheless, they soon found that a particular form of state government lacked power and could not last long. They found themselves facing just one solution – to draft a National Constitution.

The National Constitution

The National Constitution of the United States of America has the distinction of being the oldest constitution put on paper in the world. It states that power within the nation is divided between two levels of government – the Federal government and State governments. The State governments in turn share their power with Local governments that are essentially their subsidiaries. This form of government, called the federalist system, is directly opposite to the centralized system of government practiced by Britain under which all the power is vested in the national government.

The U.S. National Constitution allocates both levels of government certain exclusive powers as well as requires them to share certain powers . The exclusive powers of the Federal government include formally announcing the country is at war, mobilization of the Armed Forces, entering into treaties with foreign nations, managing foreign policy, printing money, passing regulations related to interstate and foreign trade, setting up post offices, and enacting laws deemed necessary to exercise these powers. The exclusive powers of the State governments include setting up Local governments, holding elections, allotting licenses, passing regulations relating to intrastate business and other issues such as approving/rejecting the death penalty, taking steps for public health and safety, and exercising such powers that are neither allocated to the Federal government nor are they prohibited from being used by the States. The concurrent powers shared by both levels of government include construction of roads, taking loans, gathering taxes, setting up courts, creating and imposing laws, granting charters to banks and corporations, indulging in expenditure for general welfare purposes, and appropriating private property for public usage . Programs in areas of concurrent powers are adopted in collaboration between the two levels of government.

Levels of the Federal Government

The Federal government has three levels: a popularly elected Legislative level, an independent Judiciary level, and the Executive level with an elected head in the form of the President of the U.S. The Constitution puts restrictions on the activities of each level via a set of checks and balances to stop any single level from obtaining undue power. For example, the Supreme Court of the Judiciary level can decree that a law passed by Congress of the Legislative level, or a Presidential action of the Executive level, is invalid because it goes against the Constitution. In another example, Congress can bring impeachment proceedings against the President on charges of serious misconduct while in office.

The Legislative Level of the Federal Government

Article I, Section 1 of the National Constitution states: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives”.

The Senate is made up of 100 Senators . The Vice President is the President of the Senate. Where an election is concerned, Senators are classified into 3 groups. One group seeks election once in 2 years. This guarantees that there are constantly experienced Senators serving in the Senate. Each Senator serves a 6-year term with no restriction on the number of terms he or she can serve. While it shares general legislative authority with the House of Representatives, the Senate is looked upon as more deliberative of the two because it exercises certain exclusive powers such as approving the President’s selections to the benches of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, approving foreign treaties negotiated by the President and if the President or Supreme Court judge is to be impeached, the Senate carries out the trial and officiates as jury.

The Federal Senate is presently headed by the following persons: President of the Senate , President Pro Tempore , Majority Leader , Assistant Majority Leader , Minority Leader and Assistant Minority Leader .

Commonly known as the ‘House of the People,’ the House of Representatives consists of 435 members divided among States on basis of population size. Each member is elected from a specific area in the State known as the ‘Congressional District.’ Members serve 2-year terms with no restriction on the number of terms they can serve. The members choose a Speaker who acts as the leading officer of the house.

The main activity of Congress is to make laws. The process is begun when a proposal is put forward in the House of Representatives in one of 4 ways: bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, or simple resolutions. The proposal is then passed on to the Committee having legal authority over the area affected by the proposal. The Committee conducts hearings and deliberates over the proposal, at the end of which a vote is taken. If the vote is in favor of reporting the proposal, a Committee Report is drawn up and put forward for consideration of the full House of Representatives at the conclusion of which voting is held. If the proposal is successfully passed, it goes forward to the Senate for approval. Once the Senate approves, it is sent to the President to be signed into law. A proposal must be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, that too in the same form before it is sent to the President.

The offices that are subsidiary to the Congress are the Architect of the Capitol, United States Botanical Garden, Government Accountability Office, Government Printing Office, Library of Congress, Congressional Budget Office, and Congressional Research Service.

The Judiciary Level of the Federal Government

Article III, Section 1 of the National Constitution declares: “The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish”.

The Judiciary level comprises the Supreme Court and lower-level federal courts. Since 1869, the Supreme Court has consisted of one Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices all of whom are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. They hold office for life or till they resign or retire of their own free will. The Supreme Court began operations on February 2, 1790. The present Chief Justice is John G. Roberts Jr., and the 8 Associate Justices are John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., and Stephen G. Breyer.

The Judiciary level adjudicates on cases that either call into question or need the ascription of legislation enacted by Congress or authorized by the President. The Supreme Court is helped by 9 Court Officers in carrying out its activities. The titles of the Court Officers and the individuals who are presently serving in that capacity are as follows: Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice , Clerk , Librarian , Marshall , Reporter of Decisions , Court Counsel , Curator , Director of Data Systems and Public Information Officer .

The courts subsidiary to the Supreme Court includes United States Courts of Appeals, United States District Courts, Territorial Courts, United States Court of International Trade, United States Court of Federal Claims, United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, United States Tax Court and United States Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims. The Agencies and Commissions subsidiary to the Federal Judiciary level include the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Federal Judicial Center, and United States Sentencing Commission. The Judiciary level is independent of the Executive and Legislative levels . This independence is considered indispensable to be certain of impartial and equal justice for all Americans.

The Executive Level of the Federal Government

The Executive level is the biggest branch of the Federal government. It is headed by President who possesses the absolute authority of the level. Any person can become President provided he or she is not less than 35 years of age, is a natural-born citizen of the U.S., and has lived in the U.S for a minimum of 15 years. Upon election, the President holds office for 4 years after which he or she is eligible for re-election only one time. The Vice President is elected at the same time as the President and is deemed the latter’s successor in case he or she dies, is rendered incapacitated, or is impeached. Despite the powers being divided between all three levels, it is the President of the Executive level who wields the maximum power in the government. He or she has certain exclusive unique powers and roles such as serving as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, rejecting legislation enacted by Congress, bestowing pardons and reprieves on federal criminals , and, subject to the approval of the Senate, selecting a cabinet, selecting judges for the Judiciary level’s Supreme Court and lower federal courts and engaging in negotiations of foreign treaties.

Subsidiaries of the Executive Level of the Federal Government

Under the President and Vice President are 15 departments and several agencies and commissions which combine together to form the ‘government’ as we know it. They are entrusted with law administration, law enforcement, and supplying different government services. Their activities have wide-ranging effects that touch the lives of each American citizen.

Each of the 15 departments is headed by a Secretary . The Secretaries and Attorney General are selected by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The heads of the 15 departments form the Cabinet of the United States. The function of the Cabinet is to advise the President on matters related to each one’s individual responsibility. The President may grant cabinet-level status to the heads of other major Executive level offices.

Headed by the Vice President, the names of the departments and their present heads are as follows: Department of Agriculture , Department of Interior , Department of Commerce , Department of Justice , Department of Defense , Department of Labor , Department of Education , Department of State , Department of Energy , Department of Transportation , Department of Health and Human Services , Department of the Treasury , Department of Homeland Security , Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Housing and Urban Development .

In addition, President Bush has conferred Cabinet Rank on the following major Executive level office heads: White House Chief of Staff , Office of the Vice President , Office of Management and Budget , United States Trade Representative , Council on Environmental Quality and Office of the National Drug Control Policy . The remaining Executive level offices whose heads have not been designated Cabinet Rank by President Bush include Council of the Economic Advisor, National Security Council, Office of Administration, Office of Policy Development, and Office of Science and Technology Policy.

There are 56 Agencies and Commissions whose function is to enact rules that influence everyone in the country. If classified into sub-groups, these Agencies and Commissions are as mentioned hereunder.

Foundations: African Development, Inter-American, Arts and Humanities, National Science.
Agencies: Central Intelligence, Environmental Protection, Trade and Development, International Development.
Commissions: Commodity Futures Trading, Consumer Product Safety, Equal Employment Opportunity, Federal Communications, Federal Election, Federal Maritime, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review, Federal Trade, National Capital Planning, Nuclear Regulatory, Occupational Safety, and Health Review, Postal Regulatory, Securities and Exchange, Civil Rights, International Trade.
Banks: Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Administrations: Farm Credit, General Services, National Aeronautics and Space, National Archives and Records, National Credit Union, Small Business, Social Security.
Boards: Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety, Broadcasting Board of Governors, Federal Housing Finance, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment, Merit Systems Protection, National Labor Relations, National Mediation, National Transport Safety, National Railroad Retirement.
Authorities: Federal Labor Relations, Tennessee Valley.
Corporations: National and Community Service, Federal Deposit Insurance, National Railroad Passenger , Overseas Private Investment, Pension Benefit Guaranty,
Services: Federal Mediation and Conciliation, Postal.
Systems: Federal Reserve, Selective Service
Corps: Peace Corps.
Offices: Director of National Intelligence, Government Ethics, Personnel Management, Special Counsel.

The most important among the Agencies and Commissions is the Federal Reserve System which is the country’s central bank. Among its major functions are setting forth the country’s monetary policy, fixing interest rates, and deciding about the supply of money. The Fed’s decisions have extensive influence on the country’s economy, interest rates, inflation, employment, and foreign trade. Due to its powerful role, the Fed’s Chairman of the Board of Governors is commonly looked upon as the person who wields a lot of power in the country – second only to the President.

Levels of the State Government

Just as it does with the Federal government, the Constitution decrees that the power of the State governments should be shared between the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary levels. State governments do not exist as subsidiary units of the Federal government, but retain their sovereignty and need not report in any constitutional manner to the Federal government. Each state is governed by its own constitution. Constitutions of States are different from each other as each State possesses its own radically distinctive history, requirements, geography, and philosophy. State Constitutions have 2 things in common with each other: they cannot be incompatible with the National Constitution, and they are subject to Federal government authority over social/economic policies and safeguarding of the civil rights of citizens.

The Legislative level of the State government has a Senate and House of Representatives. Legislators are chosen by voters from single-member districts for a term ranging from 2 to 4 years. The Legislative level is responsible to pass new laws, sanction the state budget, approve appointments to State Executive and Judiciary levels and supervise the State Executive level’s activities. The State Executive level looks after the day-to-day activities of the State government, supplies services and imposes the law. The head is the Governor who is elected by state-wide vote for a term ranging from 2 to 4 years. Other elected officials include the Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Attorney General, and Members of different boards and commissions. The State Judicial level has legal authority over matters not dealt with by the Federal Judiciary. The State Judicial level is headed by the State Supreme Court , followed by the High Court and the Lower Courts that can choose between handling civil and criminal cases separately or under one roof.

Local Governments

Local governments are subsidiaries of State governments. They include counties, municipalities, school districts, townships, and special districts. More than 75% of the people in the U.S. live in towns, cities, or suburban areas. Towns and cities directly cater to the requirement of the public, supplying them with needs that range from police and fire safety to housing, health, education, and sanitary systems.

References

About America: How the United States is governed. (2005). U.S. Department of State Web.

About the Supreme Court. (2007). U.S. Supreme Court Web. 2008.

Federal Legislative Branch. (2008). U.S. Government Web.

Government. (N.d). 2008, The White House Web.

The Government of the United States. (2007). U.S. Government Printing Office Web.

National versus State Government. (2007). U.S. Government Printing Office Web.

Tying It All Together: Learn About the Legislative Process. (N.d). 2008, U.S. House of Representatives Web.

U.S. Government. (2008). U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany Web.

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