Structure Of The Executive Branch Essay Research

Structure Of The Executive Branch Essay, Research Paper

Structure of the Executive BranchThe United States is a large and complex country that is full of a diversity of citizens. It has millions of square miles of land with fifty states and several outlying territories, including more than a thousand islands scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. All the citizens of the Unites States have been governed in an organized way for more than two hundred years. The federal government is separated into three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branch. Of the three branches, the executive branch is the most complex. Its job is to enforce the laws of the United States. It is composed of the President, Vice President, executive departments, and independent agencies. The Presidency is the highest office in the country. To become the President, you must be a natural born citizen of the United States, be at least thirty-five years old by the time you serve, and have lived in the United States at least 14 years. Presidential elections occur every four years and candidates are chosen by their political parties before the election. Each party chooses a candidate through primary elections, conventions, or caucases in every state and one national convention. After all candidates are chosen, the campaign begins for the general election. The election is held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. People in each state vote for the President indirectly by electing the electors who will vote for the Presidential candidate. The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of Representatives plus the number of Senators. The electors from each state vote for the choice of the largest number of people in their state. The candidate with more than half of the electoral votes wins. The President is inaugurated on January 20 and may only serve two terms which are four years each. (18)The President is the chief executive officer of the federal government, administrative head of the executive department of the government, and commander in chief of the armed forces of the nation. With these titles, he has many duties and responsibilities. The President works with the other two branches in several ways. He is involved in the law-making process because all bills have to go to the President before they become the law and is considered the chief legislator because he sends bills to Congress that he wants passed. The President appoints Supreme Court justices and judges of other federal courts. When the President gets elected, he appoints a group of advisors which is called his Cabinet. Part of his Cabinet are the heads of each executive department. The Executive Office of the President consists of staff agencies that give the President information, ideas, and advice on wide range of issues. Presidents frequently create, eliminate, and reorganize agencies in the Executive Office of the President. The President also appoints the heads of all the independent agencies. As the Chief Diplomat, he conducts the foreign policy by negotiating with other countries. (18)The Vice-Presidency is the second highest office in the country. If the President dies, leaves office, or cannot perform his duties, the Vice-President becomes President. The Vice-President has to meet the same requirements as the President. If the president is disabled for a certain period of time, then the Vice-President serves as Acting President. The Vice President has special duties and responsibilities. By being the leader of the Senate, he votes in case of a tie and becomes the connection between the President and Senate. He also participates in the Cabinet meetings and serves as a member of the National Security Council. (19)The Executive DepartmentsThe Department of State is the executive department of the United States government that handles relationships between U.S. and other governments. The head of the department is the secretary of state who is the senior member of the President’s Cabinet. The department plans actions of the United States with other nations’ governments. After the approval of the plans by the President, they become the nation’s official foreign policy. The main function of the department is to carry out the foreign policy. It negotiates treaties and agreements with other governments, handles business with the foreign embassies, speaks in international organizations, and arranges for the United States to participate in international conferences. The Foreign Service provides information about specific countries, enforces the foreign policy towards them, and provides services to the Americans traveling abroad. The Foreign service also issues passports and grant visas to the people coming into the United States. There are a number of independent agencies that come from the Department of State. They include the U.S. Information Agency, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Agency for International Development. (11)The Department of Treasury is an executive department that handles all the money of the United States. It receives all money paid to the government, serves as the guardian of the government’s revenue, pays federal government expenses, and keeps account of government revenues and expenses. The department prepares all the paper money, coins, and prints postage stamps. It also operates the Customs Service, Secret Service, and Internal Revenue Service. The Cu