Limitations on Agency Powers

The United States legal system has many different forms of power checks that are employed inherently through the separation of powers found within the United States Constitution. The found fathers came from a system where the powers of government could be easily abused, usurping the rights of the average citizen in favor of government power and benefit. The framers understood that for a country to be viable for centuries there needed to be a form of checks of balances built within the branches of government. Equally by diving the government into three separate but equal branches of power no one branch could come to absolutely dominate governmental power. While, there have been cases of government abuses they are also corrected by government institutions which seek to upheld the tents of the United States Constitution.

The United States government is divided into three parts, the legislative branch, the judicial branch and the executive branch. Each branch of government has different agencies under the direct oversight while checking the other branches of government’s use of power simultaneously. While complex, in many cases this process works very smoothly. The legislature checks the executive branch and the executive branch checks the legislative branch. The courts check both branches of government. While there are no direct checks of power on the judiciary the courts equally cannot create laws just oversee the legality of all practices within the country and issue decisions according. By separating power in such a fashion no one branch can come to dominance. The agencies within each branch also play a large role in making sure the branch as whole completes its constitutional obligation. The legislature has different forms of oversight committees in order so abuses do not happen within the congress and by other branches of government. The agencies of the executive branch main goals are to enforce the laws written by the legislature. It should be noted that these checks and balances happen at all levels of government, federal state and local. The many branches of the executive branch play a very large role in both business and criminal activities that occur within the country. Nearly all aspects of life are governed by one executive agency or another. Reports by these agencies are given to both the head of the executive branch, the president of the United States, and the legislature in order for the legislature to develop new laws in the future to govern behaviors detrimental to either the essence of the free market of for personal safety.

The separation of powers between the three branches, while some argue cause to big of a government, allow for the government to internally check itself for offenses against the constitution. After all if there was not a financial oversight committee within the federal government to check that financial institutions were abiding by the law, there would then need to be one in the private sector. However, if agencies were in the private sector they would no longer be directly accountable to the people, the American citizen, which they serve.