Equal Power in Co-Equal Branches of Government

For the branches of government to be co-equal in power, Congress must, somewhat paradoxically, be the pre-eminent branch of government.

That we call the Congressional Seat of Power, rather than the Executive Residence or the Judicial Court Building, ‘The Capitol’ suggests a principle of American Constitutional governance we have largely forgotten. Wikimedia Commons,

Equal power invested into branches of government with unequal distribution of that power (ex. 1 President v. 100 Senators) would make those branches unequal. For a truly equal separation of power, more power must be given to the branches of government with a wider distribution of power to its members. 

This is why Congress was designed to be the pre-eminent branch of government. The broader power given to Congress would allow it to balance itself against the Presidency and a single person with the accumulated power of an entire branch of government.

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And this is why we have a system so out of balance today. Congress has largely become a contest of two rotating factions, one taking its order from the President and the other opposing the President, rather than a truly distinct, separate, and independent institution that can actually check and balance the power of the Presidency, regardless of which party controls the office.

Both political parties, and the vast majority of their members across the country, now act and think as if we have a parliamentary system ruled by the unrefined will of the masses, with that will best reflected by the President who exerts singular will, rather than a republican system governed by a limited charter of government that secures the common good, with the common good best established by the legislature through processes of deliberation and compromise.

-Justin

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