Angelia Kelley
Week 2 HIS/301
Branches of Government
•Identify the separation of powers between the three branches of government.

The American government consists of three branches, The Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. The separation of powers is in place to limit each of them from practicing the essential roles of the others. The purpose behind the separation of powers is to avoid the attention of power and provide for checks and balances ("National Conference of State Legislatures", 2014). The first branch is the Legislative branch; it is accountable for passing the laws of the state and appropriating the money necessary to operate the government ("National Conference of State Legislatures", 2014). The Legislative branch is Congress; Congress a combination of the House and the Senate; Congress passes and makes laws, and the House and Senate work together. Congress consists of 100 senators, two for each of the 50 states. Each state has representatives, and the state's population determines the number. To date there are 435 members of the House("About News, Us Government", 2014). The Congress is the only power that can declare war. The second branch is the Executive branch; this branch is responsible for executing and managing the public policy passed and backed by the legislative branch ("National Conference of State Legislatures", 2014). The Executive branch consists of The President, Vice President and 15 Cabinet-level departments such as State, Defense, Interior, Transportation and Education. This branch has the power to approve or veto laws("About