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Checks And Balances: The Separation Of Power

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The term “separation of powers” can be traced back to a French philosopher by the name of Baron de Montesquieu in the year 1748 (NCSL, Pg. 1). His definition of separation of powers stated that the political authority of the state is divided into three separate powers; legislative, executive and judicial. Montesquieu and his publication Spirit of the Laws had a great impact on the development of American legislature. Separation of powers can also be led back to Aristotle, John Locke, and James Herrington (Magleby, Light & Nemacheck, Pg. 64).

Separation of powers can simply be defined as divvying up power amongst our government. This dividing of power is done for one main reason. Separation of powers protects the people from others …show more content…

1). Unfortunately, separation of primary powers is not enough to ensure power will not become concentrated.

Because of this, the idea of “checks and balances” was formed. This means that each branch of the government has some sort of influence over the other branches and may choose to prevent the procedures of them. The idea of checks and balances has had great influence in a number of court cases. One of the more notable cases is 1803’s Marbury vs. Madison. In the case of Marbury vs. Madison, the Supreme Court decided that a court may declare a void if something is inconsistent with the Constitution.

William Marbury had just been appointed as justice of the peace in the District of Columbia by President John Adams. Adams had made this appointment at the very end of his term. Shortly after, Thomas Jefferson was sworn into presidency. He refused to acknowledge Adam’s appointment of Marbury as justice of the peace. Jefferson directed his Secretary of State, James Madison, not to deliver Marbury’s commission. William Marbury became infuriated and proceeded to sue Madison. Chief Justice John Marshall deemed that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional because it the gave the Supreme Court authority that it was denied by article III of the Constitution. The Judiciary Act of 1789 was adopted on September 24, 1789. It established the federal judiciary of the United States. The Supreme Court ruled that the Judiciary …show more content…

Separating power can be a very inefficient way to govern. Legislative supremacy is oftentimes associated with a more efficient government. Despite this, an inefficient government depends on the principle of legislative supremacy.

Great Britain is defined as a constitutional monarchy. There is no “constitution”, instead there are an accumulation of statutes, judicial decisions, and traditions that help to govern Great Britain. There are three branches of the state, the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. The executive branch consists of the Ministers who run the country. They also have the power to propose new laws. The legislative body can pass new laws. The judicial branch consists of the judges and the courts who make sure that everyone abides by the laws.

In the United States political system, the constitution states that there must be a division of power so that no one individual can be a member of multiple branches of power. This means that the President cannot be a member of the Congress. Unlike the United States, Great Britain’s ministers in the government are members of the

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