- Please explain how the Constitution provides for a system of separation of powers and checks and balances.
“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judicial in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self–appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny” (James Madison, Federalist No. 51, 1788).
Our country’s system of government rests on a separation of powers. (Inside federal courts) Our founding fathers were clear that there must be a separation of power, so they created three equal branches to prevent any one branch from gaining too much power over the other. The three branches that make up our government are: Judicial (Supreme court), Executive (President), and Legislative (Congress including the house of representatives and the senate). Any of the three branches of the government having too much power over the other disallows the existence of liberty amongst the people for whom the government was established.
While creating the government and how it should work, the founding fathers wanted to make sure that this new system of self-governing they laid out remained as they designed it. By creating the Constitution of the United States of America they could protect and preserve the newly created democratic system of governing. Our founding fathers knew all too well how an excessive amount of power in the hands of one government branch or person could turn quickly into a dictatorship. In fact, the separation of powers doctrine, is included in the Constitution, to ensure that the three branches of government remain separate.
Furthermore, James Madison posed the question “What will prevent the accumulation of power in the absence of pure separation?” (James Madison, Federalist No. 51, 1788). James Madison knew that there must be a system of checks and balances so the different branches of government could “watch” over one another to prevent corruption within any of the three branches of government and to allow for shared power and accountability between the three branches that make up our government. Some examples of how each of the three branches have shared power over the other include but are not limited to: The President may check Congress by vetoing bills Congress has passed. Congress may override the president’s veto with a vote of two-thirds of both Houses. The Supreme Court can then check both branches by declaring a law unconstitutional. (Inside federal courts)
In conclusion, the democratic system of governing set forth by our founding fathers to include three separate branches within one central government and protected by the Constitution allows for there to be justice and liberty without bias for all citizens who call the United States of America home. Even today, some two hundred and thirty-nine years after its inception our system of democratic government remains one of the oldest unchanged governments in the world.
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