In the past the United States has struggled with the thought of federalism. Although James Madison a former president had a solid perspective of that particular form of government. As Madison stated, “In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments” (Paarenti, pg.7), the U.S. has not seemed to ever have a conclusive line of power between the federal government and the state government. Instead of the different places of government like Madison believed in, over the years the federal government has been involved in state matters. Compared to a unitary system federalism seems to be the…show more content… If the president tries to show off like he is a king, Congress can therefore impeach him. However if Congress tries to pass a law that is clearly not constitutional then the Supreme Court can overrule the law. An example would be that the president of the United States could veto certain acts of Congress. Therefore if the executive branch goes to try to pass a law that the president strongly believes is not constitutional or is unjust then he or she can veto the bill so it can not be passed to become a law. Other examples of this as Ginsberg points out on page 58 are the power of the Senate to approve presidential appointments and judicial review of congressional enactments. The veto itself is powerful in the way it is the best way of checking and balancing Congress. Powerful enough that the Framers gave Congress the way to check and re check the veto by the president. Which is a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress can override a presidential veto, getting a bill to become a law even though the president has rejected it. As for separation of powers that principle means the division of government power among several institutions that must cooperate in decision making as said by Ginsberg. (Pg. 59). It is ensuring…show more content… The legislative branch is comprised of two houses, congress and the House of Representatives. The most important act of this branch is law making. The Congress writes the law. In the executive branch the president is in control. This branch makes the laws official. The judicial branch oversees the court system. Using court cases the judicial branch goes over the meaning of the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress. The Supreme Court is in charge of the judicial branch. Some examples of legislative powers under Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution include maintaining a military, declaring war on other countries, and regulating foreign commerce. One of the more important implied powers of legislative branch is Congress’s authority to check and see the executive branch and departments like the department of justice. Another important aspect of legislative power is the people choose the legislators that represent them in Congress. This is important because members must please the people if they want to get re elected and stay in office. Therefore the issues of the people must be heard and considered by the legislators in office. An example of a court case where the branches were involved was Marbury v. Madison in 1803. It was the first U.S. Supreme Court case