Plural executive branch free essay sample

Arizona has a plural executive. Identify each of the constitutional officers included in Arizona’s plural executive in order of succession, as well as the two positions not included in succession. Finally, choose one position and explain at least two of the position’s duties and how the position could affect your daily life. A plural executive branch means that no single person has all the power and all officials are elected to their position. Most states have this process which differs from the country as a whole who only one has elected official, the president, and then appointed officials to support him/her. There elected members of the Arizona executive branch in order of succession are the governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and superintend of public instruction. There are two positions that are also elected offices but not included in succession. Those two offices are the state mine inspector and the state corporation commission which is made up of five people. The governor is the first among the equal elected officials and is assigned many powers by the constitution and is expected to be a stronger leader who effectively manages the state’s needs. One responsibility of â€Å"the governor is to be the official representative of the state to the nation and to the other states. † (Gawronski, 2010) This means that the governor is the face of the state and must represent the state to the national level. This can have an effect on the people that live within the state in a good and bad way. For example when Governor Brewer signed SB1070 it was thought by the rest of the nation that the majority of Arizona’s citizens were racist, this was a direct and misunderstand reflection of our Governor and state at a national and international level. People jumped to conclusions before understand what the SB1070 was trying to do. Our governor felt that since the National Government wasn’t holding to their federal laws that we as a state had to take matter into our own hands to help protect our state, law enforcement and neighborhoods from the drug cartels and smuggling of drugs. Governor Brewer’s responsibility to represent the state to the nation was tested by this example in a lot of ways due to the extreme response signing the bill got her. Another responsibility that the governor has is the power to appoint public officials. This directly affects the agencies, boards, and commission in the state. Some examples of the state agencies, that the Governor can appoint public officials to are DOC, DES, DOT, DHS, revenue, etc. Some of the boards that the governor can appoint public officials are cosmetology, education, nursing, etc. This can have an effect on many Arizona citizen’s. For example my husband is a PE Teacher, if the governor appoints a public official who does not see the importance of physical education being taught to our youth then my husband could potentially be out of a job. I have my license in cosmetology and if the governor were to appoint a public official that believes anyone with a cosmetology license must be practicing or cannot hold their license any longer that would take away the back security I have if I were ever to lose my job. Even though in a plural executive branch all the elected officials are seen as equals, the Governor is the first among those equals and probably hold the most responsibility. The responsibilities are pretty well divided but the Governor is the only elected official who has to represent the state on a national level. Reference Gawronski, D. (2010). An introduction to arizona history and government. (10 ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. 2. Executive branch members are minimally required to be at least 25 years old, 10-year citizens of the United States, and 5-year Arizona residents. Only two offices have further requirements. Describe the additional qualifications for these offices and briefly state whether you believe the current qualifications for members of the plural executive are sufficient. A successful answer will explain why executive qualifications were originally made so broad and whether this same perspective is still useful today. In order for an individual to become an elected official on the executive branch there are some specific requirements that must be met. The individual must be 25 years of age or older, are a 10 year citizen of the United State and a 5 year resident of Arizona. There are two offices that require further requirements, they are the attorney general and the state mine inspector. The attorney general is required to meet all the minimum requires as well as two additional requirements. One of the additional requirements is that the attorney general has to be qualified and admitted to the practice of law before the Arizona Supreme Court. This means that the individual elected to this office must have pasted the state boards for legal qualifications. Another additional requirement for the attorney general is that they cannot be in private practice during the term they are serving. These are two very important additional qualifications that the attorney general has to have. The citizens of the state would not want just anyone to be able to act as the attorney general. What if someone with no law qualifications was elected to office? They would not understand the duties of the job and what is legal, ethical and just. It is also important that the attorney general not be in private practice during the term they are serving because that could pose a conflict of interest in some cases. It can also be a distraction if the attorney general is in private practice they cannot fully devote their attention and time to the needs of the state job. The state mine inspector also has additional requirements that must be met before an individual can be elected to the office. The state mine inspector must be 30 years of age, have 7 years of prior underground mining experience and only has to be a resident of Arizona for 2 years. These are both important additional qualifications that must be met to be elected to the office. It’s important that the individual who is elected to this office have a significant amount of prior knowledge and experience in the mining industry before becoming the mine inspector. This knowledge will help the elected official know what are acceptable and unacceptable working conditions that pertain to the health and safety of the mine workers. It makes sense the age requirement be a bit older to make sure the elected official had the appropriate amount of experience in the field. The requirements for elected officials were originally made so board to centralize authority and keep the governor at the people’s control. The founding fathers wanted all people to have a voice and participation in the government actions this way people’s rights were protected. â€Å"They believed that anyone with average ability and with ordinary effort could perform the functions of most government offices. † (Gawronski, 2010) I believe that this thought and theory is still relevant today, but unfortunately doesn’t happen very often, when an average person is elected to an elected government office. Reference Gawronski, D. (2010). An introduction to arizona history and government. (10 ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. 3. Describe the three levels of jurisdiction in Arizona. Explain what courts make up each level and create an example of the type of case that could be heard by each court. There are three levels of jurisdiction in Arizona; the limited jurisdiction courts, the general jurisdiction courts and the appellate courts. Each of the three levels of courts is limited on the types of cases that can be held and tried within that specific type of court. In the limited jurisdiction court level there are two different types of courts; Justice of the Peace Courts and Municipal Courts. In a Justice of the Peace Court the elected official does not have to be an attorney but must be 18 years of age, be a resident of the state, and an elector in the precinct elected in, and be able to read and write English. Once elected the Justice of Peace will service a term of 4 years. In a Justice of the Peace Court they types are trials one might see consist of disputes that are less than $10,000 including evictions and landlord and tenant disputes. They also hear preliminary hearings on felonies in cases of assault and battery and underage drinking. They also hear civil and criminal traffic violations. In the Municipal Courts the elected officials requirements are set by the individuals city’s charter; in some cities the judges are attorneys and in other’s they are not and in some cities the judges are appointed by the city council and serve a minimum of 2 years. Municipal Courts are also known as police courts since they are only able to try misdemeanors. In a Municipal Courts they types of trials that might be heard there can consist of a DUI, hit and run, or reckless driving where no serious injury occurred. The Superior Court of Arizona is the only general jurisdiction court. â€Å"It is a statewide trial court and is empowered to hear and decided a large variety of cases. † (Gawronski, 2010) The varieties of cases that may be heard in the general jurisdiction court include, matters of probate, actions to prevent or stop nuisances, and criminal cases amounting to a felony and misdemeanor cases not otherwise provided for by law. The requirements for a Superior Court judge must be 30 years of age, of good moral character, a resident of Arizona and admitted to the practice of law in Arizona for not less than 5 years. There are two types of appellate jurisdiction courts in Arizona the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Both of these courts hear appeals of trials that have been filed in one of the lower level courts. Generally a case from the Superior Court that has been appealed will be heard and tried in the Court of Appeals. Cases in which the sentence is life imprisonment or the death penalty will be heard only in the Supreme Court of Arizona. To be appointed to the Court of Appeals, an elected official must meet the same requirements as those in the Superior Court but will serve a 6 year term. The Supreme Court is the highest level of court in the state of Arizona. In the Supreme Court a judge must be of good moral character, admitted to practice law in Arizona and a resident of the stat for 10 years prior to taking office. There are a total of 5 different types of courts in Arizona, all hearing and trying different levels of cases. All judges in these courts have requirements that must be met, however the requirements become more specific the higher the level of the court. This is because the higher the level of the court the higher level of seriousness the case will be in the court. Reference Gawronski, D. (2010). An introduction to arizona history and government. (10 ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. 4. The merit selection system is used in the larger Arizona counties to select judges at the appellate and general jurisdiction levels. Explain how judges are nominated within this system and how a retention election works. In Maricopa and Pima county judges in the appellate and general jurisdiction levels are selected by a merit selection system and will be voted upon in a retention election within two years of being appointed. â€Å"Commissions on judicial appointments are the core of the merit selection system. † (Gawronski, 2010) There are three commissions that are responsible for making judicial appointments; one for the Superior Courts in Maricopa County, one for the Superior Courts in Pima County and one that appoints for the appellate courts. Each commission is made up of 16 individuals; 10 non-lawyers, 5 lawyers and the chief justice. When a vacancy occurs, nominations and applications are taken and then reviewed by the assigned commission. The commission then submits 3 names that are highly qualified to the Governor, and then the Governor appoints the next judge. After an initial two year term in office the appointed judge will be subject to a retention vote. This is where the appointed judges are place on a ballot and voters are given the power to remove or retain the judge that was appointed by the Governor. The merit selection and the retention elections are a way that the public can have a voice and a power to appoint and remove judges in the appellate and general jurisdiction levels of the Arizona courts. Though they may not have initially appointed a judge to serve because that is done through the merit selection process, after two year the voters have the chance to overturn that decision made through the retention election process. Reference Gawronski, D. (2010). An introduction to arizona history and government. (10 ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. 5. The Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review and the Commission on Judicial Conduct are two of the major bodies created by Arizona voters to ensure that judges within the state are well monitored. Explain the role of each commission in maintaining judicial honesty within the court system. There are two major bodies created in Arizona to ensure that judges within the state are well monitored are the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review and the Commission on Judicial Conduct. Each of the commissions is responsible for a different role in making sure the appointed judge are being held responsible and accountable for their actions, as well as gathering information on performance to deliver to the public. The Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review sets performance standards for judges, decides whether the judges are meeting the standards and reports their findings to the public for the judge is up for retention. These findings are published in a JRC report for voters to read so they can be educated when voting for judges on that appear on the ballot. The Judicial Conduct Commission acts on complaints that a judge has engaged in judicial misconduct in particular cases of situations. The primary job of the Judicial Commission is to make sure that judges are being ethical and being held accountable. This Commission even provides information on how to help judges stay ethical in their behavior. These two commissions gather information and hold each individual judge accountable to the importance of the job they hold. They provide information to the public voter to ensure they are educated and informed before they make a decision during a judge’s retention election. It is important for public to access and use this information to make sure they have an informed education before electing a judge to finish their term.