checks and balances

Examples of checks and balances in the following topics:

• Checking the Power of the Governing Party

  • The legislative branch can significantly affect the power of the governing party by employing a series of checks and balances.
  • The Democratic and Republican Parties can check the power of the governing party by holding seats in the legislative branch of the government.
  • The legislative branch can also check the governing party by starting investigations against the executive branch.
  • While the checks and balances system between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches prevents any one branch from becoming tyrannical, this system has also been criticized for maintaining the status quo in government rather than promoting changes.
  • Describe the relationship between the political parties and a system of checks and balances

• Vertical Checks and Balances

  • Checks and balances is a governmental structure that gives each of the branches a degree of control over the actions of the other.
  • To prevent one branch of government from becoming supreme, to protect the minority from the majority, and to induce the branches to cooperate, government systems employ a separation of powers in order to balance each of the branches.
  • This is accomplished through a system of checks and balances which allows one branch to limit another, such as the power of Congress to alter the composition and jurisdiction of the federal courts.
  • The Constitution and its amendments outline distinct powers and tasks for national and state governments.
  • Congress oversees, investigates, and makes the rules for the government and its officers.

• Checks and Balances

  • To get the three branches of government to cooperate, a system of checks and balances was created to achieve a fair separation of powers.
  • To prevent one branch of government from becoming too powerful, protect the minority from the majority, and induce the branches to cooperate, governments often employ a system of "checks and balances. " Like the concept of separation of powers, this idea is credited to Montesquieu.
  • Through this system, each branch of government "checks," or limits, the other two so that the power shared between them is balanced.
  • The legislative branch of the United States checks and monitors the executive and judicial branches.
  • Discuss the details of the Constitution's system of checks and balances

• Judicial Federalism

  • Judicial federalism is a theory that the judicial branch has a place in the check and balance system in U.S. federalism.
  • Judicial federalism relies on the fact that the judiciary has a place in the check and balance system within the federal government.
  • This provision gave the Supreme Court the power to review state court decisions involving the constitutionality of both federal and state statutes.
  • Rather, the power of judicial review has been inferred from the structure, provisions, and history of the Constitution.
  • Analyze the complex role of the state and federal judiciary in the federal system

• Senate Confirmation

  • Under the United States Constitution and law of the United States, certain federal positions appointed by the president of the United States require confirmation (advice and consent) of the United States Senate.
  • United States Supreme Court Justices are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
  • In theory, this procedure allows both the executive and legislative branches to have some power over the judiciary and thus check the judicial branch's power.
  • The principle of checks and balances allows branches of government to be isolated from each other so that no branch has total power over all functions of government.
  • Under the Constitution, the Senate have advice and consent on any nominations made by the President to the Supreme Court of the United States.

• The Nomination Process

  • One of the theoretical pillars of the United States Constitution is the idea of checks and balances among the powers of the executive, legislative and judiciary branches.
  • Thus, the nomination and appointment process of federal judges serves as an important component of the checks and balances process.
  • So lacking were Carswell's qualifications that a senator defended him saying, "Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers.
  • They are entitled to a little representation…and a little chance."
  • Explain how the nomination process represents the systems of checks and balances in the Constitution

• Limited Government

  • In contrast, the United States Constitution of 1787 created a government limited by the terms of the written document itself, by the election of the legislators and the executive by the people, and by the checks and balances through which the three branches of government limit each other's power.
  • In the United States, as discussed in the Federalist Papers , the idea of limited government originally implied the notion of a separation of powers and the system of checks and balances promoted by the U.S.
  • This understanding of limited government maintains that government is internally limited by the system of checks and balances (as well as the Constitution itself, which can be amended), and externally through the republican principle of electoral accountability.
  • Government can do some things and not others.
  • In contrast, and as stated above, the United States Constitution of 1787 created a government limited by the terms of the written document itself, by the election of the legislators and the executive by the people, and by the checks and balances through which the three branches of government limit each other's power.

• The Supreme Court as Policy Makers

  • Madison (1803), consummating the system of checks and balances.
  • This power allows judges to have the last word on allocation of authority among the three branches of the federal government, which grants them the ability to set bounds to their own authority, as well as to their immunity from outside checks and balances.
  • Some argue that the Supreme Court is the most separated and least checked of all branches of government.
  • Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. (1895) and the 16th Amendment overturned some portions of Oregon v.
  • Discuss the constitutional powers and authority of the Supreme Court and its role in developing policies

• The Power of Judicial Review

  • Judicial review is the doctrine where legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary.
  • Judicial review can be understood in the context of two distinct—but parallel—legal systems, civil law and common law, and also by two distinct theories on democracy and how a government should be set up, legislative supremacy and separation of powers.
  • It is based on the idea that no branch of government should be more powerful than any other and that each branch of government should have a check on the powers of the other branches of government, thus creating a balance of power among all branches of government.
  • The key to this idea is checks and balances.
  • In the United States, judicial review is considered a key check on the powers of the other two branches of government by the judiciary.

• The Federalist Papers

  • During 1788 and 1789, there were 85 essays published in several New York State newspapers, designed to convince New York and Virginia voters to ratify the Constitution.
  • One of the most famous Federalist Papers is Federalist No. 10, which was written by Madison and argues that the checks and balances in the Constitution prevent the government from falling victim to factions.
  • That way, the government can work in the best interests of the people and not each other.
  • A third complaint of the Anti-Federalists was that senators and the president were not directly elected by the people, and the House of Representatives was elected every two years instead of annually.
  • By summer 1788, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, and New York had ratified the Constitution, and it went into effect.