before all bills are sent to the president for signature; they must pass through all stages in both Senate and House of Representatives for approval. This is significantly important in assessing how equal they because not only does the bill pass through all stages but neither House can override the wishes of the other. Secondly, both Houses must vote by two-thirds majorities to override the President’s veto of a bill. For example, in 2007, the congress overrode President Bush’s veto of the Water Resources Development Bill. In addition, in order to initiate constitutional amendments – a constitution amendment must be approved by a two-thirds majority in both houses before it can be sent to their states for their ratification.
First, all legislative power is vested in the house of reps and the senate, and within this broad function, Congress is given special powers to appropriate monies, raise armies and regulate interstate commerce. Second, the house of reps has the right to declare war. Lastly, the Senate is given the power to ratify treaties and approve appointments by the president to the judiciary and executive branch. However, it has been suggested that Congress is the broken branch of the three branches of government because of how well it performs its functions and powers. 1st paragraph Main function – legislature The Philadelphia Convention 1787 gave Congress the power of being the primary law making body in the US.
Roughly 600,000 people live in the area, they pay taxes and serve in the US military do not get representation. Nearly 70% of Americans say the government today is worse than intended, Also the US Constitution can cause gridlock within the Federal Government, because it gives too much power to those who oppose change and 58% of Americans say they would like to see more bipartisanship. Difference in political ideology means that gridlock is caused by the checks and balances in the constitution. This means that laws which really need to be passed or sensible laws which are against one parties ideology or certain senators can't get passed, for example Obama's gun background check laws cannot be voted in due to gridlock caused by republicans and some democrats. However, you can argue that the US Constitution still does work.
At the time the Constitution was written, the framers were fearful of tyranny after experiencing the imperial rule of the British. Consequently, they gave the most power to Congress in order for them to be able to check the power of the Executive. Congress was to be directly representative of the American people. It would be a bicameral legislature with a Senate and a House of Representatives. The House of Representatives would be made up of officials voted in every 2 years, and whose numbers are determined proportionate to the population of the state- for example, Alaska being a small state, only has 1 representative, whereas California, being the most populous state, currently has 53 representatives.
This describes that the legislative branch does not have power over any other branch of government; there is checks and balances always occurring throughtout the government.”Within Cogress, there is a further check on legislative power: for legislation to passed, a majority in each chamber of Congress is required” (Patterson 51). Patterson exemplifies the point of how no one soley has power of another person. Our Founding Fathers wanted equality and freedom of an opinion which is what the United States of America is attempting to do everyday. “ The major function of Congress is to enact legislation”(Patterson 410). The head
For nearly a century and a half, virtually all of the fundamental policies governing the lives of Americans were made by the state legislatures, not by congress.” (American Government pg. 78-79) “The relationship and authority of states and the federal government are governed by the U.S. Constitution. The federal government is delegated certain enumerated powers while all other powers not otherwise prohibited by the Constitution are reserved to the states. Through this dichotomy, America has thrived--a nation of laws with a strong national and international identity anchored by the diversity and innovation of representative self government in the states. No matter the challenges to our nation,
A codified constitution is a written document that comprises the laws governing the state, the citizens’ rights against the state, identifies the political institutions with which power lies, and clearly defines the relationships between these institutions. It also contains guidelines to amending the constitution itself. Currently the UK has an uncodified constitution; which means that, unlike the US, constitutional principles cannot be entrenched - as both Parliamentary sovereignty, and the constitution’s organic nature, means it has evolved over time through statutes, Anglo-Saxon common law, convention and, more recently, E.U law – and will continue to do so. In the past, and unlike most other countries, Britain has not had an event, or a break in constitutional development, significant enough to require the introduction of a fully codified constitution; i.e. American came after the revolution, Germany’s after the abolishment of the fascist regime.
Outline Although the founding of the Constitution was a revolutionary, positive turning-point in American history, the US Constitution has a few unconstitutional and democratic shortcomings. Introduction In order to understand the shortcomings of democracy of the US Constitution, is it is important to know the background of its’ founding and how each article serves our country. Federalist No. 10, written by James Madison, asserts the importance of having the image of a democracy without its real substance. There seems to have been a very strong opposition towards democracy at the Constitutional Convention, although the framers were in the midst of creating democratic principles to appeal to the majority of the country.
The Elastic Clause states that Congress shall have the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carting into execution the foregoing powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof (Angel&Gerberg). Jefferson as a strict constructionist believed that this would give Congress unlimited power. The relevance of constitution interpretation in our time is that when the constitution was written they could not see into our time the 21st century and therefore we need interpretation to help with the problems that arise in our
This effectively allows the PM to make a decision by themselves, in a Presidential fashion. If there is a case where the Prime Minister has a large majority, they have increased power and are often able to get most legislation they want passed. E.g. from his appointment as PM in 1997, Tony Blair had not lost a single vote in the House of Commons until November 2005. A reason that in the past may have supported the view that the limits on the PM are too few and too ineffective, and arguably the most important power that the PM had at his/her’s disposal up until recently is the ability to set the date of a general election.