Which Branch of US Government Is The Most Powerful?

[XenonSovereign]

I have this topic as a US Government assignment. I think each branch is equal, but I'd like to see what everyone else thinks and why.

 

[theirlosthearts]

Please define power, because each branch has power in certain aspects but not in everything. Of course, that's only if no one tries to abuse the power they have, which makes it impossible to really know precisely how much power each branch actually has, so it's hard to say one branch has a certain amount of power in relation to another branch since there is no common measure of power. In the end, each branch has some power over the other branchs, leading to the wonderful old C&B. Hope you do well on your assignment. Congrats in advance for your soon acceptance into the platinums XD

 

[Ulti]

The system would be broken if there was no balance. No one branch is stronger than the other.

 

[Taylor]

The system would be broken if there was no balance. No one branch is stronger than the other.

um the system has been broken in america before.

fdr was ridiculously powerful during his presidency.

or if you look at someone like grant, the legislative branch stomped all over him.

 

[Johnny Stooge]

I have this topic as a US Government assignment. I think each branch is equal, but I'd like to see what everyone else thinks and why.

I no expert on the current US political climate, but it all depends on various circumstances.

If the house of representatives and senate both have a majority of members from one political party and the court of last resort is similarly made up of a majority of judges with similar political leanings, then the Executive would be the more powerful because they could force more policies through and have the courts rule in their favour.

If the house of representatives and senate is made up of a majority of members of the political party in opposition to the President, then the Legislative would be more powerful because it could block everything the President tries to put through (eg. raising the debt ceiling debacle).

And in terms of the Judiciary, you have to look at all the judges and their past judgements and how they're formulated both politically and morally so you can see if there's a majority to any sort of faction. Whether they have strict interpretations or wide interpretations. Courts of last resort that have judges that make wide interpretations are generally more powerful than those that make strict interpretations.

These are all things you'll have to look into for yourself.

Hope it helps.

 

[Izayoi]

yeah but if this is just a government class question then it's probably that they're all equal

 

[XenonSovereign]

I chose the Legislative branch and has the best paper out of my entire class (hell yes). But keep the comments coming.

 

[Hero]

I no expert on the current US political climate, but it all depends on various circumstances.

If the house of representatives and senate both have a majority of members from one political party and the court of last resort is similarly made up of a majority of judges with similar political leanings, then the Executive would be the more powerful because they could force more policies through and have the courts rule in their favour.

If the house of representatives and senate is made up of a majority of members of the political party in opposition to the President, then the Legislative would be more powerful because it could block everything the President tries to put through (eg. raising the debt ceiling debacle).

And in terms of the Judiciary, you have to look at all the judges and their past judgements and how they're formulated both politically and morally so you can see if there's a majority to any sort of faction. Whether they have strict interpretations or wide interpretations. Courts of last resort that have judges that make wide interpretations are generally more powerful than those that make strict interpretations.

These are all things you'll have to look into for yourself.

Hope it helps.

Wow, you sure know a lot for someone who's not American. Essentially, no branch in the US gov't is more powerful than the other. The US uses a system of checks and balances to prevent an abuse of power from a certain branch. Stooge covered most of the factors that you have to take in account.

 

[Johnny Stooge]

Wow, you sure know a lot for someone who's not American.

It's the exact same system we have in Australia aside from the fact that we don't have a President and the Prime Minister isn't elected separately from the House of Reps.

Essentially, no branch in the US gov't is more powerful than the other. The US uses a system of checks and balances to prevent an abuse of power from a certain branch.

That's what they like you to think but it's really not the case. In a perfect world the system would work but but power brokers and lobbyists throw a lot of spanners into the works.