‘The separation of powers hinders effective government in the United States’. Discuss
The ‘separation of powers’ is a theory – adopted from Montesquieu in 1748 – where political power is distributed over the 3 branches of government.
This was put in place to create a limited government which would essentially help to avoid tyranny and protect the liberty of citizens.
Neustradt stated that it was the institutions that are separate and not the powers. If the branches were totally separate, power would be difficult to exercise especially with the use of checks and balances.
Instead there is a separation of personnel, where not one member of one branch can work within another branch.
So all in all, the US government created a doctrine of ‘shared powers’, where checks and balances are needed. Madison agreed with this, and said: ‘you must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place oblige it to control itself’.
Some of the checks and balances include: the president checking congress by presidential veto; the presidential veto is checked by congressional override; the supreme court uses judicial review to decide whether legislation or actions are unconstitutional; presidential appointments are confirmed, and treaties ratified by the Senate; and finally the president is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, but only congress can declare war.
Checks and balances are needed alongside the separation of powers. Checks and balances are essential for the scrutiny of the three branches of government, however they come with some disadvantages.
There is often a divided house within government which subsequently results in gridlock when passing legislation or when each branch exercises their powers. It is not uncommon that the majority party in congress is the opposite of the party that the President belongs to. This usually means