Which branch of govt enforces the laws?

Answer 1

Executive. Police and other law enforcement agencies are part of the Executive branch.

Legislative makes prospective laws. Judiciary interprets the laws and makes common law clarifications (judicial precedent).

Answer 2

The Executive Branch.

Answer 3

Unfortunately under the Bush administration it appears most agencies are breaking rather than enforcing the laws of the land.
The Department of Justice, ie., Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is supposed to be but it's being proven that he has different ideas of the role of his department.

Answer 4

It is the executive with the help of judicial.
Sure it is the cops(executive officials) who will arrest you, but you have to go through the court(judicial) to actually get thrown in jail.

Answer 5

Judicial.

Answer 6

In short, the branch in the US that enforces laws is the executive (i.e. local and state police are part of the executive branch), though there is a balance of power which I will attempt to explain in greater detail.

While the legislature is responsible for approving the laws of a state, it does not usually, on its own, have the capacity to enforce them, notably in terms of employees and other infrastructure. The necessity to enforce a law if it is to be effective imposes a degree of cooperation between the legislature and the executive: the legislature may vote "free beer for all", but the executive would be in its role to ask "who pays the brewer?" In many countries the executive has the power to veto some or all types of legislation, or at least to delay their approval by insisting on a longer debate of the consequences.

Under the Westminster system, the Prime Minister and other ministers are members of the legislature, and in other parliamentary systems the executive is usually headed by the party or parties which control a majority in the legislature. This gives the executive some control over the legislation which is passed, but this control is rarely absolute in a democracy. In presidential systems, the executive and the legislature may be controlled by different political parties, a situation known as cohabitation: both sides must arrive at a compromise to allow the government to continue to function, although complete blockage is rare.

In general, the legislature has a supervisory role over the actions of the executive, and may replace the Head of Government and/or individual ministers by a vote of (no) confidence or a procedure of impeachment. On the other hand, a legislature which refuses to cooperate with the executive, for example by refusing to vote a budget or otherwise starving the executive of funds, may be dissolved by the Head of State, leading to new elections.

The legislature usually delegates some legislative power to the executive, notably to issue regulations or executive orders which complete a piece of legislation with technical details or points which might change frequently (e.g. fees for government services). The executive may also have powers to issue legislation during a state of emergency.


Relation to the judiciary
In principle, the executive is subject to the law (except in a dictatorship). However the exact powers of the judiciary to supervise the executive vary from country to country. The laws which apply specifically to the executive are known as administrative law, although this should not be taken to imply that the executive is exempt from other laws such as human rights or the rules of war. In some cases, the decisions of the executive may be challenged in court, a procedure known as judicial review: in general, the judiciary has the power to censure the executive in specific individual cases, while it is for the legislature to supervise the executive on a more general (and political) level.

As with the legislature, the judiciary cannot enforce its decisions without the help of the executive (e.g. police force, prison service). The executive is also responsible for providing courthouses and paying the salaries of judges: this technical management of the judicial system is the responsibility of the justice minister, sometimes called the attorney general.

In some countries, the executive is responsible for taking legal action in the public interest, for example prosecuting criminals or protecting the interests of those who cannot defend themselves (e.g. children or the mentally handicapped). In other countries, these functions are under the direct responsibility of the legislature or the judiciary, although the executive is still usually responsible for the day-to-day management (e.g. providing offices and paying salaries).

Most countries have safeguards to protect the independence of the judiciary from the executive, such as the impossibility of the executive to dismiss a judge. Similar safeguards may apply to other categories of government employees, in order to allow them to conduct their functions without undue political pressure. In return, judges and government employees may be expected not to take part in active politics themselves.


Local government
Individual states or provinces in a federal system have their own executives, legislatures and judiciaries in addition to the corresponding bodies at federal level. Even in non-federal systems, all but the smallest of countries have some form of local government, although legislative and (especially) judicial powers are often very limited. The distribution of executive powers between central and local government varies widely between different countries: for example, policing and education are local responsibilities in the United Kingdom but central responsibilities in France. An extreme example is Switzerland, where nationality, a central government responsibility in almost all other countries, is a matter for individual municipalities (albeit with federal minimum standards).

Local government may be funded through local taxes (often property taxes), through a grant from the central government or through a combination of the two. The head of the local executive of a municipality is usually known as the mayor; various terms exist for the head of the executive at other levels of local government. The local executive is usually supervised by an elected council, which is responsible for setting the rates of local taxes (where these exist, and often only to a limited extent) and for approving the budget of the local executive. The central government may also have a supervisory role, which may go as far as the power to dissolve the local government completely in exceptional cases.

As mentioned above, it is essential to consider the different roles of local (or State) government when comparing the roles of the executives in different countries: the provision of public education is an executive function whether it is provided by the central government (France), state governments (Germany), local education authorities (England and Wales) or school boards (United states).

I hope that helped!

Answer 7

justice department when they're not breaking the law themselves.

Answer 8

legislative i believe!

Kimberly<3

Answer 9

the ones with guns.