...Locke’s doctrine on the separation of powers sought to create a commonwealth powerful enough to protect its own interest, but restrained enough that it couldn’t threaten the rights of its citizens. Based on Hobbes own arguments, he would almost certainly respond negatively to Locke’s ideas. Locke thought that the commonwealth’s main purpose is to protect the property of it’s people, “The great end of men’s entering into society, being the enjoyment of their properties in peace and safety” (11. 134). He sought to do this by dividing the commonwealths power into one supreme power, controlled by the people, and two other subordinate powers. These powers are the Legislative, the Executive, and the Federative. Each having the ability to carry out...
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...of the Prominent topics included in the Enlightenment phase was the concept of Separation of Power. The ideal created by Baron de Montesquieu, the concept was based on three separate branches: executive, judicial, and legislative, along with the concept of keeping them separate to form a more balanced government. With this concept, many different documents have been created supporting this ideal. Such as the U.S. Constitution, The Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801 and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of The Citizen. One of the highlighted ideals that were created during the Enlightenment period was Separation of Power. This was the concept of the three branches of government being separated and to be able to perform checks and balances. Congress makes the laws, but the President can “veto” or reject them and the Supreme Court can declare them unconstitutional. Thus, each branch is separate and serves a different purpose within the government as a whole. Baron de Montesquieu is the main creator of this idea. Baron de...
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...With reference to all the chapters in this module trace the beginnings of the doctrine of the separation of powers The idea of the separation of powers suggest that the governance of the country should not fall to one person, for example the King, and that this therefore, in turn, prevents there being any abuse of power. On the 15th June 1215 King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta. This meant that a person would only be answerable to the “lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land”. This was an important step towards the separation of powers because it diminished the power of the King and the first time he was, along with the rest of the country, subjected to the laws of the land. The Magna Carta was re-issued three times during the reign of Henry III who was the successor to King John, with the final one being issued in 1225. This Charter omitted certain clauses that allowed the nobles to vote and over rule a King however, it did establish a Parliament that had some powers to overlook a King’s decision. Amongst other things it also added fixed law Courts where people would be tried by a jury of their peers, and included clauses against corruption. This was an early version of our checks and balances system where no one person has absolute rule and it continued to develop during the reign of Edward I when Parliament began to take its modern form. Kings now had to accept that their rule very much depended upon the consent of their subjects and...
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...American Government Essay 8/17 Many different things have had an impact on the development of the United States. One of the U.S. biggest developments is its government. It has been brought up by different ideas and concepts in documents, like the Magna Carta or the English Bill of Rights, and people like Thomas Hobbes or John Locke. A few of the most influential concepts in the development of the U.S constitutional government is the freedom of the people, freedom to petition, and the separation of powers. The freedom of the people has been a key factor in the development of the U.S. constitutional. In this form of democracy, the people have the power. This was important to the development of the government because it gives people the hand in the way they want to live. They vote on who they choose to lead them, different laws they want to follow so they don’t feel like they are being controlled by the government or one appointed ruler. Another concept that was influential to the constitutional government of the U.S. is the freedom of petition. This is another way that the people have freedom. It was written in English Bill of Rights that that citizens had the right to petition the king without fear of arrest. It gives people the freedom of speech, to speak their mind without worrying about being arrested and prosecuted. When adding this to the constitutional government, it gave more power and freedom to the people. The separation of powers is the final key concept in the...
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...Legal Studies Essay ‘Discuss the importance of the separation of powers in upholding the rule of law in Australia.’ Upholding the rule of law in Australia retains an importance with confiding in the separation of powers, this can certainly be explored through the relationship between the Magna Carta and the legal concept of the Habeas corpus and the understanding of the separation in powers and how they uphold the rule of law. The relationship between The Magna Carta and the legal concept of Habeas Corpus is of close proportions as the Habeas Corpus roots from the 17th century adding a greater advancement in legal times toward the Magna Carta which was contextually developed in June 15, 1215, which King John set as a guarantee to all...
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...from an abusive government otherwise know as a tyrant. The U.S. Constitution protects its citizens from tyranny by having the separation of powers, using checks and balances, and through federalism. A way the U.S. Constitution protects the people from abusive rule is by using the separation of powers. James Madison, otherwise known as The Father of the Constitution, decided that in order to keep the government from becoming a tyrant, the government officials needed to separate the powers (Doc B). The separation of powers is basically the division of executive, judicial, and legislative branches. By separating these three branches, this would also divide up the powers that each branch obtained like the powers to make, execute, and interpret the laws. The colonists were nervous to do something like they had in Europe with a strong central government so they decided to make The Articles of Confederation as their set of laws (background essay). They had to be honest with themselves and realized that The Articles of Confederation just wasn’t working for them anymore. When they made the Constitution, it gave them a new stability by separating the branches and the powers given to them. With there being three branches, it was ensured that there was no way for one branch could be more powerful that the other. Furthermore, the separation of branches and the powers given to them ultimately led to The Articles of Confederation, becoming The Constitution and establish the people being protected...
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...The Basic Law or Grundgesetz for the Federal Republic of Germany was approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the western Allies of World War 2 on 12 May, came into effect on 23 May. The authors also ensured that human rights and human dignity was made the central and core part of the Basic Law. Key concepts in the basic law are principles of democracy, republicanism, federalism and social responsibility. These principles are constitutionally entrenched and they cannot be removed or repealed by the normal amendment process. Firstly this essay will look into what lead to the development of the new Basic Law and how the new parliamentary democracy was put into place with separation of powers into different branches of government. Secondly the essay will examine what were the specific changes from pre-1945 Germany and if which areas these changes were most visible. Here it will be important to look at the fundamentally differences from the Weimar Constitution, but also what the new Basic Law chose to keep from the Weimar Constitution. And why the authors of the Basic law felt that this was the safest way to construct a good state for all Germans where the sins of the past would never be repeated. In 1948 the three Western Allied military governors met in Frankfurt with the chief executive of the various states and “recommended” the calling of a constituent assembly by September 1, 1948, which was to draft a constitution for the three Western zones. None of the state...
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...make films “pretentious.” However, as we have seen in the case of Breillat, if one is a known director, there is a lesser possibility that one's film will be interpreted as pornographic, whereas if one is a young and relatively unknown filmmaker. It should be mentioned here that the separation between art and pornography is not a new phenomenon. Walter Kendrick brilliantly traces the origins of modern pornography in his book The Secret Museum(Kendrick 1988). He shows how ad hoc are many definitions of pornography, as well as authorities' decisions to classify some artworks as pornographic. Kendrick's book nicely shows how certain artifacts can be continuously moved from the category of pornography to art, and vice versa. Similarly, philosopher Hans Maes in his...
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...Essay 1: Separation of Church and State In discussing our American government on the issue of separating church and state, I believe it is important for our country to have a connection. One of the great freedoms we enjoy is religion. Before the United States of America was established, many fled from England because they were persecuted for their religion or felt the Church of England was corrupt. They sought freedom of religion on the American continent to be able to worship in their own ways. My ancestors were apart of this group of people that fled from religious persecution in Europe. The United States government should only stand to let the American people decide on a specific religion and how they choose to worship. The American government should be available to support and enforce the ideals represented in having freedom of religion. There has been long debate regarding separation of church and state, but to be able to engage in true separate of church and state is impossible. The ideals of both church and state are to be combined in moderation. James Madison discussed in his first inaugural address that his confidence rested “in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to the rising Republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplication and best hopes for the future” (Mckenna 284). If one...
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...In American discourse separation of powers is more a name than a description. None of the three branches (legislative, executive, or judicial) of the national government are clearly separate from one another. Congress, for example, has an impeachment club to check the others; the president's veto power is plainly legislative in nature. No wonder James Madison in The Federalist, no. 47, undertook to answer the Anti‐Federalist charge that “The several departments of power are [not separated but] blended in such a manner as at once to destroy all symmetry and beauty of form, and to expose some of the essential parts of the edifice to the danger of being crushed by the disproportionate weight of other parts.” Madison's answer was that Montesquieu—the “oracle” of separation—did not mean that “departments ought to have no partial agency in, or control over, the acts of each other.” He meant rather that “the whole power of one department [should not be] exercised by the same hands which possess the whole power of another department.” The merit of “blending,” according to Madison, was that, along with bicameralism and federalism, it produced a safety net of “checks and balances.” A crucial problem is that split power inevitably entails split accountability. No wonder then that so many difficulties in American government spring ultimately from its divided power system. In contrast, the parliamentary system seeks safety in clear, direct lines of electoral accountability—and less in a...
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...Limited Transcendence in the Human Condition An analysis of contradicting elements in selected personal essays of Virginia Woolf An author fascinated with boundaries, Virginia Woolf blurs the line between black and white in her essays The Death of the Moth and Street Haunting. In both essays she highlights opposing extremes: Street Haunting articulates the innate conflict of impulse and restraint, and The Death of the Moth articulates the enduring struggle between life and death, from which death always rises as the victor. The juxtaposition of these conflicting extremes as contradictory ultimately results in a dialectical synthesis of the two, proving that one is synergetic with the other. Through this synergy Woolf emphasizes the strength of the human condition to transcend the boundaries of its ambiguities, but clearly defines its inability to fully surpass the boundaries of the physical world. The Death of the Moth makes a piercingly clear point that life is futile in the face of its unfailing conqueror: death. Yet embedded at the heart of Woolf’s essay and thesis lies an inherent contradiction. Woolf constructs her essay to revolve around death’s victorious potency. Yet that is not enough. For, to glorify the power of death, she must also paint life as a substantial opponent to overcome. She does accomplish this purpose, describing the moth’s “gigantic effort…against a power of such magnitude” (Moth 2), a surprisingly fervent struggle originating from a frail and awkward body...
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...Assess the positive and the negative aspects of the United States political framework based on the ‘separation of powers’. The United States is a presidential democracy; its political framework is based on the separation of powers between the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of government. This is in contrast to a parliamentary democracy where there is a fusion of powers between branches of government 1. It is often argued that a parliamentary system of government based on a fusion of powers is a more effective form of government, particularly when legislating. Although this may be the case, the US political system has overcome issues faced by most parliamentary democracies such as elective dictatorships and poor scrutiny of the executive. This has been due to the structure of the US political system based on the separation of powers. In this essay I will assess the positive and the negative aspects of the US political system. I will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages the separation of powers has brought to the US system of government. I will first assess the positive aspects of the US political system. I will then discuss the negative aspects of the US political system, finally drawing a conclusion. The ‘separation of powers is a central structural feature of the United States constitution’ 2. The US political system was designed first and foremost to prevent tyranny, something the founding fathers still feared even after America had gained...
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...to wield enormous power. However, if we look closely, this claim is too simplistic given that the checks and balances principle inherent in the Constitution. This means that on a domestic level the President remains heavily constrained with the separation of powers ensuring that there exist many opportunities for the legislature to control the work of the President. This has led people to claim that he ‘only has the power to persuade’ since without Congress’ support, he has relatively little power. This essay will examine the claim by investigating how powerful the American President really is. As head of state, it is the President who represents his country on the international scene where traditionally in times of international relations, Congress shows the President huge amounts of deference. Indeed, this has been the area where at times the President has been able to wield enormous power with tactical decisions on the deployment of troops, the general running of a war, and international relations rested firmly in his hands. For example, Obama’s decision to deploy troops to Libya, without congressional consent. This suggests that the President is indeed powerful and appears to undermine the claim that he only has the power to persuade. However, the extensive powers of the President in foreign affairs can be sharply constrained by the limits on his domestic powers. Constitutionally, the American political system favours a separation of powers with each branch of...
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...proclamation stating the following demands: * Expulsion of the friars and the return of the friar lands to the Filipinos. * Representation of the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes. * Freedom of the press and religion. * Abolition of the government’s power to banish Filipinos. * Equality for all before the law. A charter was then drafted based on the Cuban Constitution by Alex Ferrer and Isabelo Artacho. It was ratified on November 15, 1897. The Biak-na-Bato Constitution provided for the establishment of a Supreme Council that would serve as the highest governing body of the Republic. Preamble: “The separation of the Philippines from the Spanish monarchy and their formation into an independent state with its own government called the Philippine Republic has been the end sought by the Revolution in the existing war, begun on the 24th of August, 1896; and therefore, in its name and by the power delegated by the Filipino people, interpreting faithfully their desires and ambitions, we, the representatives of the Revolution, in a meeting at Biac-na-bato, Nov. 1st 1897, unanimously adopt the following articles for the Constitution of the State...
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... associated with the belief that an unregulated market economy results in an unequal and unfair distribution of wealth. • The state, therefore, has important social responsibilities, especially in safeguarding individuals from the social evils that can cripple their existence: poverty, disease, unemployment etc. • Social liberalism is thus linked to a qualified form of welfarism: the desire to help people to help themselves, thus still reflecting a general liberal preference for self-reliance. • Social liberalism is associated with positive freedom. 2 Why and how have liberals supported the fragmentation of political power? • Liberals have supported the fragmentation — break up — of political power because of concerns about power itself and, in particular, about the implications of concentrated power. • In the liberal view, power tends to corrupt because humans are essentially self-seeking and so are likely to use any position...
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