Formation of the US Governement

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When the Framers of the U.S. Constitution met, they did not intend to write the U.S. Constitution, they met to fix the Articles of Confederation. The Articles was too weak and could not support the nation either domestically or abroad. After the Framers had worked on the Articles for a while, they realized they need a whole new document; and they started over. While the Framers realized the need for a strong federal government, they also intended to protect its citizens from a monarchial government such as the England government. The Framers decided that people needed to be citizens of both the nation and their respective states. However, the Framers did not want any one person or group to have total control over any aspect of the federal government. They felt that if they allowed this to happen, monarchy would prevail and they would be back in the same position they had been before. Therefore, they added the separation of powers and checks and balances as a way to restrain the control of the national government. Separation of powers divided the government into three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. This was accomplished in the first three articles of the Constitution. Checks and balances was the method in which each group could ensure that no branch overstepped its boundaries.

The Executive Branch’s primary role is to enforce law. They enforce the laws that help the running of the government such as collecting taxes, homeland security and representing the United States' political and economic interests around the world. The Legislative Branch’s primary role is to make the law. They pass the nation’s laws and allocate the funds for the running of the federal government and providing assistance to the ...

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I disagree with criticism of the separation of powers and the checks and balances system of our national government. Although it does take longer to enact laws and there is interference from special interest groups, the separation of powers guarantees that laws and actions of the government will be made by a group of diversified people with a vast array of opinions. The checks and balances system assures the citizens that the actions of each branch of the government is being observed and that no branch over asserts their authority. I believe that our system of government was what the Framers of the Constitution intended. When discussing the Framers, however, one needs to realize that, at the time of the writing of Constitution, there were only thirteen states. I do not think that the Framers had such a large, populous country in mind at that time.

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