Final Assignment

1. The three branches of government are the legislative branch, the executive branch, and

judicial branch. All three branches are involved during the attempt to pass the John Lewis

voting rights bill.

a. The Legislative branch is responsible for making the laws. The bill was

introduced in Congress but not passed due to partisan split, the Republican

majority in the House of Representatives was able to utilize filibusters to close

debate and not pass the bill. The bill needs to pass through the House of

Representatives before it can reach the Senate floor for debate in which Vice

President Harris (Senate leader) would have provided the necessary Democrat

vote to break the partisan split. Gridlock in Congress, where the Republicans have

the House and there is an even divide in the Senate (that can be swayed Democrat

by VP Harris), is causing a decrease in the amount of bills able to be passed and

deepening partisan tension and anger towards one another.

b. The Executive branch is responsible for carrying out the laws. The president, vice

president, and cabinet are involved in this process. In this article, Former

President Trump’s false allegations of voter fraud affected the public perception

of voter security and integrity. President Biden expressed support and the need for

an updated bill that ensures voter rights along with Vice President Harris,

presiding over the Senate.

c. Lastly, the Judicial branch, which evaluates the laws and includes the supreme

court as well as other courts. The Supreme Court ruled in favor to void the

preclearance requirement when passing legislation regarding voting rights in

 2013. Proposed bill would require federal court approval of any legislature

regarding voting rights/access and calls for the reinstatement of preclearance

requirements previously voided by the Supreme Court.

2. Separation of powers ensures that no one governing body can hold too much power or

influence in creating, passing, and evaluating the legality of laws.

a. The system of checks and balances ensures that the separation of powers remains

intact and that each governing body has a responsibility to keep one another

accountable for their actions.

b. The separation of powers present in this case are what is making the bill nearly

impossible to pass; if Congress had just one chamber (like in a parliamentary

system) the bill would have passed due to an outright majority of votes that the

Democratic Party would have.

3. Federalism is the separation of powers between the federal and state governments. This is

seen in the concerns of Republican congressmen/women that instituting preclearance

requirements would allow for the federal government to intervene. It would also

challenge the state legislature that, in the eyes of Republican congressmen/women, would

be heavily tainted by the Democrats.

4. Partisanship describes the separation of the government based on political party

affiliation.

a. Bi-partisanship is described as opposing political parties finding common ground.

Non-partisan refers to legislation, the beliefs that are not associated or affiliated

with either major political party. Due to the growing divide between the

Democratic and Republican parties and the new direction of the Republican party
following former President Trump’s time in office, the possibility for access to

voting to be a non-partisan issue is extremely slim.