Literary Analysis Essay on We The People

Introduction

"We the People" is a book that talks about the political cynicism and apathy and how the government has a direct impact on the lives of students. The civic engagement had vital importance to the democratic society because it encouraged students to get involved in political participation either at the national or community level (Ginsberg et al. 23). The book also elaborates themes that expand to the different American backgrounds and how infographics make students think about the leaders that shaped America. This essay will show how the founding fathers created the systems of checks and balances, the separation of powers, the branch of the federal government and how federalism and how it relates to the separation of powers.

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The Founding Fathers

The founding fathers Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton wrote the constitution to further and strengthen the government as presented in the Articles of Confederations. The law defined the parts of the government, including their roles. Each check and balances that were against the facet of the government generated too much power (Ginsberg et al.38). Since the voice of the people was taken away, the founding fathers came up with a tyrannical leader that took over the nation.

The founding fathers were also aware of the constitution that had details of economic taxes and policies to control the country. During that time, the structure directed the government on how it would pay its debts. In other words, it defined the guards and taxes against the taxation without any granted permission as seen in England. It was also essential to guide the freedom embraced by the law (Ginsberg et al.56).

The System of Checks and Balances

With the checks and balances in place, the three branches defined by the government had limited powers. The reason behind this limitation was to prevent one department from overpowering the other. Each office, in this case, had 'checks' to ensure that the powers are balanced. Checks and Balances is a process where laws are made. For instance, the legislative branch deals with the votes on a bill, which is taken to the executive branch to take orders from the President before releasing the statement to the country (Ginsberg et al.104). If the president signs the bill, then the law is created.

If the president doubts the bill, he rejects the proposal. However, the legislative branch will be given another opportunity to write another plan. When votes are many, then the legislative branch overrides the Veto and becomes a law. Once this is applied, the citizens are then tested through the court system under the guidance of the judicial branch, but then if the legislation becomes unfair, the lawsuit is defiled (Ginsberg et al.154). Any side that loses, in this case, appeals to the high court and later transferred to the supreme court. When there is a disagreement with the legislative branch based on the decisions made by the judicial branch, a new piece of legislation is introduced and the procedure begins a new course.

Separation of Powers

The division of the judicial, executive and legislative functions of the government are among independent and separated bodies. Due to this separation, the book argues that the possibilities of arbitrary excess may take place because of the sanction of the three branches when administering, making and executing any law. The Forty State constitution, for instance, state that the government should be divided into three chapters (Ginsberg et al.201). This means that anyone can be charged because of exercising one power against others permitted by the existing constitution.

Since the separation of powers is the only way to make the government work, the democratic system does not exist due to lack of those powers. The responsibilities and capabilities of the government, in this case, overlap because of the complexity of capitalisation. As a result, the measure of conflict and competition among the branches develop in the government. These experiences show that powers reside where there is an evolutionary process.

Things of the Branch of the Federal Government

In the U.S government, the three branches are judicial, executive and legislative. Based on the separation of powers doctrine, the separation of powers ensures that forces from the federal department spread among the three branches by building a system of cheques and balance to make sure that all subsidiaries maintain equal forces. For instance, in the 18th century, Montesquieu, the Enlightenment philosopher, gave the 'trias politica' was embraced to divide the judicial, executive and legislative branches to be independent to ensure that the framers don't oppose the bodies of the government (Ginsberg et al.312). The legislative branch, for instance, has the powers to create laws in a country. It does this because it is divided into two chambers: The Senate and the House of Representatives.

Congress members are first elected by the citizens to ensure that each state gets equal numbers of senators based on the population. The executive branch, on the other hand, is run by the president who is given all the powers to carry the laws of the country. Moreover, the president is also the commander in chief of the head of state, armed forces and the executive branch. This also includes the office of the vice president, the state department, 13 other executive departments and the cabinet whose roles are dignified through the commissions, federal agencies and the committees. Since the vice president and the president have different tasks, they are not elected directly after four years by the same people. Instead, citizens vote by selecting a slate of electors that consist of pledges to allow the candidates to cast their votes to the leaders they love most.

The Powers of the Three Branches, in this case, are enumerated to ensure that they claim implied powers to avoid overlapping. An excellent example is that the president gains the right to make any different decision without consulting the Congress (Ginsberg et al.244). On the other hand, Congress has legislation the defines the laws applied by the executive branch. The federal courts, on the other hand, interpret the rules created by Congress. The powers conferred by the constitution and the Congress later expand after the ruling of the Supreme court. Since the legislative branch has additional power under the "the proper clause and necessary," it is then included in the constitution under Article 1 of section eight.

Federalism and How it Relates to the Separation of Powers

Federalism is a system that makes two or more government have equal powers under a similar geographical area. In most cases, democratic countries such as Australia, Argentina, India, Canada and the U.S are governed by a federal system. This means that the national system varies greatly (Ginsberg et al. 98). However, some federations consist of a central government which controls the whole country to give provinces and states more powers. Other alliances, on the other hand, contain clear law-making decisions with different entities to avoid overlapping of powers. The reason why the federal system relates to the separation of powers concept is that it involves a precise procedure to be followed to form a constitution. The national system also has different constituent entities that form organisations to embrace intergovernmental relations.

Conclusion

It is clear now that 'We the People' book talks about the political cynicism and apathy and how the government has a direct impact on the lives of students. The book also elaborates themes that expand to the different American backgrounds and how infographics make students think about the leaders that shaped America. The book also shows that different systems consist of varying constituent entities to form organisations that embrace intergovernmental relations.

Works Cited

Ginsberg, B., Lowi, T. J., Weir, M., Tolbert, C. J., & Spitzer, R. J. We the People: A Concise Introduction to American Politics. 11th ed., W.W. Norton, 2017.