Similarly to the government structure established globally, the American government consists of three key branches, namely, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial ones (Lawton, 2020). The specified approach to the separation of powers allows maintaining the principles of democracy. By ensuring that the approach toward managing legal and political issues is unbiased and that all opinions are represented, the specified framework warrants its place in the U.S. government system.
Though the term “bureaucracy” is typically used in negative contexts, the notion is fairly neutral when used in the context of the U.S. government, implying the hierarchical structure of the government. In the U.S. legal setting, the federal bureaucracy plays three key roles, namely, the implementation of laws, as well as the development and reinforcement of the legal standards in the areas where the current legal principles can be characterized as vague (Lawton, 2020). In turn, state governments play the role of the bodies that coordinate the management of schools and hospitals, as well as other public entities and systems., For instance, the transportation and infrastructure systems are deemed as the area of the state governments’ expertise. Similarly, industries such as agriculture, as well as the services related to law enforcement, such as police and prisons, are regulated and coordinated by state governments (Lawton, 2020). Finally, community services and sports are typically considered to be the domain of the state governments’ management and expertise (Lawton, 2020).
The current separation of powers within the U.S. government into three branches requires maintaining very careful equilibrium so that none of the branches of power could abuse it. For this purpose, the concept of checks and balances has been introduced into the U.S. government (Lawton, 2020). A judicial review can be considered an appropriate example of the system of checks and balances since it provides an individual an opportunity to question the legitimacy of the court’s decision (Lawton, 2020). Thus, the threat of a miscarriage of justice is significantly reduced.
Reference
Lawton, C. M. (2020). Checks and balances. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC.