Standard 3.1: Branches of the Government and the Separation of Powers

Distinguish the Three Branches of the Government (Separation of Powers). (Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Studies) [8.T3.1]

FOCUS QUESTION: How does the Separation of Powers Function Within the United States Government?

The federal government of the United States is a vast organization. Its executive, legislative, and judicial branches are comprised of hundreds of agencies, commissions, and departments. It has been estimated that there are as many as 2,000 different agencies in the federal bureaucracy, employing some 2.1 million workers in 2020.

But people's knowledge of the branches of the government and their functions is surprisingly limited. The 2022 Annenberg Public Policy Center's Constitution Day Civics Survey found that fewer than half of all Americans can even name the three branches of the government; one in four cannot name a single branch.

Learn about the relationships of the three branches of U.S. government by exploring Standard 2: Checks and Balances Between the Branches and Standard 3: Roles of Congress, the President, and the Courts.

History teacher Adam Moler shared on Twitter a learning activity where students turned the branches of the government into superheroes and highlighted their special powers.

• A power is what a branch of the government can legally do to impact policies and people.

At the foundation of this governmental system is the concept of "separation of powers." What does separation of powers mean? The modules for this standard explore that question by examining three branches of the United States government, highlighting the career of the pioneering African American politician Shirley Chisholm, and debating whether Puerto Rico or Washington, D.C. should become the nation's 51st state.

1.INVESTIGATE: Federalism and the Branches of the Government

The United States government has three branches - the legislative, executive, and judicial - that have different powers and perform different functions:

• The legislature makes the laws
• The executive administers the laws
• The judiciary interprets the laws

Learn more about The Three Branches of the Government from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum's webpage.

Here are the powers of the branches as stated in the first three articles of the Constitution:

Article I, Section 1: All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Article II, Section 1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

Article III, Section 1: The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

The above Articles of the Constitution are intended to establish three co-equal branches of government with shared powers. This system is called federalism, meaning a system of government that divides power between the national (or federal) government and the various state governments. Each level of government has the responsibility and the authority to take specific actions since each level of government has its own powers and duties.

Media Literacy Connections: Hollywood Movies About the Branches of Government

Films about U.S. political history tell viewers as much about the times in which the films were made as the historical stories shown on the screen. Dr. Strangelove (1964) expresses people's fears of nuclear war during the Cold War. All the President's Men (1976) shows courageous reporters uncovering government scandals and secrets. Rambo (1982) extolls the power of American heroes in the post-Vietnam War era. Malcolm X (1992) reflected a growing awareness of the need for racial and social justice in society.

In these activities, you will critically evaluate how political films portray the roles of each branch of the government and then design a movie trailer for your own political film.

• Activity 1: Analyze Political Films About the Branches of the Government
• Activity 2: Design a Movie Trailer for Your own Political Film

Online Resources for Separation of Powers in American Government

• Learn more at these resourcesforhistoryteachers wiki pages:
  • Supreme Court Decisions on Separation of Powers
  • Branches of American Government and Separation of Powers
  • Separation of Powers in American Government
• Separation of Powers, a learning activity from the American Constitution Society asking how separation of powers in a school might function.
• How the U.S. Government is Organized, from USA Gov
• What are the Branches of the Government, from Ben's Guide
• Branches of the Government, from Constitution USA with Peter Sagal
• U.S. Foreign Policy Powers: Congress and the President, Council on Foreign Relations, 2017 

2.UNCOVER: Shirley Chisholm, African American Politician and Presidential Candidate

Shirley Chisholm was an African American educator, politician, and author who in 1968 at age 44 was the first Black woman elected to Congress. In 1972, she became the first Black person to run as a major party candidate for President of the United States. 

Shirley Chisholm began her career as a teacher and daycare center director before winning a seat in the New York State Assembly—the second African American woman elected to that position. When she ran for Congress, her campaign slogan was “unbought and unbossed.” Announcing her run for the Presidency, Shirley Chisholm declared: 

"I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that. . . I am the candidate of the people of America, and my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history" (quoted in Synder, 2019).

Learn more about Shirley Chisholm from the resourcesforhistoryteachers wiki page: Shirley Chisholm, African American Politician and Presidential Candidate.

Learn more at History of Women of Color in U.S. Politics.

3. ENGAGE: Should Puerto Rico or the District of Columbia become the 51st State?

In 1959, Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as the nation's 49th and 50th states. Now there are calls for adding a 51st state— either Puerto Rico, a territory of 3.4 million people, or Washington D.C., a federal district with a population of over 700,000 residents. More people live in Washington, D.C. than in the states of Vermont or Wyoming.

Puerto Rico elects a non-voting representative in Congress; the District of Columbia has 3 electoral votes in Presidential elections.

Adding a new state would have huge implications for American politics. Constitutionally, such a state would automatically have two senators and one or more representatives in the House of Representatives (depending on the size of its population). Politically, it is likely one of the major political parties would gain votes in Congress (most experts agree that voters in both Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. lean strongly toward the Democratic Party).  

Also part of the political equation are the wishes of the people who live in those places. People in Washington, D.C. broadly favor becoming a state, but Puerto Ricans are divided between maintaining their current status as a commonwealth, gaining full independence as a separate nation, or becoming a state within the United States.

The history of new statehood is fascinating and complex. Between 1889 and 1890, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming were admitted as new states - adding greatly to the power and influence of the Republican Party (When Adding New States Helped the Republicans). Then there was the 1905 case of Sequoyah, a proposed Native-American governed state in eastern Oklahoma that failed when Congress refused to consider statehood bills; instead Oklahoma as a combination of Indian territories and White settler land was admitted in 1907. You can learn more about the effort to create Sequoyah in Topic 6.1 of this book.

On April 21, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives voted along party lines (Democrats in favor; Republicans opposed) to establish Washington, D.C. as the 51st state to be called Washington, Douglass Commonwealth to honor the Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Online Resources for Puerto Rican Statehood or Independence

• WIKI page: Puerto Rico: History and Government
• How A Change of Color for the Puerto Rican Flag Became a Symbol of Resistance, Mother Jones, July 4, 2019
• The Lost History of Puerto Rico’s Independence Movement, Mother Jones, April 21, 2015

Standard 3.1 Conclusion

In the United States, power is divided between three branches of the government. INVESTIGATE identified the powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, as set forth in the first three articles of the Constitution. UNCOVER told the story of Shirley Chisholm, an African American politician who became the first Black woman to run for President. ENGAGE asked whether Puerto Rico or Washington, D.C. should become the nation's 51st state?