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The Importance of Separation of Power & Checks and Balances
Read the article by Seth Connell
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The separation of powers in the U.S. government is essential to our government’s foundation and is even more essential to our government’s purpose today. The purpose of the separation “is to ensure that no one party or belief can have more control over the government than another.” (Connell) These divisions include the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches. When our country was still being formed, many of the citizens at the time were likeminded in what they wanted to see happen in the country because they were tired of the way their country of origin was running their government. Today, however, Americans have a variety of new ideas now that our basic laws and rights have been established and we have different opinions on what is better for our country. The new laws that are in place today about equal rights have been made by the legislative branch and approved by the executive branch, but if the executive branch had vetoed these laws in the belief that these equal rights were not in the best interest of the country, then the judicial branch would have to step in and determine if the reasons for the veto were legitimate. Also, the party that citizens vote for shape the type of changes they want to see in their country. People often take sides based on their previous ideas but people should not “vote for someone because they are a Republican or Democrat; vote for them based on their service record, wants and desires, and ideological affiliation” (Connell) Voting for someone based solely on political party can lead to disastrous results when that person makes decisions that will ultimately affect the nation. The person running for a certain political party may not share the same vision for the future that voters of the same party are hoping for. With the IRS scandal of 2012 and the Attorney General's office threatening the freedom of the press, some might say, "the separation of powers between branches has become very slim in the past few years." (Connell) Certain politicians in branches of government are abusing their power and one can only imagine how much more slim the separation would be if it were not for the system of checks and
balances preventing many other unjustified decisions as to laws, government,
etc.. In order for a government to
decide what is best for the country, there needs to be a system that can filter
out all the ideas that would potentially harm the country and a system of
checks and balances prevents harmful ideas from going into action.
What Separation of Powers Means for Constitutional Government
Read the article by Charles R. Kesler:
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Keeping the balance of power between the three branches of government is a hard thing to do in today’s world because they all work together towards a common goal and sometimes the bounds of one branch are overstepped. Some people have realized that “it is the Supreme Court that has in effect legislated on abortion, obscenity, school prayer, the death penalty, and countless other issues touching the welfare and morals of society.” (Kesler) This is not necessarily an abuse of power, but it is not likely nine people out of all of the government be depended on to decide what is right for the entire country. There are two other branches of government that are able to help make decisions. Although, who else is trusted upon to decide what is morally right to protect a citizen’s natural rights? The Judicial branch does not create any laws by itself; it interprets the existing laws to try and understand more in depth the intent of the law. This leads to the adaptation of certain constitutional rights to fit the nation’s needs of the current day. “The separation of powers, though it does help to check governmental tyranny and to balance the Constitution, is primarily designed to elicit sound and deliberate legislation, a firm and energetic executive, and an independent judiciary faithful to the Constitution.” (Kesler) The system of checks and balances is used to prevent tyranny, but what most people do not think of is that the government is constantly trying to improve. A nation cannot be built on laws a government is only half-confident in and a system of checks and balances gets people of different political backgrounds to agree on a solution they feel would benefit the country. People tend to view checks and balances as having a negative function but “The President's veto is shown to be not merely a defensive tool but a means of improving the deliberations of the legislature by slowing, moderating, and correcting them” (Kesler) The system does not merely prevent one branch from abusing power, it is used to prevent the possibly drawbacks from passing a certain legislation. It is so that the branch that approved something can look back at the legislation and understand how they can make a better solution. The Constitution allows the government to adapt at the same rate that society is changing and the separation of powers makes sure that the changes allowed in society are good enough to sustain future generations.
Separation of Powers with Checks and Balances
Read the article on Documents of Freedom:
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Many people use the terms “Separation of Powers” and “Checks and Balances” as if they mean the same thing, but this is not the correct usage of these terms. The separation of powers says that the three branches of the U.S. Government will each have their own job and these branches should not overstep their legal bounds to make decisions that belong to another branch. The branches of government could overstep their bounds regularly if no one were to stop them. James Madison wondered, “What will prevent the accumulation of power in the absence of pure separation? The answer was to be found in a unique feature of the Constitution: the pairing of separated powers with an intricate system of checks and balances.” (Documents of Freedom) The Legislative should not be enforcing the law, the Executive should not be interpreting laws, and the Judicial should not be creating laws. However, the separation of powers, like any other law, means nothing if it is not enforced, and Madison knew this. All three branches of government are carefully watched by the nation and people like to see that their government is using the system of checks and balances because it means that the government is thinking about what it is doing. However, some people vocalize their ideas that the current president (President Obama) is abusing his power as part of the Executive when he issues a veto. These people, while they may or may not be right, must understand that “Congress may enact a law over the president’s objection by overriding his veto with a vote of two-thirds of both the House and Senate.” (Documents of Freedom) People also argue that some laws are not being interpreted as what the legislative at the time meant them to be. This is when the Judicial branch comes in. It is solely the Judicial branch’s job to interpret the law they way they see it. No person can know for sure what the Legislative at the time was thinking but the Judicial branch has this job to best understand what the law’s purpose was and if it is constitutional or not. If this is not enough explanation, then “The executive and judicial branches have expanded their powers beyond the Founders’ expectations over time (i.e. executive orders, the role of the Supreme Court as the arbiter of laws at every level, not just the federal level.)” (Documents of Freedom) With all the controversies in today’s society, the Founders most likely could not comprehend all the changes in our culture and would not have to deal with these problems. This is why the Founders allowed the constitution to be able to adapt to the culture of the time and perhaps the expanded powers of the executive and judicial branches are necessary to keep government under control and running.
Some people feel like the government is run by just one person.