RYLEE SOMMERS-FLANAGAN Our nationâs founders understood that to consolidate unchecked power in any individual or single branch of government was a key ingredient in the recipe for creating a tyrannical state. So, in framing the constitutions that underpin both our countryâs government and our stateâs, the founding representatives of our people distributed power among three branches, creating a system of institutional checks and balances. Put simply, the legislature makes the law, the executive enforces the law, and the judiciary interprets the law. Elections are meant to yield legislators who represent the vision and will of the people, but like members of the executive and judiciary, lawmakers swear to uphold the constitutions under which they serve.