Why Was The United States Goverment Founded?

In addressing the first question, the question of legitimacy of government is all but asked. This complex issue can be boiled down to the question “who gives the government its power?” In medieval monarchies, God supposedly granted the monarch legitimacy through primogeniture. This does not work for a bureaucracy however, as not everyone can be firstborn. What then gives the legislature the right to lay taxes and raise armies? Hobbes and Locke provide the answers to th

is question in the form of a social contract. This theory states that man is naturally free. He gives up some of his freedoms to the government in exchange for a standardization of certain rules for living with other men. In the case of the United States government, its laws derive their authority from the constitution. They are defined using a procedure established by the constitution for the legislative branch. The constitution owes its legitimacy to the Declaration of Independence, which all but quotes Locke’s views of the social contract.

The sources of American law are not plural. There is one source and it is the legislative branch. This branch is responsible for putting the laws on the books for the executive and its bureaucracy to enforce. Laws come into being by following a constitutionally defined procedure. The first step that is taken to pass a bill into law is committee action. A subcommittee writes the bill, which is then taken to a committee. The committee then edits the bill. It should be stated that both houses have separate committees, often resulting in differences in the content of the bill. Its house then votes upon the bill. Then a conference committee with members from both houses adjusts the bill so that it is the same for each house. Each house then votes upon the bill again. At each step, the bill can be killed either by vote or by starvation. Starvation, in this case, is defined as allowing the bill to die through not giving it attention. If the bill is passed on the second try, it goes to the president to be passed into law, or vetoed. If vetoed, it can still be passed by a two-thirds vote of each house. In regards to the prevention of tyranny premise, the effort of passing a bill into law demanded by the constitution all but guarantees tyrannical laws will be halted prior to their passing.

The question of each branch’s role in regards to the law is explicit in the third question. While the legislature’s role has been solidly defined, the Executive and Judicial branches are by definition equally as important. The Executive branch is responsible for carrying out the law. To do this, it employs a bureaucracy of epic proportions. Over the last two centuries and some, this bureaucracy has grown steadily bigger. It consists of several kinds of agency: Cabinet departments, Independent Regulatory Commissions, Independent Executive Agencies, and Government Corporations. Each fulfills a role in the execution of the law. The Cabinets are responsible for broad areas of governmental operations; the secretaries of each department head them, and the secretaries each report to the President. Independent Regulatory Commissions are created by congress to regulate a specific economic function. A board, whose members are appointed by the President, heads each of these commissions. Independent Executive Agencies are similar to Cabinets in that they are run by heads appointed by the President, and answer to him. However these Agencies have a more narrow focus than the Cabinets. Lastly, the Government Corporations are businesses whose functions are to provide governmental services, such as the mail. Congress defines these businesses. Each of these agencies is part of

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