The US Constitution

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Recommended: Separation of powers and the system of checks and balances

The plan to divide the government into three branches was proposed by James Madison, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He modeled the division from who he referred to as ‘the Perfect Governor,’ as he read Isaiah 33:22; “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us.” http://www.eadshome.com/QuotesoftheFounders.htm The founding fathers of the American Constitution divided the government up into the following three branches to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist; legislative, judicial, and executive. The three braches were created by the Constitution: Article 1, Legislative branch made up of the House and the Senate, collectively known as Congress; Article 2, Executive branch, or President; Article 3, Judicial branch, made up of the federal courts and the Supreme Court. This was done in efforts to distribute power amongst the three so that one would not have more power than the other. Each branch has the ability to check the power of the other branches. This power check of the other branches is referred to as the checks and balances, better known as the Separation of Powers. This was to prevent tyriny. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_did_the_forefathers_of_America_divided_the_government_into_the_legislative_branches Separation of Powers It has been said that the U.S. Constitution is deliberately inefficient because of it forces the other branches to check the powers eliminating one becoming more dominant than the other two. The three branches of government are legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch enacts federal laws on a national level in Congress, which is comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The executive bran... ... middle of paper ... ...lature by Judicial review and seats being held on good behavior. The Judicial has Executive branch by Judicial review and the Chief Justice is President of Senate during a presidential impeachment. Government by the People by James Burns, J.W. Peltason, and Thomas Cronin (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984) Constitutional Law by Daniel Hall (Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, Albany, NY, 1997). History of Separation of Powers The history behind the Separation of Powers is record as far back as ancient Greece. In comparison to the American System of government, other nations such as Britain, France, Canada, and Mexico are quite similar. The British Parliamentary system does not have two houses of the legislature; however it has the upper house called the House of Lords, which were comprised of Britain as in dukes, earls, viscounts, barons, and bishops.

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