Legislatures
So far, we've learned about two ways for states to arrange power: in unitary systems, power is centralized in a national or federal government, while in federal systems, power is shared between a central government and subunits of government. In this section, we will explore the ways states arrange power among the three primary branches of government. Generally speaking, executive branches of government enforce laws, judicial branches interpret laws, and legislatures make laws. In presidential systems, the executive branch and legislative branches are separate. In parliamentary systems, the executive and legislative branches are fused.