The constitution was designed over 2oo years ago on the principals of democracy. The structure of the constitution was designed to limit the power of the government and give freedom to the people. Three branches of government were formed to achieve this type of democratic system.They are known as the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches. These branches of government share responsibility in the power of governing but have the capability of questioning and checking the decisions of the other governing bodies. Due to this ability, the term “checks and balances” was created. This paper is written with the intent to defend the system as successful. Discussion The three co-equal branches of government work together by using their separate …show more content…
Policies are unable to be passed as law without the majority of votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate. If the majority in both bodies of Congress have passed the bill, then it is sent to the President to sign and approve. The President holds power under the Executive branch to veto a proposed bill. However, the veto can be negated by a two-thirds majority vote of both parties representing Congress. Although the President has authority over the military and foreign affairs, his power of authority has limitations, and a two-thirds majority vote in Congress is needed. The President is also dependent on Congress for the monetary approval of the budget and funding for federal departments under his management. Out of the three co-equal branches of government, the Legislative branch is known to have the strongest power. Fifty percent of the Constitution is comprised of seventeen powers, which are delegated to Congress. The President nominates the judges of the Supreme Court but is required to have the Senates approval for their appointment. Congress can impeach both the President and appointed members of the Justice system; however, this process needs warrant and be validated by the majority. The Judicial branch oversees that the actions of the Executive and Legislative bodies are within the law of the …show more content…
Never before in history, has each branch exercised their power to challenge the decision of the other branches as they are currently. A representation of this would be the Judicial branch is challenging the Executive orders about the travel ban and deciding if it is constitutional or not. Congress has had to use their two-thirds majority vote to override the President’s non-commital actions of not agreeing to sign the proposed bill regarding sanctions. The President is using executive orders to negate law put in place by previous administrations, and changing policies within federal departments. States are using the Judicial system to bring legal action against the federal government over questionable actions. Representatives of Congress are currently at odds with the Executive branch over the direction and agenda of the President. All of this chaos has divided our nation, however, because of the co-equal design of branches, our government is functioning without the threat of dissolution. Other countries who have experienced significant changes in government agenda, usually experience violence or a government
Checks and Balances. Checks and balances is a system that is a part of out U.S. Constitution. This system was put in to place so that no part of government would have too much power. The three branches: judicial, legislative and executive are constantly granting and checking the other branches actions, this is to make sure no one person can gain an excessive amount of control in government. For example according to ," the legislative branch is in charge of making laws. The executive branch can veto the law, thus making it harder for the legislative branch to pass the law. The judicial branch may also say that the law is unconstitutional and thus make sure it is not a law.The legislative branch can also remove a president or judge that is not doing his/her job properly. The executive branch appoints judges and the legislative branch approves the choice of the executive branch. Again, the branches check and balance each other so that no one branch has too much power".
The formal definition of checks and balances is a system that allows each branch of government the ability to counterbalance the influences of the other branches in order to prevent the concentration of power in only one branch, becoming a tyrant. James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No. 51 that “the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights.” For example, Congress passed a bill that would require federal and state gov...
The Executive Branch can veto bills from the Legislative Branch, but the Legislative Branch can override the veto. An example of our checks and balance system is Obama’s plan for military action that requires congressional checks and balances; therefore, Congress has a constitutional duty to debate and vote on Obama’s plan to expand the US role in Iraq and Syria.
For hundreds of years, politicians have searched for the perfect form of government to be the foundation onto which a strong and prosperous nation can be built. A Democracy is a form of government by the people. In a Democracy, a code of law is not required and the majority always rules. Similarly, in a Republic, the power of the government resides with the people. In addition, a Republic requires a code of law, which protects the minority by limiting the majority, and a system of checks and balances. In the New Nation era, the Sedition Act and the Revolution of the 1800s demonstrated the need for a code of law in order to prevent revolts. Furthermore, in the Jacksonian Era, Andrew Jackson’s abuse of power exhibited the importance of checks
According to John Acton in 1887, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”, meaning that if unlimited power is given to any one person, they can be corrupted by it. The framers of the Constitution recognized this and built in a plan to prevent this from happening and a result of this, the Constitution spreads power equally between the three branches of government: The Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. These built-in checks and balances are very important to our government, because they keep one branch from gaining too much power over another. This balance of power prevents any branch of our government from being “corrupted absolutely”. This thesis will argue that this part of the Constitution is as important today as it was when first
Within the Constitution, there are many features that are absolutely vital to the success of not only the longevity but success of the government it established. Certain features prevent one aspect of government becoming tyrannical in its power, and some establish the role of constituent states in policy making. While each of these is different, each with a similar role, each must be examined for the reasoning behind their addition to the Constitution. These specific additions are checks and balances, the separation of power, and Federalism.
In order to secure the rights of everyone, the system of checks and balances is necessary. It is not only for protection from the oppression of society’s rulers but also the injustice of one fraction of society to another. If the governed suspects that the legislative has abused its authority, such as using its powers for personal gains, then by the system of checks and balances, the people are allowed to allocate the legislative into new hands. This is a positive aspect of the constitution because it gives power to the people and not just those in the government. However, not all aspects of the system of checks and balances makes the constitution positive.
The principle of the separation of powers is that, in order to prevent oppressive government, the three powers of government should be held by separate bodies—the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary—which can act as checks and balances on each other. (Locke, 1690) Australia’s system of separation of powers (SOP) is a hybrid of the UK Westminster system of government and the American federal and constitutional features of government. This system of government was chosen because they provide essential philosophical and theoretical bases for which separation is essential and although this system incorporates the best aspects of the UK and US systems, many crossovers have been incorporated as a result. Consequently this shows vulnerability in the Australian federal and state system exposing it to exploitation, and mistreatment.
The legislative, executive, and judicial branches represent the constitutional infrastructure foreseen by the Founding Fathers for our nation 's governing body. Together, they work to maintain a system of lawmaking and administration based on checks and balances, and separation of powers intended to make certain that no individual or embodiment of government ever becomes too controlling. America is governed by a democratic government or a democracy which is a government by the people, in which the power is established in the people themselves. The people then elect representatives who carry out their power in a free electoral system. The United States government’s basic claim is to serve the people and only through a combined effort can we
The United States of America is one of the most powerful nation-states in the world today. The framers of the American Constitution spent a great deal of time and effort into making sure this power wasn’t too centralized in one aspect of the government. They created three branches of government to help maintain a checks and balance system. In this paper I will discuss these three branches, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial, for both the state and federal level.
The President planning to expand the role of the U.S. Military in Iraq and Syria is a recent example of the checks and balance’s system. For instance, a majority of Americans, 61 percent of Americans oppose placing US troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria (Nichols, 2014). Obamacare is another area that has gone through the checks and balances system. Obamacare is still a very controversial issue. It is known that Obamacare was originally unconstitutional simply due to the fact the government was forcing people to buy something from a private sector. The Judicial Branch should have immediately declined this bill. In 2014, Madison’s system of checks and balances enabled the House of Representatives to stand in the way of its effective implementation by Conservative Republicans using the system to bring the healthcare bill back on the agenda by refusing to pass the omnibus budget bill (Pinkowski, 2013). Government equestrian is another significant event that went through the checks and balances. All the different branches could not decide and compromise on the budget and the deficit. Military were not going to be paid and government employees initially lost their jobs. Fortunately, the system worked, and the government agreed and completed the budget before the
During the creation of the Constitution of the United States of America, the framers of this innovative document had the foresight to include the right of the American people to seek justice. For this reason, the attendants of the Constitutional Convention shaped the judicial branch of the United States government. This branch, along with the executive and legislative branches, each serve vital roles alone and in relation to one another to form the government of the United States. The purpose of this paper is to describe the judicial branch’s powers, functions, organization, outputs, and implementation of these outputs, as well as to discuss how these decisions come about and the accountability standards to which judges and courts
The United States is made up of three branches of government. They are Executive Branch, Judicial Branch and Legislative Branch. The Executive Branch is the power of the president, who is also the commander- in-chief of the military. The executive Branch carries out law made up by the President. The other parts of the Executive Branch are Vice President, and the cabinet. The Judicial Branch goes through the Supreme is responsible for administering laws of the states. The Judicial Branch makes up the court system. It makes up the Supreme Court and other Federal Courts. The Legislative Branch is responsible for the declaration of war and the right to confirm or deny Presidential appointments. The current president of 2017 is Donald J. Trump. The Vice President’s name is Mike Pence who is a republican just a Donald J. Trump. The Vice President supports the president, if the president should parish the Vice President can take over in the president’s place. The Cabinet are requested by the president and must be
American politics is often defined by a continuing power conflict between the executive and the legislative branches of the government. This struggle for political power between the two stronger branches of the three is inherent in the Constitution, itself. The concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances ensure that the branches of government will remain in conflict and provide a balance that keeps the entire government under control. As it was first established, the executive branch was much smaller and weaker than as we know it today. Consequently, the legislative branch was unquestionably dominant. Over the course of history, the executive branch grew in both size and power to the point where it occasionally overtook the legislative and today rivals the legislative in a much closer political battle. Today both branches have major factors that contribute to their power, but on the whole the legislative remains the lastingly dominant branch.
The United States government braces its power among three powerful branches, legislative, executive and judicial. These branches interact with one another to establish authority that is strong, yet equal to have power over the country. Each branch pursues certain responsibilities and duties to operate in an efficient and effective manner in which society upholds. The executive, legislative and judicial branches all interact amid each other to validate accuracy of the nation’s most powerful law of the land, the Constitution. It is important to know how these branches interact with each other to learn how a bill becomes a law. Reflecting on how the three branches promote a balance of power that is constructive to include the agendas and electoral roles that also plays a vast part in the government’s operation.