Preview

Checks And Balances System: United States Government

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
848 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Checks And Balances System: United States Government
The Checks and Balances System

The United States government is set on principles that were made by the people, for the people. Everything within the constitution was developed in an impartial and adequate manner, with the best interest of the nation in mind. The framers believed that it was necessary to create a strong national government, but they wanted to avoid the same model used by Great Britain. Therefore, the framers decided on what we know as the federal system, this system divides the power of government, making national power prevailing. The checks and balances system is a concept that is influential in the separation of powers; it keeps every branch as equals. This system grants each branch its own set of powers and abilities
…show more content…
The president and vice president of the United States make up this branch, and it is the president who appoints the heads of federal agencies, whose purpose is to administer and implement laws on a daily basis. The executive branch is also responsible for the making of foreign treaties, being commander in chief of the military, and for the pardon of people convicted in federal courts. (Kelly 2008). Although the executive branch is responsible for developing treaties, the legislative branch has to approve it before it becomes official. The executive branch can refuse to enforce any decision made by the judicial branch, including convictions of citizens. Some of the checks that this branch has over the legislative and judicial branches consists of, the power to appoint judges, the ability to call a special session of congress, and the veto power. The executive branch basically decides who is in the judicial branch and it can also veto any law passed by congress. The checks and balances structure helps maintain order by not allowing the executive branch, or any branch, to become too powerful or …show more content…
The three branches of government provide a division of power that abides by the system of checks and balances. Every branch is granted with an exclusive set of powers that can be opposed by another branch if composed inaccurately. This method provides a better system of government under which the general public can live and be part of the democratic republic that defines our country.

Work Cited Page

"Issues - Checks and Balances." National Constitution Center –
Constitutioncenter.org. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. <http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution/issues/checks-and-balances>.

Kelly, Martin. "American System of Checks and Balances - Description."
Defining Governmental Authority. 5 Nov. 2007. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. <http://americanhistory.about.com/od/usconstitution/a/checks_balances.htm>.

"The Judicial Branch." Our Goverment. The White House. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/judicial-branch>.

"The Legislative Branch." Our Government. The White House. Web. 4 Mar.
2015.<http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/legislative-

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Also, The Congress were able to tax on goods, to manage interstate trade. The Constitution proclaimed all acts created by Congress to be unchangeable on the states. Analysis: The three branches made the systems of checks and balances organized. This helped maintain and balance out the controll of the central governemnt because no individual or union obtained too much power. Next off, by dividing the government…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once a bill has been passed by the legislative branch, it moves on to the President as the head of the executive branch, established under Article II of the Constitution, for review. The President then either approves or vetoes the bill under his authority. Another power held by the President within the executive branch is the…

    • 799 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Checks and balances is the way that each branch of government verifies another branch’s decisions. It limits the government’s power and makes sure one branch does not have and cannot gain too much power. The Legislative Branch checks the Judicial Branch by proposing constitutional laws to override judicial decisions and they can impeach supreme court justices. Impeaching is to “vote or bring charges of serious crimes against the president” (Deverell). The Executive Branch checks the Legislative Branch by vetoing bills and may adjourn congress in some situations. To veto is to deny or cancel a law or amendment. The Judicial Branch checks the Executive Branch by declaring executive actions unconstitutional. An unconstitutional law is one that…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Constitution, it says that we must have 3 branches of government. Separation of powers. The federal government is separated into 3 branches, Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. Each branch has its own powers. No one can run the government by itself. This protects against tyranny by not allowing 1 person to rule over everything or to have too much power. There are checks and balances that prevent this from happening.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Actions that are made by an individual that may seem like the best decision in their own eyes may not be the best decision to someone else or even a group of people, so is the same with the government. When the founding fathers drafted the constitution they realized that not one person or specific branch should hold all authority over any one decision, so they developed a system of checks and balances. This system serves as a mediator between branches of government so that each decision is made in the utmost confidence. Having been weighed, measured and determined the wisest decision, then it will be appointed and passed up the chain of command so to speak.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States Government is designed so that no one part of the government has too much power, the creators of the Constitution were diligent in outlining the structure of our government in the Articles. The division of power is outlined specifically in the first three articles. The three branches of the federal government consist of the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. The descriptions outlined in the Constitution clearly state the scope and limitations of each branch and how they serve as checks and balances for each other.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Checks And Balances

    • 154 Words
    • 1 Page

    Checks and Balances is a form of government that has multiple branches to prevent a single person or group of people from obtaining and abusing their power. As each branch has the ability to negate the other from violating the Constitution of the United States. The United States created the Checks and Balances system because they were being oppressed from a Monarch and determined that separating the powers of the government would prevent corruption. Consequently, the founders of the Constitution were inspired by a philosopher named John Locke that preached separating the powers of government. The Judicial branch checks both the legislative and Executive branch as it can determine if any of their actions are unconstitutional and void their…

    • 154 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This helps to prevent one branch from becoming more powerful than another. Each branch has their own responsibilities and role in government. The three branches are the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. The legislative branch is in charge of making laws for our country. The executive branch of government makes sure that the laws of the United States are obeyed. This is where the president comes in also. Lastly, the judicial branch is made up of the court system. Courts decide arguments about laws, how they are applied, and whether they break the rules of the Constitution or not. The Legislative branch is made up by Congress which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate. The executive branch includes the president and vice president. Lastly, the Judicial Court includes the Supreme Court. Each of these branches are important to the constitution and play a major…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Guard Against Tyranny

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Legislative, executive, and judicial are the three branches. The legislative branch, which consists of a senate and house of representatives, makes laws. The president and vice-president make up the executive branch, which is the branch mainly responsible for enforcing laws. Finally, there is the judicial branch. In the judicial branch, there is the Supreme Court and many smaller courts. The judicial branch is responsible for interpretting laws; this is all according to Document B, also written by James Madison. In a nutshell, seperation of powers guards against tyranny because it divides the powers into three branches so no branch can overpower…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The U.S Constitution was written in 1787. The Founding Fathers “recognized that government depended on the consent of the governed” (Dye & Gaddie, 80). The citizens of the United States give the government permission to have a government. The Founding Fathers are very significant because they provided limits on the power of the majority and safeguarded the rights of the minority. The Bill of Rights also provides safety for the minority and does not allow the majority to exceed their power. The paradox of democracy, the Founding Fathers, and checks and balances along with the U.S. Constitution provide limits on the power of the majority and safeguard the rights of the minority.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Laws in Today's Society

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The three branches of the government are put into play by a system of checks and balances in order to keep each other and the laws that they uphold in check. Even though each law is not fool proof, it is better to have them set into place so that the citizens of the country are still in charge of their government; not the other way around.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Separation of powers is the principle that all power is distributed among the three branches. The Constitution divides power among the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The Congress makes the laws, the executive enforces and administers the laws, and the judicial interprets the laws. Separation of power keeps a strong central government from being too strong. Too much power concentrated in any one branch could lead to abuse of that power.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Congressional Oversight

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages

    4. The system of checks and balances is an important part of the Constitution. With checks and balances, each of the three branches of government can limit the powers of the others. This way, no one branch becomes too powerful. Each branch “checks” the power of the other branches to make sure that the power is balanced between…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    checks and balances

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    There are many ways in which African Americans have been denied equality. As a result, there were many methods that individuals, groups and the government have used since 1950 to deal with the inequality faced by African Americans. Some of the methods included peaceful protest and withholding support of businesses.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Notes of Constitution

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Separation of Powers ensures that no one branch of government can have an unequal amount of authority and so might be able to throw off the balance of the democracy. The three branches are the Legislative (House and Senate), Executive (President and Vice, etc), and Judicial (Federal and Supreme Courts). None has all the power and each of them is…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays