Use this chart to organize your thoughts about the topics of this lesson. in the "k" column, list everything you currently know or believe you know about the 1970s, the ford administration, and the carter administration. go back to your experience in other classes and your own personal experiences. what do you remember learning? do any words, images, people, or events come to mind? now look at the "w" column—what you want to know. list in the "w" column what you'd like to learn about this topic. at the end of the lesson, you will come back to the chart to fill in the last two columns—what you learned and how you learned it.

1 > george s. boutwell

2 > general ulysses s. grant

3 > james a. garfeild

4 > adolph e. borie

separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another.   the intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances.  

the traditional characterizations of the powers of the branches of american government are:

* the legislative branch is responsible for enacting the laws of the state and appropriating the money necessary to operate the government.

* the executive branch is responsible for implementing and administering the public policy enacted and funded by the legislative branch.

* the judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the constitution and laws and applying their interpretations to controversies brought before it.

forty state constitutions specify that government be divided into three branches:   legislative, executive and judicial.   california illustrates this approach; "the powers of state government are legislative, executive, and judicial.   persons charged with the exercise of one power may not exercise either of the others except as permitted by this constitution."

while separation of powers is key to the workings of american government, no democratic system exists with an absolute separation of powers or an absolute lack of separation of powers. governmental powers and responsibilities intentionally overlap; they are too complex and interrelated to be neatly compartmentalized. as a result, there is an inherent measure of competition and conflict

minnesota:   minnesota house research,   separation of powers: when statutes and court rules conflict, 2005

the answer i chose to believe is 'harmony'