In the preamble to the Federal Constitution we read that the Fathers
ordained and established it “in order ... to establish justice ...
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.”
They believed that in order to accomplish these objects a government of
“checks and balances” would be most likely to succeed and to survive.
Consequently, they attempted to have the executive branch and the
legislative branch and the judicial branch each distinct and yet each
acting as a balance for the others. We have seen how the President
checks Congress with the veto power, and how the Senate checks the
President through the requirements of its approval for treaties and
executive appointments. What the men who framed the Constitution
probably did not foresee was the development by which the Supreme Court
finally became the supreme check over both the President and Congress.
At present then, as we have seen, the three branches function lustily
and vigorously, each to some extent doing for the others what was
originally expected. But under the tremendous changes that time has
wrought, each has also become vastly more powerful than the originators
of this scheme of government ever dreamed.
However, executive branch, legislative branch, judiciary--they all
serve, perhaps as well as any human machinery at present can in the
United States to fulfill the purposes named in the preamble to the
Constitution.
We have examined the ways in which the work of the government is
done. We have watched the two Houses of Congress making laws, we have
seen the President at his desk, we have seen the various executive
departments and their bureaus operating to promote the general welfare,
and we have seen the courts rendering justice.
It is not our task here to criticise and to evaluate. Shortcomings are
apparent; and that there is room for improvement both from a material
and from a human standpoint, there can be no doubt.
But when all is said and done, this outline rather shows after all that
the government of the United States does work with fair efficiency. It
is probably much better than its founders dared to hope and as good as
those of us who are living today deserve.
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Transcriber’s Notes:
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
been corrected.