Introduction
The United States’ national government comprises of three branches which include: the executive, judicial and legislative. The three divisions work in harmony despite there being different responsibilities allocated to each of them. All three branches have a considerable amount of power and they work together to ensure that a country runs seamlessly. The Executive consists of the President and more than five million workers, the Judicial consists of the Supreme and lower courts while the Legislative branch comprises of Senate and House of Representatives (Arnold, 2004). However, some centuries ago things were not as orderly as they are now. The Articles of Confederation formed a loose government in around 1789 which was in charge of states that were independent and badly organized at the time. The Articles of Confederation created a government with a single legislative body known as Congress. The national government had fewer powers as that it could not do regulations on commerce or levy taxes. Many issues began to emerge due to the limited power of the central government. States independently organized armed forces and printed money. This led to the 1787 meeting known as the Constitutional Convention which gave birth to the current three branches of the government (Heard, 2012).
Understanding the Three Branches of the government
The Executive division is ordered by the US President. The President is responsible for enforcing the laws that are made by this branch. The inhabitants of the US who are 18 years and older elects the president. The states are responsible for tallying the votes. The Legislative branch is also referred to as the Congress. The key duty of Congress is to make laws (Arnold, 2004). There are two divisions in this branch: Senate and House of Representatives. Each state provides two senators which add up to 100 Senators. Adding to this, the judicial branch encompasses the Supreme Court and 9 Justices. These judges have a special duty of interpreting laws in accordance with the constitution (Entin, 1990). The judges only attend to cases that relate to issues accommodated by the constitution. This court has huge power in the United States. Also, each State has lower courts that handle the cases which may involve federal issues. On the other hand, the second division comprises 435 representatives whose main role is discussing new ideas which are also called bills (Arnold, 2004). After discussing them, they determine if they are appropriate to be passed as laws. Unlike Senators who must be 2 from every state, the size of the population in a state plays a huge role in determining the number of representatives it gets. There are states with 40 while others have only 2. Eligible voters are responsible for voting for senators and representatives (Entin, 1990).
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Why the Judicial is the most powerful
In my opinion, I consider the judicial branch as the most powerful of the other branches. One reason why judicial has significantly more power is the fact that its judges always have a final ruling on a good number of sensitive and controversial issues such as immigration, abortions and same-sex marriages. On matters that involve treaties of the country, acts of the congress, amending the constitution, or cases involving the federal law, the judicial branch is always the last resort. The 9 judges of the Supreme Court have a high dominance at work because they are not limited by terms of age. Not unless they get impeached, die or retire, these judges serve until death. Also, these judges are not impacted by electoral or political pressure, their view is unbiased and they are not allowed to take sides (Entin, 1990). This is different in presidents or other leaders who are easily manipulated by the changing political waves. For instance, in Brown versus Board of Education, the Supreme Court was able to reverse the segregation after it determined that it was unconstitutional. The Court argued that it was wrong for students of different races to have separate facilities. This case resulted in equal rights for all irrespective of one's race (Bell, 1979).
Another reason why Judicial Branch has more power is its ability and right to assess other branches such as executive and legislative. Judicial Branch is able to review and ensure whether executive and legislative branches have acted in accordance with the constitution, and if not, the Judicial has the power to invalidate its actions. The ability of Judicial to assess other branches is better illustrated by the case of Katz versus the U.S. In this case, the Supreme Court delivered a ruling that favored a citizen and went against the executive branch (Kitch, 1968). Katz had been arrested for gambling issues after he transmitted information about prohibited gambling through public phone. Katz's conversation was captured by a voice recorder that the FBI had placed in that phone booth. The Court argued that a person too, in addition to his property, was sheltered against illegal searches by the Fourth Amendment. Katz was hence released without imprisonment (Kitch, 1968).
Why not the Executive?
Since the president is part of it, some people may consider the executive branch as the most powerful. However, there are numerous past incidences where the president has been removed from office by the judicial branch. This shows that the judicial branch has the ability to rule over a president. For instance, the US versus Nixon is a perfect example to demonstrate the above argument. The Supreme Court determined that the president had unconstitutionally used executive privileges. Nixon was then forced to resign from the president’s office (Gerhardt, 1998). Also, even a law bearing the president’s sign may be declared unconstitutional by the judicial branch and thus reprimanding it.
Why not the Legislative?
In comparison, the judicial branch is quite more powerful than the legislative arm. The legislative may appear powerful because it can declare war if need be, it can confirm or decline the president's schedules and also its ability to elect a president whenever there is a tie in the electoral vote. Also, the legislative rely on the president's signature whenever they make decisions such as declaring war. Despite the fact that laws are formed by the legislative, the judicial has a key responsibility of ensuring that the law is interpreted appropriately and in accordance with the constitution. It also acts as a referee during the process.
The judicial branch also ensures that the laws are in accordance with the constitution especially when the issues at hand are sensitive such as gay rights and abortion. For instance, the homosexual community was given hope in the Lawrence versus Texas case when the Supreme Court ruled against a statue in Texas that barred sexual activities between individuals of the same gender. Therefore, the legislative branch is powerful but not as powerful as the judicial branch since a final approval is always needed before their bills become rights or before they declare war. Most recently, the U.S. president, Donald Trump, faced an impeachment (Osnos, 2017). This case is a good example of some of the powers of the legislative branch. The first stage involved bringing in charges and the House of Representatives voted along party lines. After that, the process headed to the Senate and a trial was scheduled early this year. Although he survived the process, it is a clear demonstration of some of the powers of the branches of the government (Osnos, 2017).
Conclusion
It is arguable that all three branches of the government are powerful. However, the Judicial Branch is the most powerful of the three. This is because its judges always have a final ruling on a good number of sensitive and controversial issues such as immigration, abortions and same-sex marriages. The judicial branch is also always the last resort on other matters like amending the constitution, or cases involving the federal law. In addition, Judicial Branch more power is seen in its ability and right to assess other branches such as executive and legislative. Judicial Branch is able to review and ensure whether executive and legislative branches have acted in harmony with the constitution, and if not, the Judicial has the power to invalidate its actions. To add to this, the judicial branch has a key responsibility of ensuring that the law is interpreted appropriately and in unity with the constitution. Therefore, these points have demonstrated that Judicial is more powerful than other branches. However, in order to realize a stable country, the three branches of the government must continue working together and in harmony. Despite the Judicial having more power, all the three branches are vital for ensuring that the country does not disintegrate.
References
Arnold, P. A. (2004). About America: How the United States is Governed . Braddock Communications. Retrieved from https://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/30145/publications-english/us_governed.pdf
Bell Jr, D. A. (1979). Brown v. Board of Education and the interest-convergence dilemma. Harv. L. Rev. , 93 , 518. Retrieved from http://blog.richmond.edu/criticalracetheory/files/2019/02/INTREST-CONV-BELL.pdf
Entin, J. L. (1990). Separation of Powers, the Political Branches, and the Limits of Judicial Review. Ohio St. LJ , 51 , 175. Retrieved from https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1366&context=faculty_publications
Gerhardt, M. J. (1998). Lessons of Impeachment History. Geo. Wash. L. Rev. , 67 , 603. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=faculty_publications
Heard, A. (2012). Constitutional conventions: The heart of the living Constitution. Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law , 6 , 319-338. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260290297_Constitutional_Conventions_The_Heart_of_the_Living_Constitution_2012_6_Journal_of_Parliamentary_and_Political_Law_319-338
Kitch, E. W. (1968). Katz v. the United States: The Limits of the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court Review , 1968 , 133-152. Retrieved from https://noticiasmicrojuris.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/katz-v-united-states-389-u-s.pdf
Osnos, E. (2017). How Trump could get fired. The New Yorker , 8 , 2017. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/download/55663230/How_Trump_Could_Get_Fired___The_New_Yorker.pdf
