I'm writing an essay on how the three branches affect our government. What do I put for the executive branch?

There are many things that you can say for how the executive branch affects government.  It is the source of most of our leadership and ideas.  It is also the main force in foreign affairs.  Finally, it implements all the laws that Congress passes.  All of this makes it rather important.

In our system as it stands today, most leadership comes from the president.  The president is much better-known than anyone in Congress.  People expect...

There are many things that you can say for how the executive branch affects government.  It is the source of most of our leadership and ideas.  It is also the main force in foreign affairs.  Finally, it implements all the laws that Congress passes.  All of this makes it rather important.

In our system as it stands today, most leadership comes from the president.  The president is much better-known than anyone in Congress.  People expect the president to be the one to come up with major ideas and proposals.  Big changes in our government rarely come about because someone in Congress suggests them.  This is a major role that the executive branch plays in our system.

Our system also gives the executive branch the greatest power in foreign affairs.  Presidents do have to get Congress’s consent if they want to declare war and the consent of the Senate if they want to make a treaty, but there is much that they can do without this consent.  For example, President Obama’s deal with Iran is not a formal treaty and therefore does not need to be ratified by the Senate.  As another example, President Obama has essentially complete control over what our military does with respect to Syria. 

Finally, the executive branch carries out the laws once they are passed.  This is a much less visible power, but it is still important.  When Congress passes laws, someone has to be in charge of carrying them out.  This gives the executive branch power because that branch gets to decide exactly how the laws will be carried out.  It also makes the executive branch a vital part of our system because without it our laws could not be carried out.

In all of these ways, the executive branch affects our system.