What Are The Three Co-Equal Branches Of Government

In 1776, the founding fathers declared independence from England. In order to prevent the kind of unfairness that they were revolting against, they created three co-equal branches of government. The United States constitution balances the powers of the government. The government has three branches: the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Each branch has a small amount of power over the actions of the other branches. The three branches of government are equal and balanced because there are checks and balances that check on each other and make sure each branch is in line and following the constitution. The branches each have important jobs, each holds checks on the powers of the other two so that no branch gets too powerful.

The president

of the United States is the head of the executive branch. He has multiple responsibilities. Each of the jobs is important, but the president can’t do whatever he wants. For example, the president has to follow the constitution even if he disagrees with it. It could be said that the most important job of the president is to protect the constitution. Some of his other jobs include going to weekly meetings, or answering questions from reporters. However, these are not the executive’s hardest and most important jobs. We learn one of his most important jobs in a news article here. According to Article 2 of the U. S Constitution, Newsela article it says, “The president shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.” This means he is the top military officer. He can not declare war or authorize any action without the approval of the Congress first. He also can not enter treaties without Senate approval. These limitations are important and could potentially keep us from going to war or entering into treaties on the presidents' bias without the consent of the people. Overall, in my opinion, his most important job is being commander in chief, and his two most important limitations are not being able to declare war, and not authorize action without Congress or giving him approval. These limitations equal out his power keeping the three branches balanced.
The legislative branch also has just enough power to remain equal with the other branches.

They get the power to make laws and this seems like a big job, and maybe too big of a job for just one branch. However, there are checks and balances and they can’t go too crazy with the laws they make. The Congress has enumerated powers, meaning they have powers that are written in the constitution that they should follow, and they also have implied powers meaning that they can do something that isn’t listed specifically in the constitution that is mandatory for them to do their job. There is the Necessary and Proper clause that allows the Legislative branch to do something that is not on the list if it relates to something that is on the list. They can stretch an enumerated power from the constitution to make it related to a law that they are trying to make themselves. In my opinion, this is a good thing because there are so many laws that are necessary that aren’t directly in the constitution but they still need to be there. If Congress followed it directly there would be a lack of laws that we need. Now, this seems like a lot for the Congress to be able to basically make any law that they want. That is in some ways is kind of true but the Judicial branch can declare the laws unconstitutional if they are not and prevent the law from being enacted. The legislative branch has the power to declare war. This is a good thing in case the executive wants to step out of line and try to declare war, despite the fact that it may not be totally necessary. Giving this job to the Legislative branch is only fair because it is in the constitution as one of their enumerated powers. From the newsela article, Legislative and Judicial Results of the Civil Rights Movement, we see some good examples of how good laws are made and how bad laws are made. Jim crow made some unfair laws that took away the rights of the slaves that they had just earned. In the article we read, ¨Jim Crow laws also

made it harder for African-Americans to vote.” Later in the article we read how they repeal this law and things start looking up for the African- Americans. This is a good example of how the power of making laws can be used for good, or to make things harder for others. The legislative branch has some limitations that make it so they aren’t more powerful than the other branches. One of their limitations is “No Bills of Attainder.” The definition of Bills of Attainder is “Congress cannot pass a law that arrests individuals or a group without a trial.” There is also the Ex Post Facto Laws. These prevent the Congress from punishing somebody for breaking a law before it was a law. These limitations keep things fair. For example, the bill of attainder makes it so that a person's arrest is fair and they have a right to a fair trial. These limitations protect the people so that they are safe and unreasonable things don’t happen. The judicial branch has the same amount of power that the other branches have. In my opinion, all of the powers are balanced.
The judicial branch has jobs that are equally important as the executive and the legislative. Deciding how laws are applied is the job of the Judicial branch. This job is connected to that of the enforcer and the legislative. The legislative branch creates laws as long as they are proper and necessary, the executive can recommend laws or execute the laws. Lastly, the judicial branch decides whether or not the law violates the constitution, and it decides how the laws are applied. These are all connected to each other, balancing each other out. Another way the Judicial branch has enough power to balance out the other branches is if either the executive or legislative branch of government violate their authority. The judicial branch can say that their work is unconstitutional, this is because of judicial review. Judicial review also keeps the 3 branches of government balanced.
In conclusion, all three branches of government are balanced in power. Each of the branches has their own responsibilities, and each of them has the same amount of importance. They each have the power to take care of each other without problems occurring. There are also checks and balances making sure that one branch is not more important or powerful than another branch.