...Principles and Articles of the United States Constitution Tammie Johnson Grand Canyon University: POS 301 June 19, 2013 Principles and Articles of the United States Constitution Principles of the Constitution | Self-Government | The principle where the people are the decisive source of governing authority and decisions are made based on majority rules (Patterson, 2011). | Separation of Powers | The principle used for the allocation of power among the legislative, executive, and the judicial branches that outline the responsibilities of each branch. | Checks and Balances | A system of the government used to preserve a balance of power among the three branches of government so no one branch can over-power the other two. | In the United States, the federal government uses a system called checks and balances to ensure that the three branches of government are working equally and that no one branch becomes superior over the other two. The three branches that are based on the principle of separated institutions sharing power are the legislative, executive and judicial. Each branch has powers that it can use to check and balance the operations and power of the other two branches (Kelly, 2013, para. 1). What makes this system effective is that each branch must be willing to compromise to ensure the American people needs are put first and the safety and security of the nation is constantly being enforced. For instance in an attempt to limit the power that each branch...
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...POS-301: Principles and Articles of the United States Constitution Worksheet Part I: Principles of the Constitution The constitution consists of some primary principles. Briefly explain the following principles and their significance in shaping American government. • Self-Government: Self- Government is when the people of a country get to create their own rules and doesn’t have outside governments making decisions for them. This helped shape the American government by giving citizens of our country the responsibility to and the right to have a say in the rules that are being created. • Separation of Powers: Separation of Powers is when the government shares power between the three branches which are executive, legislative, and judicial. This helped shape the American government by making sure that powers weren’t being abused. Separation of Power is also a part of Checks and Balances. • Checks and Balances: Checks and Balances is when the U.S. Constitution divides the government into the three branches executive, legislative, and judicial to make a decision for our country. This helped shape American government because not only on branch could say yes or no on a decision, one may say no and two may say yes two might veto a decision and on may not but a decision has to be made by the three branches. Part II: Balance of Power In the space below, write an analysis of approximately 250 words on how the system of checks and balances in the federal government...
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...fundamental principle that underlies the three branches of government establish by the Philippine constitution. a) Be able to explain the meaning and purpose of the principle of separation of powers. Separation of power describes the distribution of the executive, judicial, and legislative responsibilities of a government among separate and distinct branches. b) Be able to explain the status and the nature of the relationship of the three branches. The three branches of the government operates independently of the others. This is known as “the separation power” c) What is the principle of blending of power? Blending of power is actually sharing of power of the different department of the government whereby one department helps and coordinates with the other in the exercise of a particular power, function, or responsibility. 2. Be able to: a) Explain the principle of check and balance. "Checks and balances" is a concept set up in the whereby the various powers of any government are divided into 3 separate branches with no one branch having all of such powers. b) What are the purposes of the principle of the check and balance? The purpose of the principle of the check and balance is it guarantees that no part of the government becomes too powerful. For example, 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...
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...How Does the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny? We fought the American Revolution to get rid of tyranny of being under a king. After the Revolution, we created a new system of government outlined in our Constitution. Fifty five delegates representing twelve different states got together in Philadelphia,1781 to fix our government. How does the constitution guard against tyranny, and what is tyranny? Tyranny is when a person or group of people have too much power. The constitution guarded against tyranny by establishing a new government that included the principle of Checks and Balances. One of the principles that guards against tyranny is Checks and Balances. This means there are certain ways that branches of the government can check on...
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...that has fair and equal principles, and that uses those principles to solve its social problems. I believe that the government of the United States is a good government because it enforces its public policies in a just way, it is a democratic system, and it was influenced by history. The government of the United States is a democratic government. This means that “the people” runs the government. One of the five values of democracy is worth of the individual. This means that the government values each and every one of the individuals live in this country. The second of the five basic principles of democracy is the equality of all persons, which means that all people in this country will receive a fair an equal judicial process. The third of these principles is majority rule/minority rights. This basic principle is evident in our legislature and in voting. The forth principal is necessity to compromise, which is evident in the compromises in the constitution. The last, and most important of the principles is individual freedom. The United States is known for its freedom and this principle is proof of it. A good government should be representative because if it is ruled “by the people”, it is the people that should elect their officials. The United States is divided into three branches: Legislative, judicial, and executive. These three branches are technically separate but they work together to keep the government up and running. The legislative branch in in charge of making...
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...POS-301: Principles and Articles of the United States Constitution Worksheet Part I: Principles of the Constitution The constitution consists of some primary principles. Briefly explain the following principles and their significance in shaping American government. * Self-Government: Is the most important principle in the Constitution of the United States and refers to the need to have a system which would make sure that everyone has a voice in the local, state and national governments.(www.4uth.gov.ua) Separation of Powers: Each branch is responsible for their job. Separation of power establishes that one person or group of people could not control the government alone. The Constitution states the power of each branch and their functions are completely separate. No one gets too much power help things run smoothly.(www.nationalparalegal.edu) * Checks and Balances: Ensure that no people can control the government alone. Because each branch has separate power, they can check and balance each other to make sure that the best interests of all people are served, rather than only the interest of a small group. Check and balances specifically assigns power to the states, but only what has not been delegated to the federal government (PATimes, 2014). This intergovernmental relationship was created to ensure that the people’s voices would be heard through their elected representatives. Part II: Balance of...
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...The United States is a democracy. A democracy is a form of government where the people vote to make decisions. This form of government can be found in different countries around the world; however, the U.S. is one of the oldest countries with a democracy. The Constitution was written using five different principles of democracy. Three of the five principles are separation of powers, checks and balance, and federalism. Separation of powers is the fact that the federal government is divided into three different branches. We learn at a young age that the federal government is made up of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Having three different branches helps the power be spread out. Each branch as its own powers and responsibilities....
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...Do you know how the constitution guards against tyranny?A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. The constitution for the us was wrote on June 21, 1788 in Philadelphia at the Convention.Tyranny is the cruel and oppressive government or rule. The Constitution guards against tyranny by using four important practices: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and by ensuring representation of large and small states. Federalism divides power between a central government and the state governments. Our federal government has three parts. They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts). The President of the United States administers the Executive Branch of our government.The two bottom corners are the Judicial Branch and the Legislative Branch – also called Congress. Each part of the government is connected to the other. Each has its own responsibilities and powers. A system of checks and balances prevents one branch from gaining too much power....
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...government outline is laid out in the Constitution, making the United States one of the first modern national constitutional republic, with the principle that all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. One hundred and fifty nine later in 1947, the Japanese Constitution was formed, following closely in the form of the United States government; with the three principles of sovereignty of the people, respect for fundamental human rights, and renunciation of war. Both of these unique governments are separated into three different powerful branches; the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. However, the way that three branches are ran within these two nations differ. The purpose of this essay is to examine these branches, and identify the differences between the two governments. The executive branch of the United States, is the over seer of the United States. As commander in chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, the president is the leader of the country. The president has the power to convene Congress, appoint ambassadors to other nations; appoint Supreme Court justices and other federal judges, and is expected to carry out and enforce laws of the United States. Meanwhile in Japan, the Executive power falls in the hands of a prime minister. The prime minister is designated by the National Diet, Japan’s legislative branch. The prime minister has the power to present bills to the Diet, sign laws, declare a state emergency and can dismiss members of the House...
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...government outline is laid out in the Constitution, making the United States one of the first modern national constitutional republic, with the principle that all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. One hundred and fifty nine later in 1947, the Japanese Constitution was formed, following closely in the form of the United States government; with the three principles of sovereignty of the people, respect for fundamental human rights, and renunciation of war. Both of these unique governments are separated into three different powerful branches; the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. However, the way that three branches are ran within these two nations differ. The purpose of this essay is to examine these branches, and identify the differences between the two governments. The executive branch of the United States, is the over seer of the United States. As commander in chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, the president is the leader of the country. The president has the power to convene Congress, appoint ambassadors to other nations; appoint Supreme Court justices and other federal judges, and is expected to carry out and enforce laws of the United States. Meanwhile in Japan, the Executive power falls in the hands of a prime minister. The prime minister is designated by the National Diet, Japan’s legislative branch. The prime minister has the power to present bills to the Diet, sign laws, declare a state emergency and can dismiss members of the House...
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...Government What are the main principles embodied in the U.S Constitution? Here are a few principles embodied in the U.S. Constitution Federalism “Federalism is a system for organization government that is based on a geographic division of power (Volkomer).” Basically the national government has authority over the entire territory and the regional government has authority within its own area. Separation of Powers Divided powers of the state and the national government were separated into three branches. The first three articles made this possible. First is the legislative branch. According to article 1 “all legislative Powers shall be vested in a Congress of the U.S” (Volkomer). The second is the executive branch. Article II states “executive Power shall be vested in a president of the U.S” (Volkomer). The Judicial is the last branch. Under Article III “the judicial Power of the U.S. shall be invested in one supreme Court.” Checks and Balances Checks and Balances is a system for organizing the government and power is shared by the legislative, executive, judicial branches. Its main purpose is to limit the power of government by making the 3 branches process the same power over each other activities. Judicial Review Judicial review means the court has the power to declare legislative and executive actions unconstitutional. The Supreme Court can review the legislative and executive and determine whether the acts are within the Constitution. Popular Sovereignty Popular...
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...Principles and Articles of the Constitution Part One: Table of Primary Principles of the US Constitution Self-Government | Self-government is government that is provided by or voted on by the inhabitants of the country or group as opposed to having external governing forces. The Constitution names Self-government as the ultimate and proper means of government. The US uses majority rule as part of self-government. | Separation of Powers | Separation of powers is the division of governing powers among separate branches of the government. This idea was widely favored as many states started drafting their governments and was used as a founding principle of the US Constitution. Basically, separation of powers assigns one group of people as task and another group another task. This helps in many ways, primarily it makes sure that each group is skilled at the powers assigned to them. It also paves the way for Checks and Balances. | Checks and Balances | Checks and Balances is an elaborate system that is written into the US Constitution that requires the divided branches of government to all work together to make any major decisions. Originally, this system was designed so that no one branch of government overpowered the others. A single branch cannot act decisively without the support of the other branches. The three branches of government in the US are designed to overlap so that Checks and Balances can succeed. | Checks and Balances Over the years, the US system...
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...sought to realize the fundamental principle on which our nation was founded. This was the start of the government we now know and still honor today. As our school children say every morning in class, as our founding fathers wished for us, that all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This paper will answer a handful of questions such as; what were the reasons our forefathers divided the government into the legislative, judicial, and executive branches? How are the three branches of the U.S. government supposed to interact? Is the system successful? Why or why not? Are the branches balanced in power? How was the conflict between supporters of a strong federal government and champions of states’ rights characterized then as opposed to now? How could things have been designed more efficiently, if at all? Our founding fathers divided the government into three separate branches was because they planned to implement a democratic government that would work to serve the citizens and not regulate them. In other words, the founding fathers wanted to devise an organization where no single individual or assembly would have too much authority. Basically they didn’t want one person to have too much power. The founding fathers saw how having one person with a lot of power was a bad idea, since this was the issue with the British king. The branches of the government are legislative, executive, and judicial branch. These three branches work...
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...colonial America by the British (Trethan). Three Branches of Government With this thought in mind the founding Fathers of the United States came up with what Americans know now as the Federalist governing system. This Federalist government consists of the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Each of these branches has its own distinct and essential duties to perform in the function of the United States government (Trethan). Executive Branch The executive branches of the United States government consist of the president, vice-president, and 15 cabinet level departments. These 15 cabinet level departments include the State, Defense, Interior, Transportation, and Education. The chief point of power is in the hands of the president. The president chooses his vice president, cabinet members, and appoints the Supreme Court Justices. The primary function of the executive branch is to ensure the laws are carried out, the constitution is followed, and that the day to day operations like collecting taxes, homeland security, and representing the United States political and economic interest around the world (Trethan). Legislative Branch The Legislative branch of the new Federalist based government consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which form the United States Congress. Article 1 of the Constitution grants the Congress...
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...legislative, executive and judicial branches of the government. These three branches are the main organs of the government. The legislative branch makes the laws, executive enforces the laws and judicial applies them to the specific cases that arise out of the breach of law. While each branch works individually in performing their tasks it tends to interfere in the sphere of working of another functionary because a strict demarcation of functions is not possible in their dealings with the general public. Even when acting in ambit of their own power, overlapping functions tend to appear among the branches. It is important that the political system to be stable and that the power need to be balanced off against each other. The separation of power deals with the mutual relations among the three branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary. The Constitution was written to bring forth a functioning sense of the three branches and hence a strict demarcation of power is the aim sought to be achieved by this principle. The constitution signifies the fact that one person or one body should not excess all the three powers of the government. A French scholar by the name of Montesquieu found that concentration of power in one person or a group results in tyranny. Montesquieu felt the need for decentralization of power to check arbitrariness. He felt the need to divide the government’s power into three branches. The principle implies that each branch should be independent...
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