Government Restrictions

When the Framers wrote the U.S. Constitution they meant to write restrictions that the government would be limited in their powers. The federal government’s authorization is strictly restricted in what the government is allowed to do. The Constitution restricts these powers in the text that it is written in. (Mazurak, 2014) Some examples of these guidelines are found in Article 1 of the Constitution and the Tenth Amendment. Article 1 simply gives Congress their power and restrictions. Congress is considered the legislative branch of the government; congress is the branch that makes the laws that govern the United States of America. Article 1 also created two separate sections of Congress, these two sections are the Senate and House of Representatives.
Because of this separation, there is a bicameral legislation. As part of Article 1 meant to restrict government, there are different sections in order to achieve restricted government.
There is one part that is meant to ensure that there are elections by the people to select whom they wish to represent them in congress. It also states that each representative will come up for election every two years will senators will come up for election every six years. There is also aspects of restricted government as written in the Constitution that says the states are unable to have the same powers that the Federal government does. For example, states cannot create money. This is where the Tenth Amendment comes into play for the states. The Tenth Amendment is basically put into place to say that any such power not given to the federal government is allowed to be given to the state or to the people. This is another form of restricted government showing that each state and person shall be able to enjoy their own freedoms, independence, rights, and sovereignty. Restricted government is a major part of the Constitution in order to control one body from obtaining complete control over another
body. To speak directly about the establishment of a republic we first will need to explain what is meant by founding a republic. The major purpose for founding a republic as seen by the founders of the United States was to again spread out control of the country where the government would rule within the laws of the country but the government would be set in place by the people of the country. (Bicknell, 2011) By contrast, some governments were started with an autocratic form, meaning that the government would be run by a single individual like a king. The United States form of government is really considered to be a representative democracy whereas the people of the country elect officials to represent them in government. Prior to the formation of the United States as a republic and independent nation, most countries were ruled by one single individual. We all know these individuals as kings and queens. As we know, the colonist were use to this form of government which is part of the reason they chose to rise up and fight against England to gain independence. The founders of the Constitution understood that to repeat that form of government would only lead to the same result. (Maier, 2013) Allowing one single individual to have complete control over the government and the country as in an autocracy, removed the rights of the people and allowed only the king to make decisions. Because the creation of a republic seems to merge two completely separate forms of government, we must also speak about a direct democracy. A direct democracy is the polar opposite of an autocratic form of government, where all laws and decisions are voted on and decided by the people. This type of government gives all the power to the society with no power given to the government. For this reason, the founders of the Constitution came up with the idea to mix both forms of government to create what we now know as a republic. The United States also operates under what is known as Federal system of government. “The framers of the U.S. Constitution sought to create a federal system that promotes strong national power in certain spheres, yet recognizes that the states are sovereign in other spheres.” (Federalism:US v The States) We talked about this topic some earlier while discussing Limited Government. Federalism is the separation of power between the federal government and each and every state within the country. The powers that the federal government obtained can be referred as delegated powers, where the powers that the states obtained can be referred to as reserved powers. (Maier, 2013) If we were to take a look back we would see that history shows us that there are battle lines drawn between the federal government and the states because those lines are very blurry.
The United States has experienced several different struggles as history shows us. The first was Dual Federalism. This period of time ran from 1790’s to 1930 where the powers that separated the federal and state governments were clearly stated as enumerated powers. (Federalism:US v The States) What we know today is new federalism. This period began in 1981 and continues today, were we see the states obtaining more and more power from the federal government. (Federalism:US v The States) The gaining of powers by the states also increases the difficult of states to maintain and comply with the powers and mandate’s they have received. (Federalism:US v The States) These conflicts are occurring more and more, for example, in 2015, an Alabama Chief Justice order the complete disregard of the federal courts decision to allow gay marriage in the states. (Palazzolo, 2015) Basically, a federal judgement was given that the states could not ban same-sex marriage, then a state judge made the decision that the federal government has no power to determine what the states can do. This is a good example of what the entire system was set up to limit the powers of each and every part of government, from the federal level to the
states. The United States Constitution also included that there be more of a division among several governmental institutions with the intent that these institutions having to cooperate with each other to make a decision. The United States has 3 major branches of government. These branches are the Executive Branch which is the President of the United States. The Judiciary Branch which is made up of the judges of the Supreme Court. Finally the Legislative branch which is made up of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to create Congress. The Executive Branch is primarily the President of the United States. The President is voted in by the people of the United States. The intent of the Executive Branch was to eliminate the possibility of a stalemate between the other branches of government. The Judiciary Branch is made up of Supreme Court Judges who have the power to resolve conflicts which may come up considering the Constitution of the United States. There are nine positions on the Supreme Court and those positions are appointments that last the individuals life. Lastly we have the Legislative branch. The legislative branch of government has the most members as it is comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate which make up Congress. The Senate has two members per state which are voted in by the people of that state. The House of Representatives has the number of its members per state decided by the amount of people in each state. Their role in government is to make laws and cooperate together with the intent to better the people in which they serve. We end with Checks and Balances and how it is included in the web of government. Checks and Balances is a way in which all the branches of government are able to influence or participate in the activities of each of the other branches of government. (Li, 2014) Even though each branch of the government has its own powers and responsibilities, without checks and balances there would be no effective way to regulate that each branch is operating properly and with the best interest of the country and its people in mind. Some examples of checks and balances would be that the Executive branch has the ability to “Veto” a bill or law that was passed by the Legislative branch. The Legislative Branch (Senate) has the power of approving the appointments that the Executive Branch makes. The Judicial Branch has the power to regulate the enactments of laws and bills that the Legislative Branch makes. The Government of the United States is complicated, but complicated for good reason. From the top officials of the Federal Government to the officials of the state governments, there are limits and restrictions to prevent one person from having too much control. There is no one branch or aspect of the government that is able to make a decision with the approval from another.

References
Bicknell, J. (2011). The Leaders of the First American Republic. Roll Call.
Federalism:US v The States. (n.d.). Retrieved from Annenberg Learner: https://www.learner.org/courses/democracyinamerica/dia_3/dia_3_topic.html
Li, T. (2014). Expert Advising Under Checks and Balances. Social Choice and Welfare, 477-502.
Maier, P. (2013). Declaring Independence, Establishing a Republic. Retrieved from Digtial History: http://digitalhistory.hsp.org/pafrm/essay/declaring-independence-establishing-republic
Mazurak, Z. (2014). The Constitutional Limits on the Federal Government According to the Constitution's Framers. Politeja, 1-20.
Palazzolo, J. (2015). Conflicts Mount Between States and Federal Courts. Wall Street Journal.