Some of the rights and restrictions given to , and denied to ,the federal and state governments include: No congressman can occupy another government position during his time in office if that other position is in another branch; The federal government cannot favor one state over another or tax interstate trade, but Congress can tax citizens if it taxes all of them the same way; It can regulate the economy, declare war, raise an army and propose laws. And although the president can veto a bill, an executive branch checks on the legislative department, congress can override the veto if two thirds of both houses are in agreement (thus balancing out the executive department's power over Congress). Article II describes the Executive Department, which consisted only of a President and a Vice-President. The rest of Article II explains the qualifications someone needs to hold those offices and the powers that they are entitled to. The president is the Commander-in-chief of the Army and the Navy. He can make treaties, grant reprieves and appoint officers but all his powers require the agreement of the Senate. One of the legislative branch's largest limit of executive power is impeachment, the process by which Congress tries and possibly even removes an executive from office for breaking the law. Article III describes the Judicial Branch. The Constitution established a Supreme Court and various inferior courts to handle breaches of equity or law. The Executive Branch appoints judges who carry out the law of the Legislative Branch, which can also overturn court decisions with Constitutional amendments. The Judicial Branch serves to further separate and balance power in the government. The first three articles in the Constitution are meant to divide and control power in the new government, and because the government has not collapsed into despotism yet, one can safely say that the anti-federalist prediction of our government becoming too powerful to control itself has not come true.
