...Power and the Balance of Power The first concept that we will discuss is power, and its related concept, the balance of power. Power is an important concept in global relations, and a fundamental idea within the school of thought known as Realism. Realism is based on the assumption of anarchy, or the absence of a central order, as the key description of global relations. This is supposedly a self-help system, in which states compete with each other for power. Power is defined as the ability to get someone to change their behaviour in a direction desired by a stronger actor. The idea of power and the balance of power go back only 300 years, but there is evidence, according to Realists, that the Ancient Greeks and Romans pursued power politics. The idea of the balance of power is that interstate interaction will be stable if states, operating under Realist principles, seek to balance each other in their relations. By acting prudently, "carefully, with foresight, avoiding rash acts," no state will seek to upset the system. Each state will check the others, and no state will grow powerful enough to overthrow the others. A state that seeks domination will be defeated, so no state will attempt this. The classical balance of power operated only under a certain number of conditions: 1. There were a large number of states for alliance formation. 2. There were clear geographic confines in the system e.g. the European continent. 3. There must be flexibility/freedom...
Words: 2662 - Pages: 11
...Marian Marley Political Science 101 7-13-2012 Balance Of Power In U.S. Foreign Policy The balance of power in the U.S. foreign policy making procedure has created a lot of tensions and has shifted responsibility to many individuals since the constitution was written. This system of checks and balances was put in place to assure Americans that no section of government is tyrannical and can dominate the political process. Some believe that the balance of power has shifted since it was first established, and that has caused some tensions in U.S. foreign policy. At the foundation, the legislative branch was intended to be the most powerful branch, but today many argue that the executive branch is the more dominant branch. “One of the most widely held myths about the American constitution system is the idea that our Founding Fathers intended foreign policy to be the province of presidents, with Congress related to a decidedly secondary role” (Snow and Brown, 95). The past two centuries have not gone as the Founding Fathers had planned. The President since World War II has had more of an ability to affect foreign policy than before. “That dominance has been challenged by the most recent phase of congressional assertiveness, which began in the 1970’s “ (Snow and Brown, 96). The President is, essentially, the head of our government. He is the one everyone looks to in a time of crisis, historically, now and other war times, and to develop...
Words: 1634 - Pages: 7
...stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances that promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers. Europe’s balance of power was constantly changing due to the exploration across the world and a rivalry for power , the balance of power within Europe was constantly shifting throughout the Age of Exploration, which...
Words: 935 - Pages: 4
...Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances Vena Roberts American Public University The doctrine of separation of powers, as implemented in drafting the Constitution, was based on several principles generally held: the separation of government into three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial; the conception that each branch performs unique and identifiable functions that are appropriate to each; and the limitation of the personnel of each branch to that branch, so that no one person or group should be able to serve in more than one branch simultaneously. The Separation of Powers devised by the framers of the Constitution was designed to do one primary thing: to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist. Based on their experience, the framers shied away from giving any branch of the new government too much power. The separation of powers provides a system of shared power known as Checks and Balances. Three branches are created in the Constitution. The Legislative, composed of the House and Senate, is set up in Article 1. The Executive, composed of the President, Vice-President, and the Departments, is set up in Article 2. The Judicial, composed of the federal courts and the Supreme Court, is set up in Article 3. The Constitution nowhere contains an express injunction to preserve the boundaries of the three broad powers it grants, nor does it expressly enjoin maintenance of a system of checks and balances. Yet, it does grant to three separate branches the...
Words: 464 - Pages: 2
...Working as the Framers of the Constitution intended, there should be a balance of power, with the legislative branch making the laws, the executive branch enforcing them, and the judicial branch interpreting the laws and deciding if they apply to specific cases. In all of this, the Legislative branch is supposed to be the most powerful, the most representative of the people's voice, and the introduction of that voice to policy making in our federal government. The other two branches have specific duties and powers that are supposed to be limited to those duties, as well as their checks that maintain that balance of power. In the last hundred years, there has been a significant shift in the balance of power towards the executive branch and the judicial branch alike. For the Supreme Court, they have encroached into the legislative branch's territory with decisions like Roe v. Wade and (insert here for the equal marriage decision) that seem to now function as the law of the land, when according to the Constitution, they are supposed to be limited to interpreting the law, not creating federal laws, as that is legislative territory....
Words: 649 - Pages: 3
...There are both similarities and differences, when referring to checks and balances and separation of powers. Both have to do with the Government. But separation of powers is a model of government in which different parts of the government are in charge of different tasks; in the United States, these parts are known as the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Checks and balances is a means of trying to ensure that these three parts of government stay equal, and that one does not try to take over another. Separation of powers was first introduced as a government model in ancient Greece, and was used largely in the Roman republic. Under this Government model, the state is divided into separate and independent entities. The normal separation of branches is into executive, a legislature, and judiciary. The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch enforces and carries out the laws to the public, and the judicial branch interprets the laws. Interestingly, not only does each branch have a certain power, each branch has a certain power over the other branch. This is done to keep them balanced and to prevent one from getting too much control. This is known as “Checks and Balances.” The concept of checks and balances comes from the United States constitution. The different branches of government check each other’s power so that no branch has more power than the other. An example would be if the legislative branch wants to pass a law, they first present it as...
Words: 648 - Pages: 3
...Macklin Brown 11/21/2012 The Balance of Power and Domestic Violence Domestic Violence is hard to talk about. Neither the perpetrators nor the victims are likely to be forthcoming with the details. Domestic abuse and violence incidents are extremely traumatic and leave emotional and physical scars that last a lifetime. It is transferred generation to generation by association. Sexual abuse in the household is a form of violence; this is along the same vein as the fact that rape is considered a violent crime. There is a large amount of evidence that suggests that domestic violence and abuse have strong correlations to poverty and power. The violence is widespread and affects far more Americans than you might imagine, or want to… One of the websites I visited looking for information belonged to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. They give a working definition for Domestic violence which is: “Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another”. This definition can aid us in our understanding of what exactly Domestic violence is. There is some additional information that I gathered from their website that provides insights into the problem of domestic violence. One such statistic is that “most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police”. I intentionally put this statistic first because it affects every ever statistic to...
Words: 1017 - Pages: 5
...The U.S. Constitution creates a balance of power by using a federal system of government. Essentially, this means that power is divided between national (federal) government and state governments. When the U.S. declared independence from Britain, the first form of government structure used was outlined in the Articles of Confederation. However, this was suboptimal as states had far too much power and the central government had almost none. People soon realized that there needed to be a middle ground between the monarchical structure of Great Britain and the current state of a weak and almost powerless central governing body. Just as the Founders found a balance between mob rule (pure democracy) and tyranny by allowing officials to be elected...
Words: 395 - Pages: 2
...toward a concert-balance strategy is thought provoking and needs serious consideration. Dr. Porter lays out a strong case for this change. When viewing current world affairs and ruling powers in emerging states, the United States can no longer be the sole first responder in the world. America needs to shift its strategic thinking, however, not necessarily to the degree of retrenchment described as hemispheric pullback or offshore balancing or worse pure isolationalism.1 These less expensive strategies might appear to be more attractive and palatable to the America, however they may be more detrimental. The level of withdrawal required could be viewed as the United States is abandoning its allies and with it destroying our credibility. A move to an over-the-horizon balancer may be a better alternative type of concert-balance strategy with today’s world political landscape. The growing multipolarity of the world political entities has to be taken into consideration in a shift in America’s strategic posture. The continued economic and military growth in China, the military reemergence of Russia and continual posturing of Iran helps advance the argument for a shift to a concert-balance strategy, with an emphasis on an over-the-horizon form. Countries like Germany, India, and Japan should be leveraged to allow them to emerge as regional balancers. Furthering these alliances regionally would allow the United States to maintain its strategic position and to balance while reducing...
Words: 949 - Pages: 4
...Defense Strategy Course Lesson 1, Writing Assessment Essay Topic: Sharing Power? Prospects for a U.S. Concert-Balance Strategy Date: 12 January 2015 Name: Angela Butts, LTC, USAR Dr. Patrick Porter is an Australian academic at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. Dr. Porter published a monograph entailing a well reasoned argument on a power-sharing grand strategy based upon concert of power and balance of power systems. According Dr. Porter, these are the strategies that will cause the U.S. to no longer be hegemonic and maintain its powerful influence and status in the global system. I agree with Dr. Porter that the United States (U.S.) should employ these strategies in the future decades. However, I disagree that this is due to losing America’s global hegemony. The lost of hegemony would cause instability within the global system. In the future, I think the U.S. will move towards these strategies in order to produce stability while trying to maintain global leadership. Contrary, the focus could shift for the U.S. to build a “multi-partner” system for governments and nongovernment groups to work together on global issues. This is the goal of the Obama Administration in an effort to reduce competition and have closer ties to the major global powers. There are limited options for other countries to take over as a global hegemon. Unlike other countries, India may be the closest to becoming the next hegemon of the global system; however, it is not ready...
Words: 840 - Pages: 4
...1.6 Industry Analysis Porter’s Five Forces: Assessing the Balance of Power in a Business Situation The Porter's Five Forces tool is a simple but powerful tool for understanding where power lies in a business situation. This is useful, because it helps you understand both the strength of your current competitive position, and the strength of a position you're considering moving into. With a clear understanding of where power lies, you can take fair advantage of a situation of strength, improve a situation of weakness, and avoid taking wrong steps. This makes it an important part of your planning toolkit. Conventionally, the tool is used to identify whether new products, services or businesses have the potential to be profitable. However it can be very illuminating when used to understand the balance of power in other situations. Here we assess the balance of power of Bangladesh Auto Cars Limited in the business. * Threat of New Entrants: There is a huge threat of new entrance in this industry because the new business doesn’t need any specialize knowledge to start. The cost of equipments can be less if they go for lease because lease and loans are available. There are only two companies in industry which make easy for the newer ones. * Threats of Substitute: CNG conversion and CNG refueling is cost effective and good for environment and this process is quiet new so there are no substitute products. It’s a monopoly business for these companies. *...
Words: 373 - Pages: 2
...Realism is considered to be the dominant theory of International Relations because it explains the power struggle among states in the international system very well. From the realist point of view, the rule in this system is cruel, or we should say there is no rule in the operation of international relations because the only thing can be relied on is nations’ own power. Power is an important issue in realism. As Thucydides put it thousands years ago, “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”. The power they discuss here is not absolute power but relative power. It’s a concept that should be compared with other states. The interesting thing is that nothing seems to have been changed now. The international environment, in which obligation and personal emotions are set aside and the interests and survival of the states become top priorities, remains cruel as it used to be. Therefore, realists claim that pursuing power for a state is not only to fulfill its ambition but to survive. The question is why do nations need power to survive? To begin with, in realists’ definition, the state is the main actor in the international system. Though it might be city-state, empire, kingdom or tribe that represented the state at times, the point is this basic unit represents the collective will of people. (Dunne) To quest the good life of its people, the state needs power to fulfill the goal. In addition, realists believe the states operate in an anarchic system, in which...
Words: 1288 - Pages: 6
...first used the term trias politica or separation of powers (Erickson). For the division of government duties, it is separated into three separate but equal branches. The characterizations of each are; the legislative branch in which it is in charge of enacting laws of the state and distributing money to operate the government efficiently, the executive branch that executes and oversees public policy that the legislative branch has authorized or financed, and the judicial branch that is in charge of interpreting the Constitution and laws with then taking the understandings to disagreements brought before it (Erickson). The separation of powers is a pillar of the United States government with all state and federal governments center around the standard of it. Although federal separation of power is not the same as state, as one instance state courts have acknowledged fundamental...
Words: 620 - Pages: 3
...The system of check and balances of how it portrayed on a limited government. The system of checks and balances is supposedly supposed to work, but does it really? In this essay it will show you deos the system of checks and balances actually work. The system is suppose to balance out the powers of the three branches being the judicial branch, the legislative branch and the executive branch. The system of checks and balances was suppose to work and help our government and create a limited government. This was not the case, the system of checks and balances did not create a limited government. Checks and balances didn’t create a limited government. In Document 1 the picture shows how the system of checks and balances works. This might seen...
Words: 426 - Pages: 2
...What is 'Checks and Balances?' Checks and Balance is a procedure set in place to reduce mistakes or improper behavior. Checks and balances usually ensure that no one person or department has absolute control over decisions, and clearly defines the assigned duties. The existence of checks and balances within an organization prevents any one person or department from having too much power, and forces cooperation in completing tasks. We can also define Checks and Balances in a corporate organisation as below Internal control mechanism that guards against fraud and errors due to omission. In a system with checks and balances, the authority to make a decision, and the associated responsibility to verify its proper execution, is distributed among different departments. These department are kept logically and physically apart, and no one department can complete a transaction all on its own. For example, the purchasing department orders goods, the stores-department receives and compares them with the respective purchase orders, the quality assurance department inspects and verifies their quality, the accounts department verifies the invoice amount, and only then the comptroller authorizes the payment for the purchase. This process emphasizes interdependence without interference, and creates a data trail or paper trail for auditing. While we can define it in a Government parliament as Governmental Extension of the separation of powers doctrine, under which each branch of a...
Words: 645 - Pages: 3
