...has the power to reject nominations made by the President. Congress also has the power to amend, delay or reject the president’s legislative proposals. As well as this limitation, there are many checks and balances put in place by Congress to limit the power of the president including: the power to override the president’s veto the power to amend budgetary requests through the power of the purse and impeach and try the president with possible removal from office if found guilty. However, it is an issue today that although Congress have these powers, there are not effective checks put on the president’s power today. The Supreme Court can declare the actions of any member of the executive branch, including the president, to be unconstitutional. For example, Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (The Steel Seizure Case) was a United States Supreme Court decision that limited the power of the President of the United States to seize private property in the absence of either specifically enumerated authority under Article Two of the United States Constitution or statutory authority conferred on him by Congress. Also, in Rasul v Bush the Supreme Court ruled that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay did have access to the federal courts to challenge their detention, therefore striking down the Bush administration’s legal policy regarding the war on terror. These cases prove the constitutional limits on presidential power and that there are effective checks on presidential power. Public...
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...The separation of powers hinders effective government in the USA. Discuss. (30 marks) The ‘separation of powers’ is a theory 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. 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. One reason as to why the separation of powers hinders effective government in the USA is because 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 that the legislative and executive have contrasting views. Most recent presidents have accused the Senate of either rejecting or blocking...
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...‘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...
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...features of both Presidentialism and Parliamentarism, thus distinguish between their most contrasting features. I will be tackling this paper from different perspectives, in order to ultimately to suggest a better structure of government. Features such as the efficiency of each system in implementing government policies needs to be considered. Furthermore, factors such as political stability and order needs to be considered in suggesting a better form of government. Political stability refers to the frequency at which the government changes, where as political order refers to level of civil obedience every time there is a change to the political system. Parliamentary system In a political system run by a parliamentary system, the executive power of the government resides with the Prime Minster and her/her cabinet, which is voted by a democratically voted legislature. The party which holds the majority of the support, is said to have the 'confidence' of the cabinet. In the case where there is no majority party in the cabinet, decisions and actions of the government are decided through a series of bargains and debates between the different parties in the cabinet (British parliament backs hybrid embryos, 2008). There isn't a fixed term for a party to be in charge of a parliament; the prime minister and his political party hold office as long as they command the majority of the confidence in the legislature. As soon as the Parliament loses confidence in the legislature, there is an...
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...Unibersidad De Manila 659-A Justice Cecilia Munoz-Palma Street, Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila Parliamentary: A Good Form of Government Aira C. Adao UC-48 Prof. Marvin Ignacio Politics and Governance January 20, 2015 I. Title: Parliamentary: A Good Form of Government II. Abstract HYPOTHESIS 1. What is Parliamentary Government? 2. What are the types of Parliamentary Government? 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Parliamentary System? 4. What countries are implementing Parliamentary System? 5. What is the difference between Parliamentary System and Presidential System? OBJECTIVES * To point out the good sides of the Parliamentary system. * To discuss the process of legislation of the Parliamentary Government. * To tackle the important topic about Parliamentary system. * To form a good information to the readers about the essence of Parliamentary system. SIGNIFICANCE * This term paper gives information to the reader about the system of Parliamentary Government. * This paper will benefit the ones who search information about the essence of Parliamentary system. III. Introduction Parliament, (from Old French: parlement; Latin: parliamentum) the original legislative assembly of England, Scotland, or Ireland and successively of Great Britain and the United Kingdom; legislatures in some countries that were once British colonies are also known as parliaments. The British Parliament, often referred...
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...Founding Fathers put the Constitution into writing, our government also established a separation of powers as well as a system of checks and balances for those powers so that no one branch of government becomes more powerful than another. The three branches of our government are: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. To ensure the government is effective in its role and the United States citizens’ rights are protected, each branch has its own powers, each branch is also responsible for working with the other branches cohesively. The first of three branches that make up our government is the legislative branch. This is made up of the House of Representatives and Senate, known collectively as Congress. The legislative branch makes all laws, declares war, regulates interstate and foreign commerce and controls taxing and spending policies (house.gov, 2014). This branch has various organizations such as Architect of the Capitol and Library of Congress (house.gov, 2014). The legislative branch is responsible for the following checks over the executive branch: overriding presidential vetoes with a two-thirds majority vote, funding executive actions, removing the president through impeachment, Senate approves treaties and presidential appointments (Kelly, 2014). The legislative branch is also responsible for certain checks over the judicial branch such as creating lower courts, has the power to impeach judges, and Senate’s approval of appointment of judges (Kelly, 2014). The second...
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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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...that this allows for a shorter confirmation process and a lesser likelihood of obstruction than in a divided government. This is because the majority and the President belong to the same political Party and have similarly rooted views. The likelihood of presidents to block legislation and of presidential failure to pass legislation...
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...1: Instructor-Graded Assignment Nick Milazzo (NAM 744) 1. Some people are pessimistic about the chances of making people virtuous but optimistic about the chances of having good government without virtue. They say that because of checks and balances and all of the other paraphernalia of complex government, civic virtue isn’t really necessary; bad people will keep each other from doing any serious injustice. Do you think this claim is true? Why or why not? I totally disagree with this claim for a couple of reasons. One, checks and balances are not necessarily fail-proof. For instance, the check on the Legislative Branch is the Presidential veto, but the Legislature can still override this veto with a 2/3 vote. If the Legislature is completely corrupt and without virtue then, it might override vetoes and pass legislation that are evil or in some way detrimental to society. Secondly, civic virtue is the motivation behind good government. Good government is supposed to serve and protect its people, two aspects of virtue. If the people running the Government are not virtuous then it is impossible for the Government to perform its duties and fulfill its purpose. Both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists agreed that civic virtue is necessary for a republic, such as the United States, to exist. 2. As you are reading the debates at the Constitutional Convention, make a list for yourself of the various conflicting interests that delegates had to compromise (for...
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...ow effectively does Congress fulfil its constitutional roles? (45) Congress has many constitutional roles to fulfil such as the power of the purse, oversight, foreign policy and legislation. It can be argued that Congress does fulfil its constitutional roles as it may deliver effective over sighting, legislation, money bills, representation and foreign policy that may provide good checks and balances. However, most would argue that congress may not carry its roles effectively or sometimes not effectively enough which leads to poor scrutiny, and sometimes over-scrutinising, which leads to ineffective fulfilment of constitutional roles. I believe that the level of effectiveness will be the role of circumstances such as divided governments and united governments which can determine the effectiveness of congress for certain roles. Congress has the role to pass legislation, scrutinise and emend bills for an effective fulfilment of the role. Congress will often amend bills which are initiated by the president in order to check the balance of power. With Congress commonly amend bills, it shows evidence of effective fulfilment of this role to scrutinise the work of the president. Congress will also take a vote on a bill which allows further scrutiny as bills may be passed or rejected by Congress. However, it can be argued that these roles are not effectively fulfilled. For instance, many bills get amended and sometimes heavily amended in such a way that bills come out the other...
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...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 Clinton and Barack Obama had to give up...
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...Qualifications for members of Congress senate- 30, citizen 9 years, live in state house- 25, citizen 7 years, live in state _ Reapportionment redistribution 435 seats in the house of reps after the census _ Drawing congressional district lines (Wesberry v. Sanders (1964), redistricting, gerrymandering, cracking, packing, racial and partisan gerrymandering, political consequences of gerrymandering) This decision requires each state to draw its U.S. Congressional districts so that they are approximately equal in population. Redistricting to favor a political party. Cracking= Spreading like-minded voters apart across multiple districts to dilute their voting power in each. This denies the group representation in multiple districts Packing= Concentrating like-minded voters together in one district to reduce their voting power in other districts. _ Individualism in Congress (including factors that contribute to it) _ Single-member districts electoral district in which a single person is reelected _ Plurality elections determining an elections winner by who ever receives the most votes wins _ The incumbency advantage (and why it is higher in the House than in the Senate) higher chance of being re elected higher in the house because closer to the people _ Franked mail free mail for members of congress _ Models for analyzing Congress distribution model- institutions of congress are designed to help congress members secure economic benefits for only their...
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...Political development in Kazakhstan The breakup of the USSR was followed by the formation of the newly independent Kazakhstan; none of them had ever existed in their present form. Independence was virtually thrust upon them after the Soviet disintegration in 1991. The leaders past a decade of freedom have shown foresight and have been very much pragmatic in ensuring the future development of their political culture is based on civil society with the expanded process of institutional democratization. Political process has been defined as the activities of people in various groups for and uses power to achieve personal and group cause. “The conception is generally seen as to variety of political parties, factions and oppositions to attain formal...
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...conducting public affairs for private gain. Government has numerous roles but four of the major areas are paramount. Manage the national economy. It is the responsibility of the government to place checks and balances within the system to make sure the economy remains viable. The government also has the responsibility to enforce laws and contracts. This could be as simple as managing disputes between private citizens (civil or criminal) or as major as the Supreme Court hearing arguments between the states. Another major area where government is involved are issues of public safety and infrastructure. The upkeep of roads and bridges, regulation of utilities and public services, and public health standard guidelines are roles of the government. One of the most obvious and expensive roles of the government is national defense. The Constitution speaks to the issue of raising an army and navy (doesn’t say exactly how) and it is the expectation of the people that the government will provide for them an adequate defense. 2. There are effectively five types of power, each varying in methodology and relative strength. Authority by far is the weakest type of power, though it tends to be the one people recognize first and it is normally legitimate by rule of law(s). Coercive power, or the ability to punish those who don’t conform, has been used by all governments for all time. Quick and...
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... * Arguments For and Against * Strengths and Weaknesses of the UK’s constitution ✓ * Constitutional Reforms – Coalition and 1997-2010 ✓ * What are they? * Are they effective? * PM & Cabinet * Features & Functions of the PM ✓ * What must a politician be to becoming PM * What can a PM do? * Functions of Cabinet ✓ * Factors that affect promotion and resignation of a minister ✓ * Powers and Constraints of PM ✓ * Theories of Executive Power ✓ * PM V Cabinet ✓ * Parliament * Functions of Parliament ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Powers of Parliament ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Parliamentary Reform ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Relationship between Parliament and Government ✓ * Factors that affect it * How the coalition affects it Constitution: 2 Types of Constitution * Codified & Uncodified Codified Constitution * Constitution where the rules are written down in a single document. Example could be the USA. Creates a series of checks and balances for government, and also a separation of powers. Creates entrenchment, and is rigid (difficult to amend), and this prevents the executive from changing the constitution for its own benefit. * Are judiciable, in that being a legal document, the judiciary...
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