The Five Branches of Government

We all learned in high school that there are three branches of government. The Legislative that makes laws. The Executive that carries out those laws and has a few other enumerated powers, war for example, and the Judiciary that makes sure that it all stays within the Constitution. Each one of these branches is working at least to some extent in its own interest. Getting re-elected for instance.
But there are two more branches of government.
We have always had the Media. It is so ubiquitous that it has been called the “fourth estate” since the early 1800’s. This branch benefits from controversy and discord and is working at least to some extent in its own interest.
In addition, since the government got into the fairness business about 1930 and has grown exponentially since then, we have the Bureaucracy. The institutions of government employ directly over three million people and they are working at least to some extent in their own interest. More government programs for instance.

Photo credit Gene Brogdon in Washington DC, July 2017.