...article is The Judicial Branch, the Farmers’ considered all of our branches of government equal, yet some appeared to be more powerful than others. The Farmers’ were concerned that these branches of government will abuse their powers, thus making a necessity for the separation of powers, and for checks and balances. Checks and balances is a system where the different parts of government have powers that can affect and control the other parts of government in order for the other branches cannot become too powerful. This is to prevent any branch of government from exerting too much power. Each branch of government has different powers and functions that they carry out, they are separate although they are constitutionally equal they are also independent from each other. This is the separation of powers. The Legislative Branch of government, which is the first Article of the Constitution, which is also known as Congress, is made up of the Senate, and the House of Representatives. The U.S. Senate consists of 100 members, and these senators are allowed to serve six years. The House of Representatives has 435 members which make up the HOR, these representatives serve two year terms. In total Congress is made up of 535 Congressmen. The Legislative Branch has many powers which are to pass all federal laws, pass the federal budget, establish lower federal courts and the number of judges, and they also have to power to declare war. Yes, congress declares war. Congress checks the...
Words: 848 - Pages: 4
...available to congress. It contains the ‘elastic clause’ that potentially gives the federal government so much power over the states. And the amendments provide a list of ‘can’t do’s’ for the states. For example states can’t enter into treaties with foreign powers. As the aspects of federalism is displayed in the codified constitution, signifies the importance for the US to collectively follow this system. However, Federalism is a method of government that also allows the states to maintain their sovereignty, without the fear of intervention of the central government, unless they violate or clash with the constitution. This is evident as each state has its own constitution and its own executive, legislature and judiciary all working within the limits set by the national constitution; executive; legislature and judiciary. An example of a state constitution that has relevant articles to its needs is Idaho. For instance in their constitutions article 16, section 1 the constitution talks of the need for the Idaho legislature to pass laws that protect livestock from disease. The federalism structure helps create an adaptive US state as laws concerning them individually are taken into account, which prevents ignorance from the central government and a more effective and efficient America. State sovereignty is further enhanced as the constitution also limits the federal government. For instance the federal government can’t change boundaries without the...
Words: 2060 - Pages: 9
...The Constitution, created by the Founding Fathers, limited the power the national government had. With this new addition for the United States, the national government wouldn’t become too powerful and take over like the king of England. The people didn’t want a government that would become too powerful and turn into a monarchy. This new addition was made after the Articles of Confederation failed to rule America. The Constitution included a government with three branches, the Legislative branch, Judicial, and Executive branch. These three branches would have power over different things and neither three would have more power over the others. This way, people would feel safe and wouldn’t be afraid their national government would become too strong. And we still have this type of government today....
Words: 585 - Pages: 3
...The dual court system of the United States is the division between the federal and state court system. Both levels of the court system have three basic tiers that consist of trial courts, appellate courts, and finally courts of last resort, the supreme court. The function of the dual court system is to prevent the federal judiciary from becoming too powerful. The distinction between federal and state courts is defined mainly by jurisdiction. Jurisdiction in this case are the kinds of cases a court is authorized to hear. State courts have a wide-ranging jurisdiction. According to Don Goodnow chair of the Court Statistics Committee, 95% of all legal cases are initiated in the United States are filed in the state courts. The cases that State...
Words: 303 - Pages: 2
...notwithstanding.” Federalism is the sharing of power between national and state governments. The Constitution states the federal government is the highest governmental power. The supremacy clause shows how important it is when a conflict between these laws become an issue. I believe the Constitution is too strict with this clause, but it is a decent clause to have at times. Some state laws shouldn’t be overruled, for example, immigration laws, taxes, etc. The supremacy clause is a good clause to have in cases, like federal laws. Checks and Balances - Does the constitutional separation of powers between the President and Congress lead to gridlock and delay? Article 2, Section 1, Clause 1 “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected...” By creating three branches of government, the Framers built a "checks and balance" system into the Constitution. This system was built so that no one branch of our government could become too powerful. Each branch is restrained by the other two. The President may veto a law passed by Congress. Congress can override that veto with a vote of two-thirds of both houses. The Supreme Court may check Congress by declaring a law unconstitutional. The members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president, which must be approved by Congress. Having three branches that are constantly checking...
Words: 1453 - Pages: 6
...government without granting it too much power. To ensure that, the framers both, limited and empowered the government in certain ar- eas. But since the original seven articles of the Constitution are over 200 years old, the framers could not foresee the expansion of the government’s power that has happened until the present day. With the “war on terror” being one of the governments priorities, questions arise if the gov- ernment has become too powerful, especially with regard to practicing surveillance. This essay aims to analyse the limits and powers given to the government by the framers in the seven Arti- cles of the Constitution, and finally apply these Articles to the government’s practice of sur- veillance today. The most essential points limiting the government’s power is the separation of power and the system of checks and balances. The federal government itself consists of three branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial branch; in other words, Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court. The power is divided between these three branches in order to keep any of them from becoming too powerful. Thus, the framers intended to prevent a corruption of power and tyranny over the states by imposing controls on each branch. The legislative branch, for in- stance, is kept in check by the President, who has the power to veto bills proposed by the for- mer, to call or adjourn a meeting of Congress, and to recommend bills. Additionally, the Supreme Court can strike laws down and...
Words: 1221 - Pages: 5
...a “fundamental aspect of American government, whereby the states are not merely regional representatives of the federal government, but are granted independent power and responsibilities” (USA, Constitution). However this definition is constantly changing and took a long bumpy road to get where it is today. The United States constitution was drafted on September 17th, 1787 and ratified on June 21st, 1788. The United States became a sovereign nation on July 4th, 1776 at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but they needed a Constitution. The Articles of Confederation were drafted on November 7th, 1777 and ratified on March 1st, 1781. This document was signed by the thirteen original colonies that made up the United States of America and served as its first constitution. After becoming sovereign nation it became clear to many that the Articles of Confederation would not be able to hold a nation together. Under the Article of Confederation there was a unicameral legislative that provided no separation of power. The central government appeared to be too weak because under the Articles of Confederation most of the power was retained by the states. Congress had no power to tax therefore, they were unable to finance their operations. It was also extremely difficult to amend the Articles of Confederation because it needed unanimous approval from all states. Federal laws had to be approved by nine of the thirteen states which proved to be difficult for everyday business of government...
Words: 1879 - Pages: 8
...independence, with it’s foundations strongly influenced by the works of political theorists such as Montesquieu and Locke. The Founding Fathers favoured a government that prevented any individual or particular group becoming tyrannical. Furthermore, they strongly opposed the notion of excessive government power, seen as the potential threat to individual freedom, wanting to protect minorities as well as the population as a whole, from arbitrary or unjust rule. Consequently, the Founding Fathers outlined main provisions within the US constitution in order to avoid tyranny: the separation of powers, a federal structure of government and also providing citizens inalienable and entrenched rights through the implementation of the Bill of Rights. Arguably, these provisions as a result mostly ensure, as the Founding Fathers had hope to achieve, limited government, in so much as the size and scope of the federal government is limited to an extent in which it is necessary only for the common good of people. The separation of powers prevalent in the USA, whereby political power is distributed between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary branches of government, were adopted from the Founding Fathers by the principles of Montesquieu, who argued for a separation of powers into legislative, executive and judiciary branches in order to avoid tyranny. This framework of government implies not only the independence of government, therefore a separation of personnel (for example, both Hilary...
Words: 2217 - Pages: 9
...objectives were to establish a federal government, and to outline an equal distribution of powers within our government. This was implemented by creating three branches of government that had to coincide with each other in order to function. Although each branch has its own powers, duties, and responsibilities that influence how the government works, the executive branch has become more and more powerful over the years. In this essay, I will discuss the framers intended relationship between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches and I will argue how the executive branch wields the most power among the three branches of government. Our system of government was set up to have three branches of government: the executive branch which executes the laws, the legislative branch which creates the laws and finally the judicial branch which interprets the laws. The constitution states their powers and their checks on one another so that no branch would have more power than the other two, because of this, the framers of the Constitution set up a system of checks and balances. Under this system, each branch has the ability to stop the other two branches from gaining too much power. For example, one way the executive branch/president is able to check the legislative branch/Congress is through the presidential veto. The president can veto any bill that has been passed by Congress and stop that bill from becoming law. The judicial branch/Supreme Court has the ability to check the president...
Words: 1333 - Pages: 6
...late 1900’s, the era known as the Warren Court would become one of the most active justices in regards to policy: o Warren was chosen by President Eisenhower and he ended up regretting at first due to the great changes he was making. This was the court that made the ruling on the famous Brown v. Board of Education controversy. o He would continue this legacy be being supportive of the rights that criminals and defendants deserve. This also includes the enforcement of the 4th Amendment (Unreasonable search and seizure). Many almost thought to even impeach him since certain group thought he was essentially re-writing bills which is Congress’ job (he was not in reality). • After Warren finally decided to retire,...
Words: 1468 - Pages: 6
...Evaluate the claim that the U.S Supreme Court is an Imperial Judiciary The Founding Fathers established the Federal Supreme Court in Article III of the Constitution as the ultimate judicial power, claiming “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court”. Despite being put into power in 1789, The debate still exists as to how powerful the Supreme Court truly is, some say it is an imperial power with too much influence over U.S Politics, whilst others argue against this claim stating the Supreme Court is imperilled in many respects. The two main claims that the Supreme Court is still powerful lies in their power of Judicial Review and the fact they have a security of tenure, meaning they cannot be fired and are not subject to elections like other government officials, meaning they can act as they wish and with great freedom. Justices are not completely free to exercise power as they wish, they are of course bound by the constitution (subject to interpretation) and have a responsibility to interpret it correctly. Furthermore, they can be subject to impeachment by the Senate if they act in a manner not fitting that of the highest lawmakers in the land. The United States government is made up of 3 supposedly co-equal branches of Government, a system of checks and balances designed to make the perfect democratic system. However, with the surge of partisanship on the hill coupled with a progressive Executive branch addressing some of Americas most...
Words: 1830 - Pages: 8
...Tyranny is a form of government which is cruel and has an oppressive rule. The Constitution guards against tyranny by using checks and balances to insure no one person has too much power. Tyranny can be fended off by federalism so it can separate the government. Separation of powers divides the government into different branches so no one person has too much power. The branches of government should have control over each other which is the checks and balance system. The founders of the Constitution devised this system so that one branch could not have control over another. The Executive branch is headed by the President and cabinet departments. This branch can veto and override Congressional legislation. In turn, the Legislative...
Words: 562 - Pages: 3
...sounds. The Supreme Court, the only court created by the constitution in the Judicial Branch, has made some of the most important decisions in US history. Ones that couldn't be solved by anyone else correctly in the federal government. The Judicial Branch prevents people from abusing law. The Judical branch interprets the constitution, and what they say the 266 year old document is, is what it is. On The Supreme Court has made...
Words: 840 - Pages: 4
...override the veto by passing the law again in each chamber with at least 2/3s vote in favor, at this point the bill becomes a law. Secondly, we have the executive branch consist of the president, the cabinet, etc. the president is in charge of implementing and enforcing laws written by Congress. The cabinet is in charge of day to day enforcements and administration of the laws, the executive branch employs more than 4 million Americans. The president has unlimited power to extend pardons for federal crimes with few exceptions such as impeachment. The EOP or the Executive Office of the President is home to the president’s closest advisors. The Cabinet, another major part of the executive branch, is made up of 15 executive departments, the members of the Cabinet are mostly the President’s closest confidants. The Cabinet runs major federal agencies. Lastly, there is the judicial branch which consists of the Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, the U.S. Tax Court, and many more federal courts. Members of the judicial branch...
Words: 513 - Pages: 3
...Laws required a 9/13 majority to pass in Congress Anti-Federalists, in the ratification debate, opposed the Constitution. Believed that the Articles of Confederation made the national government too powerful, and took too much control over the individual states because they thought the Constitution would create a government the people could not control. They argued for a bill of rights, and led state conventions to pass demanding specific bill of rights as amendments. They also thought that an organization of a national government would threaten people’s liberty, and would fail to protect individual rights because the government would be too far removed from the average citizens to understand or reflect their concerns, and could be used to violate the citizens’ rights. The Anti-Federalists believed that a representative government can only work if the community is small with similar interests and beliefs, for example, people that live in a small, agrarian community is more likely to have civic virtue due to the fact that the community lives closely together, and is more willing to set aside...
Words: 849 - Pages: 4
