The American Government
How the Constitution provides for a System of Separation of Powers, Checks, and Balances in the American Government
The American government consists of three major branches including the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. Separation of powers alongside checks and balances is created within the US government to ensure none of the branches is more powerful compared to the other. The legislative branch makes laws governing the state; the executive is responsible for implementation of laws created by the legislature while the judiciary also known as the court system is responsible for interpreting the laws and making legal debate final decisions (Van 47).
The federal taxation scheme exemplifies how duties are delegated. The legislative arm passes the legislation on taxes. The President, also the head of the executive branch is responsible for choosing a manager of the Internal Revenue Service to ensure the law is followed to the latter via tax collection process. The judiciary on the other hand, rules on issues related to tax as per application of tax laws.
Through the checks and balance strategy, one of the branches controls the powers and duties of the other. The executive’s branch head can approve the legislation of assembly for it to be a law. The legislative branch through the government can consent or reject based on appointments made by the president. The judiciary division is responsible for law interpretation and can oppose the legislative acts as well as the rule on the actions of the president.
Conversely, the executive and legislative acts are accountable for appointing judges who are judiciary heads. The President appoints the jury with the approval of Parliament. Power consequently is distributed equally between the three arms of the government (Van 48). The American government system to a larger extent is accredited to James Madison because he worked hard to push it further. Sometimes, the system is known as the Madisonian model (Powell para 1).
Works Cited
Powel, Jim. James Madison-Checks and Balances to Limit Government Power. 1996. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
Van, Dervort . American Law and the Legal System: Equal Justice Under the Law. Albany, NY: West Legal Studies/Thomson Learning, 2000. Print.
How a Bill becomes a Law at the National Level in the American Government
A bill is a law proposed under legislature’s deliberation. It also refers to a new legislation piece. A bill has to go through different steps before it becomes a law (Baker and Morse 2).
Bill Introduction
A bill is introduced by a legislative branch representative. It can be introduced in the house and senate or even both. Even so, all funding bills should start in the house. A bill at this level is assigned a number, S.1 for the Senate’s first bill launch and H.R. 3 for the third bill launched at the house (Baker and Morse 2).
Deliberation by the Committee
The bill is evaluated by the committee and passed to a specific subcommittee. At this level, it is read out and parties interested are given an opportunity to support or oppose it. Once it is clearly read out, a markup is carried out and the original bill is amended and voted on.
The bill is afterwards passed to the entire committee where it is once again read out and further markup is carried out. The committee consequently deliberates whether the bill should be passed via the legislative body (Baker and Morse 2).
Floor Action
The bill is passed to the committee responsible for rules within the house. This is where rules are given to the legislation controlling the length of debates and deciding whether all house associates can recommend adjustments. From the committee within the senate, the bill is taken to parliament for debate.
During a floor debate, proposed bill amendments are offered and lastly, a final voting is carried out. If the majority votes for the bill, it is then passed to the next chamber for the same process (Baker and Morse 2).
Conference Committee
The house’s edition of the bill and the senate differ based on amendments carried out. To sort out the disparities, each version is passed via a conference committee consisting of representatives from the two chambers. The chamber as a result issues a report containing the bill with all made agreements. The house as well as the senate vote on the report submitted. The bill therefore becomes a law if passed (Baker and Morse 2).
Final Action
Once the bill is passed into a law and accepted by the senate and house, it is given to the head of State for approval. The President signs the bill and it is officially declared a law. The bill automatically becomes a law if the head of state doesn’t take any action within ten days. If the President does not sign the bill, he can veto it. By the time the Congress is adjourned, the bill becomes a ‘‘pocket veto’’ if the president has not acted by then (Baker and Morse 2).
Works Cited
Baker, Melinda, and Sara Morse. “How a bill becomes a law.” Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons 93.12 (2008): 26.