Two hundred years ago, when the United States had just gotten rid of the British king, they stumbled upon the very first constitution aimed at uniting this new country. The Articles of Confederation give each state considerable power and independence. It also made Congress the sole branch holding all the powers of the central government. Deadly weaknesses in the old system had gradually been revealed, and to avert a potential collapse of the entire country, the Framers drafted the Second Constitution of the United States to provide a political system fundamentally different from the first. In this new system, the power of government is divided between three distinct branches. Everyone has their responsibilities and limits themselves to their rules. They cooperate with each other to develop the country and protect civil rights and civil liberties under threat. The legislative branch is the Congress, composed of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The two branches added are the executive branch which enforces the laws and the judiciary which interprets the laws. The Constitution defines the powers, limits and basic function of each branch and also provides methods to implement the laws. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay With voices coming from all directions, many people believe that Congress is supposed to be the most constitutionally powerful branch. And indeed, it is designed to be more powerful than the other two. Only Congress needs the president's approval to enact laws. And he can impeach a president or a Supreme Court justice, remove Supreme Court justices and also make exceptions to the jurisdiction of the court. And this is also partly why Madison, among others, supported the creation of a bicameral legislature to maintain balance and prevent abuse of power. However, changes have been made to this configuration over time. Executive power has expanded exponentially in many areas and has surpassed Congress, currently being the most powerful power. As Marshall has highlighted this problem in his work, "in 2006, the president was able to use his authority to continually maneuver the newly elected Congress and pursue a war that even many members of his own party opposed." The fact that there is a dangerous gap between the president's paper powers and his actual powers is very visible when one carefully examines this issue. So, what are the responsibilities and rules that United States presidents must follow according to the US Constitution? The list of powers granted to presidents included the right to sign or veto legislation, to command the armed forces, to seek the written advice of his cabinet, to convene or adjourn Congress, to grant reprieves and pardons, to receive ambassadors, to propose treaties and to appoint judges. With this in mind, the expansion of executive power is now very evident. Looking back, this expansion has been going on for quite a long time. During the Civil War, based on much of his self-claimed authority, Abraham Lincoln expanded the armed forces using financial resources from the Treasury without authorization from Congress. After that, in the 1930s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt exercised his presidential powers by sending troops to South Korea without Congressional approval. During the Kennedy era, he expanded his power in foreign affairs. While the..