Checks and Balances When the framers of our revered Constitution came together to produce our governing system, they wanted to avoid the precedent of an all powerful entity that could control its citizens. They broke governments role into three important phases, which were the power to make laws, the power to interpret laws, and the ability to enforce them. To further decentralize these authority holding organizations, they created a system that allowed each of the three sections to have a say in each of the others ability to exercise said authority. This organization of overlapping power is referred to as a checks and balances system and was intended to create three equal powers to govern the United States. Over the years since its creation the initially equal powers have become unbalanced, but to understand how the scales have been tipped, one must understand each branches powers that allow them to carry out their mission, the powers that they have to balance out the other two branches, and the circumstances that have led to a change in the power equation. For any national government to maintain order and ensure freedom they must first legislate the policy to which they feel its citizens should follow. The first portion of our checks and balances system is the legislative branch of government. Their share of the overall authority is addressed in the first article of the Constitution because the framers "thought lawmaking was the most important function of a republican government" (Janda, Berry, Goldman, & Hula, 2009). This branch is referred to as Congress and is split into two sections, one is the House of Representatives and the other the Senate. Together these two sections have powers that are directly listed in ... ... middle of paper ... ...09). Congress is supposed to enact laws, and the ability of judges to modify them with court decisions shows how their power may extend past what the system of checks and balances had intended. The last aspect that shows how powerful this branch may be is the judges. Originally, the lifetime appointment was supposed to relieve them of pressures when deciding cases, but this serves as a double edged sword. Judges without fear of retribution shows the amount of power that they posses. Overall, the development of judicial review, judges lifetime appointment, and ability to modify laws has led to an unbalance of power by the Judicial Branch among the three branches of government. References Janda, K., Berry, J., Golman, J., & Hula, K. (2009). The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in a Global World. Boston: Wadsworth.
September 17, 1787, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; during the heat of summer, in a stuffy assembly room of Independence Hall, a group of delegates gathered. After four months of closed-door quorums, a four page, hand written document was signed by thirty-nine attendees of the Constitutional Convention. This document, has come to be considered, by many, the framework to the greatest form of government every known; the Constitution of the United States. One of the first of its kind, the Constitution laid out the frame work for the government we know today. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people; constructed of three branches; each branch charged with their own responsibilities. Article one established the Congress or Legislative branch, which would be charged with legislative powers. Article two created the Executive branch, providing chief executive powers to a president, who would act in the capacity of Commander in Chief of the Country’s military forces. The President of the United States also acts as head of state to foreign nations and may establish treaties and foreign policies. Additionally, the President and the departments within the Executive branch were established as the arm of government that is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress. Thirdly, under Article three of the Constitution, the Judicial branch was established, and consequently afforded the duty of interpreting the laws, determining the constitutionality of the laws, and apply it to individual cases. The separation of powers is paramount to the system of checks and balances among the three branches; however, although separate they must support the functions of the others. Because of this, the Legislative an...
The Founding Fathers were the political leaders who took part in the American Revolution and won American Independence from Great Britain in 1776. They also participated in framing and adopting the Constitution in 1788. They are known in our history books as “The Framers” and are responsible for putting the new government, outlined in the new Constitution into effect. The framers were afraid of majority rule, so they created three separate branches of the government; Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Each branch had their own powers, along with the ability to have some control over the other branches. The three branches ultimately work together to give us the government we know today. The following will explain the responsibilities and restrictions each branch of government are given, and how they ‘check and balance’ each other.
Judicial Branches basic job is to determine if laws or acts are unconstitutional. Subsequently, the U.S. Judicial branch checks both the Executive and Legislative branch through checks and balances. The judicial branch has the ability to rule presidential actions unconstitutional and has its judges serve for life. The Judicial Branch can also declare and interpret laws written by the Legislative Branch, and signed by the Executive Branch, unconstitutional. One example of the Judicial Branch checking the Executive Branch was in Late 2014 when the Judicial Branch declared Obama’s immigration acts unconstitutional. This allows the Judicial Branch to check the Executive Branch by allowing laws passed by the Executive Branch to be unconstitutional and not be
The backbone of American politics is derived from the concept of democracy, where the people govern themselves, understanding this concept is vital to the policy making process. The president and congress should have equal jurisdiction in policymaking, Constitutional checks and balances were created by the founders to keep one branch from gaining unequal power over the other. Under very specific circumstances, such as , powers of each branch may be altered. The constitution can be interpreted in many ways and each interpretation has sparked debate over whether the president or congress has more influence over policy making.
The farmers of our Constitution recognized the need for separate powers as well as checks and balances among the executive, legislative and judicial branches. This in turn helps to "provide for the common defense". Separation of powers prevents one branch from becoming excessively dominant over the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.: In order to accede to the preamble and adhere in its goals, the Constitution ensures this is by clearly stating the authority of the Congress in Article I Section 8 and the authority of the President in Article II Section 2. These fixed powers in the Constitution clearly state that one cannot act without permission or authorization of another. It is designed to that one cannot take action without consent of the other branch. This is prevalent in Article I Section 7 that states the process of how a law is passed. The fact that there are clear steps to the initiation of a law states the importance of separation of powers so that a single dominant branch does not arise.
Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey M. Berry and Jerry Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
The Constitution attempted to limit the power of central government through intricate checks and balances. A key principle was separation of powers: those who make laws, enforce laws, and interpret laws should be substantially independent and capable of limiting each other's power. The two houses of Congress provide a check on each other. The President can veto legislation, but he can be overruled by a two-thirds majority in both houses. The judiciary can strike down laws considered unconstitutional. Proposed amendments become part of the Constitution when approved by two-thirds of Congress and by legislatures in three-quarters of the states.
1. Janda, Kenneth. The Challenge of Democracy. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA. 1999. (Chapter 3 & 4).
Janda, Kenneth. Berry, Jeffrey. Goldman, Jerry (2008). The Challenge of Democracy (9th ed.). Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
The three branches of government have different responsibilities that intertwine and have developed over time. Through the learning curve, laws, policies, and the articles have changed in order to improve the country and make the nation more united. The rights of citizens became an important aspect to show equality, even if total equality has not been achieved yet. Although each branch of government has alternate responsibilities, the system of checks and balances works towards keeping each branch in place. However, through these developments, corruptness has taken place in the government and has prevented beneficial change from impacting the society. Due to this, there is ambivalence involving the necessity of the Congress. Change and learning
The three branches of the federal government is the Legislative, Judicial, and the Executive branch. According to the federalist papers, the Legislative branch is the strongest branch since they enact laws, therefore, by cutting the legislative branch in half by creating a Senate and a House of representatives, it makes the separation of powers more of a level playing field. Furthermore, the Judicial branch is considered the weakest out of the three since it has "...no influence over either the sword or the purse... can take no active resolution whatever... neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must... depend upon the aid of the executive arm... for... judgments” (Hamilton, Federalist 78) This means that it has no monetary or military power and that it relies directly on the legislative and executive branches to follow their rulings which makes sure that the government does not have too much power individually. Therefore, since it is the weakest branch, the court has the power of judicial review, which is the ability to decide whether acts by the other branches are constitutional or not (Hamilton, Federalist 78). Furthermore, one should not be concerned about the use of excess of power since according to Hamilton these are good people who aren’t influenced by outside sources other than the constitution. The separation of these three branches creates a system of checks and balances in which each individual form of government is independent of one another and is able to ensure that each other do not step out of line (Hamilton, Federalist
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.
This is explicitly why the legislative branch is the most powerful. The judicial and executive branches play only brief roles in the process of making laws. The executive branch just has the president veto or approve the law, and the judicial branch only decides if it’s constitutional. The legislative branch, however, actually drafts the law and its consequences. They proceed to vote and if the house of representatives and the Senate agree, then it goes to the president. If he approves the law it becomes a law, if he vetoes it goes back to Congress. Even if the president vetoes a law, Congress can override it with a two-thirds vote and still make the law, giving Congress the upper hand. In short, Congress has more power and say in what our laws are then the executive and judicial
One example is the Attorney General’s office was caught spying on reporters, threatening the freedom of the press. This does not necessarily mean that the judicial branch is not sufficiently separated from the executive and judicial branches, but due to the separation of powers, checks and balances can be applied in this situation. Because the judicial branch took actions that violate American citizens’ constitutional rights by threatening the freedom of the press, the executive and legislative branches have the power to prevent the judicial branch from taking such actions again. They have the power to protect the rights of the people, and to protect the abuse of power by one branch of