Both of them comprise of the three arms of government, including the Legislative body, the executive, and the judiciary. In both cases, the legislature would appoint people to serve in the executive branch. In New Jersey, the executive branch of government had the main role of appointing the top most judges, including those of the Supreme Court.
Virginia Plan is made up of two houses in the legislature, meaning that it is bicameral while the New Jersey Plan has one house meaning unicameral. Under the New Jersey Plan, states have to be represented uniformly by making sure that all of them have the same powers, whereas, in the Virginia Plan, the House of Representatives are chosen by the populace. The Senate is chosen by the house of representative members.
In the Virginia Plan, the first branch of the National legislature is elected by the people and serves for three years while members of the second branch are chosen by individual legislatures and are expected to be at least thirty years of age and would serve for seven years. In the New Jersey Plan, the term period is not stated. This would, therefore, be done when need to do so arose.
In the Virginia Plan, the rights of an individual related to suffrage are made based on the regulations found in the articles of confederation, but they must agree with the recommended ratio of representation. This includes those bounded to servitude for a fixed period and three-fifths of all other persons not included in the description apart from the Indians who never pay taxes to any of the states. These rights are similarly incorporated in the New Jersey Plan and thus the procedure is similar in both cases.
Furthermore, the decision-making organ has the right to influence the Legislative Act thus it would be complicated to approve any bill unless it is supported by two-thirds of every branch of the parliament under the Virginia Plan. On the other hand, the New Jersey Plan proposes that powers vested in the Congress would not be exercised without the consent of at least a certain number of the states.
The executive is headed by a single person chosen by the legislature for a term of seven years with the powers to execute the national laws and appointing officers to sever in various positions. The office holders would be ineligible for reappointment to serve the second term and would be removable if found guilty of gross misconduct and failing to execute the important duties, as laid out in the constitution. Payment would be accessible for the time dedicated to civil service and would be paid by the state-run treasury. This is according to the Virginia Plan.
In relation to the New Jersey Plan, the executive is elected by the legislature for a certain period of time. The executive would be charged with the responsibility of appointing all federal offices not catered for and also direct all military operations. The head of the executive would be incapable of taking command of any troops in order to personally carry out any business in general or in a different capacity.
The United States Congress would be denied the power of holding any other office in the executive while they were still in service and would be considered ineligible to serve for the second term. They would also be removable by Congress if it is confirmed that they violated the constitution. Virginia Plan state that National Judiciary would be composed of one Supreme Tribunal and the judges would be appointed by the second branch of the Legislature. They were expected to behave in a manner that befits their positions as top government officials meaning that they had to avoid any controversy with other members of the executive.
Finally, amendments offered by Convention to the confederation would be made available in time for submission to Assemblies to consider and decide on them. Under the New Jersey Plan, the federal judiciary would consist of a Supreme Tribunal and its judges would be appointed by the executive and their meetings would be held in good behavior.
Moreover, they would receive their fixed compensation punctually at the stated times. They would hear and determine impeachments of officers, appeal in cases of rights of ambassadors, cases of capture from enemies, piracy cases, and in cases touching on the foreign policy and international matters.
Conclusion
The Virginia Plan advocated for more powers for the Federation government. This could be seen in the various roles of the Legislature, which are more detailed than those of the New Jersey. They would have the power in legislating laws to be used in all localities in which the states are incompetent. This was aimed at preventing the disruption of the harmony of the United States. It also had two branches of government assigned different tasks as compared to that of the New Jersey, which had no branches.