Checks and Balances

To prevent from one branch of government having all power, and therefore having tyranny, (Madison FP # 47) Checks and Balances was added to the defenses of the constitution. There are three branches of government: Legislative Branch (Congress), Executive Branch (President), and Judicial Branch (The Courts). These three branches work together to check one another to make sure the power is evenly distributed and balanced, hence the name Checks and Balances. The way it works is that the Legislative Branch (Congress) can check the Executive Branch (President) by approving Presidential nominations, being able to override a President’s veto, and can impeach the President, him or her, from office. The Legislative Branch can check the Judicial Branch by having Senate confirm Presidential nominations and by being able to impeach judges and remove them from office. The President can check the Legislative Branch by vetoing Congressional legislation, and can check the Judicial Branch by nominating judges. The Judicial Branch can check the Legislative Branch by declaring laws unconstitutional, and can check the Executive Branch by declaring presidential acts unconstitutional. (Madison FP # 51) All three branches of government work together to make sure no branch is abusing their limited power, by using the system Checks and

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.

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

There are checks and balances. The executive branch can veto laws passed by the legislative branch as well as appoint judges to the judicial branch. Congress can override vetoes and impeach the president as well as impeach judges of the supreme court and makes the lower courts. The judicial branch can declare executive acts as unconstitutional as well as declare acts of congress unconstitutional. The people vote for the president and representatives in congress and senators in the senate.

Some examples of checks and balances in the Constitution occur in situations; such as when Congress has the authority to provide justice to the federal courts. The president has a discussion with federal judges about the information gathered from the Senate and their recommendation. Therefore, the three branches of government all have an opportunity to provide their viewpoint on how justice should be served in each federal court case. Checks and balances occur when the executive branch is in charge of foreign affairs, but treaties that deal with foreign governments need to be discussed with the Senate. Thus, the executive branch and the legislative branch have to communicate about decisions that relate to foreign treaties and come to an agreement.

Checks and balances help prevent tyranny. Each branch checks each other to make sure each one doesn’t get too much power. For example, one way that the legislative branch checks the executive branch is to override vetoes and impeach the President. Also, one way the executive branch can check the judicial branch is by nominating judges into the Supreme Court. One way the judicial branch can check the legislative branch is when they can declare a law unconstitutional. This way, our central government is each divided in

Checks and Balances – a system in which each branch of government is able to check/restrain the power of the others.

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)

According to James Madison, “…the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other … the three branches should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” (Doc. C). This means that the three branches can check on each other and keep each other balanced and that the powers among each branch is equal. In the constitution it states, “that court can declare laws unconstitutional.” (Doc. C). This is an example of how the judicial branch can check the legislative branch so each branch has a way to check the other branches. The system of check and balances guards against tyranny because without a system of checks and balances, one branch of government may become overpowered and there may be a

The checks and balances was the separation between three branches, it prevented any one branch from having too much power by checking on each other. Doc C is an excerpt from Federalist Paper #47, written by James Madison. This excerpt is about how the three branches should be divided and arranged into several offices, so that they have the opportunity to check on each other’s powers. According to Doc C, “...(The three branches) should not be so far separated as to have no Constitutional control over each other.” James Madison, provides an explanation that if all citizens wanted liberty in this country, the three branches would need to be separated: the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. The Legislative branch can impeach the president and the judges from the Judicial Branch. The Executive Branch can nominate judges and veto Congressional legislation. Lastly, the Judicial Branch checks the Executive and Legislative Branch by declaring acts and laws

This means that each branch has some control over the others as a means of balancing the power. Case in point, the executive branch can nominate a judge for the Supreme Court but the legislative branch must approve the nomination. Following this example, the executive branch does not have the power to fire judges who disagree with the President’s way of thinking, only the legislative branch has the power to impeach judges (Doc C). Checks and balances are important to the Constitution because it assures the people that the branches of government cannot abuse the power they have been

The system is put to make sure one branch does not become more powerful than the other two branches. A branches powers can balance out the other two branches powers, and they can each keep each other in check .A few examples of checks and balances in the executive branch is how the president can nominate supreme court judges, and veto congressional legislation. The legislative branch can impeach judges, and impeach the president. Lastly the judicial branch can declare acts and laws unconstitutional. The three branches keep each other in check to avoid

Checks and Balances, put simply, is the process by which the federal government maintains equal power throughout the three branches (Legislative, Judicial, Executive.) The branches can keep themselves in check in several ways, such as: presidential veto, impeachment, overridden vetoes, judicial review of local, state, and federal laws and regulations. Checks and Balances just keeps any branch from maintaining too much power within the federal government.

The president can appoint judges and other officials, but the senate must approve of them first.

There are three main branches of government, legislative, judicial, and executive. They each play a major role of how our government function. Articles one through three in the US constitution proclaim what the branches are and express their purpose. But, federalist papers fifty one it justifies the idea of separation of power and checks and balance. Although, they are both very important documents that formed our government today by expressing how the government should be ran and order in which power is delegated.