- Our democratic system of government is separated into different levels and branches.

- The three levels of government -- federal, state and local -- all function to meet separate responsibilities.

- Each level of government is made up of three seperate branches, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial, with each exercising individual authority in order to serve the people of the community, state, and nation.

- Seperation of Powers: The division of political power between an executive, legislature, and judiciary. Under this model, each branch has seperate and independent powers and areas of responsibility; however, each branch is also able to place limits of the power extended by the other. Based on the belief no one branch of government should have too much power.

- Checks and Balances: The three branches of government operate as a system of checks and balances. "Checks" refers to the ability, right, and responsibility of each power to monitor the activities of the
other(s); "Balances" refers to the ability of each entity to use its authority to limit the powers of the others, whether in general scope or in particular cases.