Checks And Balances Essay

Most of the specifications for the executive branch in the Constitution, other than how he is to be elected, have to deal with the interactions between Congress and the President. The president can (fill in the blank) but only if (this part) of Congress approves. The powers of the president have been interpreted widely so that he has more power than I believe the Framers intended. They wanted him to be able to check Congress with veto power and be the head of the military. However, I think that presidents nowadays have too much power. They are active in trying force their policy agenda through Congress, manage foreign relations, and act as the administrative head of the entire nation. The textbook lays it out well in, "The vast size of the executive branch and the number and complexity of decisions that must be made each day pose a challenge for the White House.” (316) In order to deal with the stresses put on the executive branch, there are thousands of employees that work to give the president the information that he needs to make decisions. He has advisors, cabinet members, legislative liaisons; the list goes on and on, but he is the person who actually gets to make all of the choices. The President is limited in some ways and given more power in other ways by the structure laid out for him in the Constitution, and evolved to be what it is now.

This branch has ways to supersede the power of the other branches. President can Veto any law that Congress is trying to pass. This will deny Congress the right to pass that law. The President can put in place a Presidential order. This order holds the weight of a law but does not require Congress to vote on it prior to it being put in place. The President can appoint Judges to the Supreme Court. These Judges will carry out the mindset of the President even after his term has ended

Another very notable role of the President also outlined in Article II. Section 2. of the Constitution and reads, “He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court(http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html). It essentially gives the President power to make treaties with foreign nations however, two-thirds of Congress must be in agreement with the decision. Although the President, or the Executive Branch can be interpreted as the most authoritative arm of government, its powers are still limited and restricted by the process of checks and balances. Each branch of government has some governance over the other two divisions. For instance, just as it is outlined above, the President can nominate Ambassadors and Judges of the Supreme Court but the decision must be upheld by Congress. In other words, under the "Advice and Consent clause the appointed member must be sworn in by the Senate. Again, this is an example of how the system of checks and balances limits the powers of the President.

The doctrine of separation of powers developed over many centuries. This practice doctrine can be traced to the British Parliament's gradual assertion of power and resistance to royal decrees during the 14th century. Political theorist, John Locke wrote about the concept of separation of powers in his Second Treatise of Government (1690). In the United States, the separation of powers is a fundamental constitutional principle. The framers of this Constitution saw the need to divide power within the government to prevent a single group from ruthlessly taking over the country. Articles I through III of the Constitution of the United States place each of the basic powers of government in a separate branch. This

Did you know the framers of the constitution belt a checks and balance system into the government? There are three branches the executive, legislative and judicial the checks and balance were put in place to ensure that no one branch would be more powerful than the others. These checks and balances include the presidential Veto, the ability of congress to Impeachment and, judicial review.

Some may think that the Executive branch is the utmost powerful . I understand why you might say that , by reason of it involves the president, but everything that the president wants to be passed it has to go through congress first . For an example, “your “ president trump tried to pass multiple bills such as not allowing Transgenders to join the military and getting rid of Obama care . Congress didn’t pass these laws so consequently they failed due to most of the bills that trump passes are unconstitutional . We should appreciate that congress is in control in view of if trump was in charge, we would be in a great amount of trouble . Now I might know why you would believe the judicial branch is the powerful because it is the supreme court . The supreme court is the highest judicial court in the country . Which consists of nine justices and have the power of all the courts in the nations .Here is my argument for that , The supreme court is only in charge of the lower courts . Even the supreme court deals with laws and bills, but it still has to go through congress

If the President is suspected of unlawful acts, he can be impeached, or tried by the Senate for misusing his power. The Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments. If he is found guilty, he can be punished but his sentence can be no more than being thrown out of office and being forbidden to hold any government office. Furthermore, if the President wants to spend money, his request must pass through Congress, since it has control over spending. Lastly, Congress can re-pass a bill that was vetoed by the President. Congress also has checks and balances against itself. The President can veto a bill from Congress, and although Congress can override a veto, obtaining a two-thirds vote to do so is very difficult. Public speeches by the President may also concern the public with an issue, putting pressure on Congress to act upon it. The Judicial branch exerts control over the other two by deciding whether or not actions made by the President or Congress, i.e., laws are constitutional.

There are many debates concerning which branch of government is more powerful. I honestly thought the executive branch was the least powerful of all three, but James Wilson lists a lot of reasons to think otherwise. The argument that the President and the Executive branch is the most powerful is still up in the air, but there are three strong reasons why the President and Executive branch is the most powerful at the moment.

When the framers of our revered Constitution came together to produce our governing system, they wanted to avoid the precedent of an all powerful entity that could control its citizens. They broke governments role into three important phases, which were the power to make laws, the power to interpret laws, and the ability to enforce them. To further decentralize these authority holding organizations, they created a system that allowed each of the three sections to have a say in each of the others ability to exercise said authority. This organization of overlapping power is referred to as a checks and balances system and was intended to create three equal powers to govern the United States. Over the years since its

The system of checks and balances is a procedure in which systems allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other two branches. These checks allow each branch to block the actions of another branch. When Congress has the power to pass laws, the president can check this power by vetoing a bill before it becomes an actual law. Congress also has the same power and can check the president’s power by overriding the veto if two-thirds of the majority in Congress vote in each house. The Judicial Branch can also check these actions of the other two branches. The Supreme Court can declare that a law, treaty, or an executive action is unconstitutional. Basically, the system of Checks and Balances is to balance out each branch and limiting each branch’s power. (Page 162 9.2)

Another source of presidential power that stems from the Constitution is the deceptively simple fact that the American president is both head of state and head of government (Romance, July 27). Unlike in several other democracies, such as in Great Britain where these two functions are split between the monarch and a prime minister, an American president has the ability to both symbolically represent the and to lead the nation (July 27). Even this is both a blessing and a curse because it forces a president to constantly live both roles and know exactly when to stress the appropriate one over the other (July 27).

[I think that the Legislative Branch has the most power according to the U.S. Constitution. First because,we have the right to vote. The president gets elected by voters in every state. Second because,all of the states will be represented in Congress. That means that,each state will have the right to make laws for their own states..

The final reason i think the president has the most power in the constitution is because he’s the chief administrator, chief diplomat, chief legislator, chief of power, and chief citizen. Ever since the constitution started the president has had the most power. I believe the congress has some power they can decline a law and have to authorize some of the president’s actions. But the president can make a law over the congress, so congress is not all that powerful. It’s always been that way and it’s not a bad thing because this country has never been a dictatorship.

The President’s formal powers, as found in Article II of the U.S. Constitution, begins with Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. This was the first power listed, signifying the prominence placed on keeping the country secure and safe, especially from foreign invasion. The next formal power of the President is the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States. An example of said power would be, President Gerald Ford pardoning Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal and the President ordering a reprieve or delay in the case of a person on death row until their case can be heard by a higher court. The President also has the power to make Treaties, with Senate approval, and to appoint Ambassadors and Supreme Court Judges, again, with Senate confirmation.

Presidential power has increased immensely over recent years and little is being done in an attempt to restore the original intent of the Constitution. There are multiple factors that affect this, including the executive orders of presidents, the Constitution giving an unequal distribution of power between the executive and legislative branch, the failure to use checks and balances, and the ineffectiveness of Congress. With the lack of congressional involvement in legislative decisions, the president has the ability to take matters in their own hands.