Federalist No. 66 has me seeking opinions on a few questions. Specifically it got me asking which of the four elements of our federal government (the Executive, the Judicial, the Senate, and the House) is the most powerful? Which Should be the most powerful? The founders clearly had some idea about which they thought should be the most powerful:
that the most POPULAR branch of every government, partaking of the republican genius, by being generally the favorite of the people, will be as generally a full match, if not an overmatch, for every other member of the Government. (emphasis original)
Their expectation was for the House to exert the most influence, but to be sufficiently checked to prevent it from becoming a law unto itself.
The wording of the above quote also got me thinking about two other questions. In this day of low approval ratings (not as low now as they were six months ago), which of the four is the most popular? Is that most popular one the most powerful?
I suspect that the most popular of them is the Executive branch now – last year it might well have been the Judicial branch. I am fairly confident that one of those two branches is generally the most powerful, although I’m not sure that it is always the same one of those who that holds the upper hand.
