Andres Explains: The Three Ringed Circus

As a group, Americans are quite poorly informed about how their government works on all levels and, more generally, about the system of politics in the United States.

I want to do my part to destroy Trumpism for good, and a vital part of that is understanding how the political system operates in this country.

This is the first in a series in which I explain the purpose and function of various state and local offices around the country.

Most Common Structure

Many of you might remember a little something called Schoolhouse Rock! Although much of it is no doubt dated (especially the section on history), one song in particular does a good job of explaining how the government is set up via a three-ringed circus: the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.

Click here for the video in question.

The song is wildly oversimplified in that it ignores the role of the media, lobbying and interest groups, political parties (plus the internal factions within the Democratic and Republican Parties), and voting blocs in American politics.

Nevertheless, it is a good introduction to how most of American politics operates at the majority of levels, especially the national, state, and local levels.

How the Three Branches Operate in Practice

The federal government is the most powerful authority in the United States, but thanks to the Constitution, it is not supreme. It mainly rules on matters that affect multiple states in the United States—things like foreign policy, interstate commerce, currency, national defense, and interstate crime. In other words, it is supposed to represent states working together to solve common problems.

For example, the FBI is set up to tackle interstate issues that exceed the jurisdiction of state or local law enforcement, especially when it comes to organized crime or terrorism.

State government has the biggest impact on your well-being overall and, in many cases, in immediate situations. If you want a recent powerful example of this, take a look at the blackouts in Texas. Thanks to decisions made at the state level by the G(Q)OP-controlled state government, the state’s power system was catastrophically vulnerable to extreme weather events. In addition, state governments also play a significant role in a state’s infrastructure, quality of schools, power grids, and so much more. How a state writes its laws can have major impacts on a wide range of issues, especially how their criminal justice system operates.

For example, part of the reason George Zimmerman was able to get away with murdering Trayvon Martin was because of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.

Local government refers to county and municipal governments. Municipal governments run affairs in cities. This means that city police departments, for example, are under the jurisdiction of cities and towns. Other things that city governments take care of are city parks, fire departments, libraries, community centers, emergency services, and other citywide departments and responsibilities.

As a close friend of mine who is a county commissioner explained to me, county governments take care of everything but “guns and gynecology” (that is, gun-control laws and women’s reproductive health laws) except on a bigger scale than municipal governments. But counties are especially involved in providing social services.

At all three levels, the structure is remarkably similar. Legislatures (in the form of county commissions, city councils, state legislatures, or the federal Congress) write legislation, and most importantly, they have power of the purse. That means they have to approve spending measures for the executive, whenever that be the mayor of a major city, the governor of a state, or the president of the United States. The executive runs the administration and carries out the laws of their jurisdiction. For example, the governor of a state is in charge of running a state’s Department of Health and Human Services, managing a state’s natural disaster response, and enforcing a state’s laws.

Last and but not least is the judicial branch on all three levels of government. Think of these courts as the referee in our three-ringed circus. At all levels, this branch of government resolves disputes between two parties. Courts are also responsible for, at the federal, state, and local levels, ensuring that the legal system functions properly. It is important to note that when it comes to criminal matters, which court takes on the case depends on jurisdiction.

For example, because human trafficking frequently crosses state lines, it is quite often the jurisdiction of the federal courts.

I hope this helps you all. Please let me know what positions or branches on the state or local level you would like me to cover next in Andres Explains.

Stay frosty.