preview

The Separation of Powers in the United States Political System

Decent Essays

The Separation of Powers in the United States Political System In the 18th Century, the French philosopher Montesquieu, who had been one of the inspirations behind the French Revolution, argued that limitation would be necessary within government within government in order to avoid tyranny. He identified the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary as the four braches of government which needed to be separated. To do this, he suggested the 'Separation of Powers', a mechanism built internally into government where each branch would have powers enabling it to limit those of another so no one branch becomes too powerful. The Founding Fathers of the American Constitution agreed with …show more content…

A two-thirds majority in both Houses of Congress in turn can again override this veto. Now to take the Legislature and Judiciary, the Judiciary in the US government is the US Supreme Court. The Senate, for example, must approve all judicial appointments. Congress has the powers to create new lower courts, change the number of judges and impeach/remove judges for misbehaviour. On the other side this time, the Supreme Court can rule an act of Congress as unconstitutional and interprets the laws passed by Congress. Last, we can also observe how the US Constitution creates Separation of Powers between the Executive and Judiciary. While the President appoints all federal judges, the Supreme Court can rule Presidential actions unconstitutional, can rule against the Executive in cases and can issue or refuse warrants to allow police search. An example of the Separation of Powers and checks and balances can be seen during President Franklin D. Roosevelt's time in office. In 1937, he sought to enlarge the Court beyond the existing 9 members to 15. His 'court packing' plan would have enabled him to gain a majority which would have been sympathetic to his famous "New Deal". However, the proposal met firm resistance in Congress seeing it as an attack on the Separation of Powers. However, there are some arguments to

Get Access