Checks and Balances The Constitution separates the government into the branches, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Each branch has separate powers but are also given the duty and ability to control and balance others in a system called checks and balances. Each branch is able to limit the other branched to a certain extent in order to protect individual rights. Checks and balances assure that one branch will never have a greater amount of power than another branch. Below are the powers of each branch.
The legislative branch contains The House of Representatives and The Senate. The House of Representatives and The Senate are responsible for establishing new laws, changing current laws or illuminating current laws. The executive branch is home to President and the Vice President. The President is elected by the people and chooses the members of his cabinet. The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Courts and Federal Courts.
Locke would support these obligations of legislation. He believed that “the power of the legislative branch in the utmost bounds of it is limited to the public good of society.” (The Influence of Locke…) Locke would support the legislative branch because the laws they pass must be within the laws of nature and cannot restrict people’s rights. The power of the Executive Branch is given to the President of the United States, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The Presidents job is to pass and enforce the laws created by congress. He is also the commander and chief of the military.
An amendment is ratified if three-fourths of the states legislatures voted for it or by conventions in three-fourths of the states. (b) Two informal methods that have been used to change the meaning of the Constitution are judicial interpretation and incorporation of traditions, precedent and practice. Judicial interpretation is the way which the Supreme Court chooses how the Constitution is to be interpreted to the extent of most constitutional. Interpretation can be changing with changing times, socially and culturally. Judicial review was established through judicial interpretation in court case Marbury v. Madison.
Parliament can repeal and amend its own previous legislation and can pass legislation to override common law. Westminster System: The set of principles that underpin our parliamentary system, inherited from the United Kingdom, known as the Westminster system. These are the principles of
The Supreme Court may have the power of all the courts; they still find themselves with restrictions to their power ("Supreme Court, United States", 2005.) The dual court system is the separation between the state and federal court system. The U.S federal court system and the 40 separate state court systems. Dual court also means the
The courts must not only place the constitution higher than the laws passed by congress, they must also place the intentions of the people ahead of the intentions of their representatives. This is not a matter of which branch is superior; it is simply to acknowledge that the people are superior to both. It is futile to argue that the court’s decisions, in some instances, might interfere with the will of the legislature. People argue that it is the function of congress, not the courts, to pass laws and formulate policy. This is true, but to interpret the laws and judge their constitution are the two special functions of the court.
The Legislative branch can remove the president and judges through impeachment. The Executive branch has powers to carry out the laws. It has veto power which means it can reject
Substantive conceptions of the rule of law go beyond this and include certain substantive rights that are said to be based on, or derived from, the rule of law. The "formal" interpretation is more widespread than the "substantive" interpretation. Formalists hold that the law must be prospective, well-known, and have characteristics of generality, equality, and certainty. Other than that, the formal view contains no requirements as to the content of the law. This formal approach allows laws that protect democracy and individual rights, but recognizes the existence of "rule of law" in countries that do not necessarily have such laws protecting democracy or individual rights.
Government ministers exercise prerogative powers in the name of the crown. It is the prime minister who declares war, decides the date of general election and appoints government ministers and judges. The prime minister will inform the monarch of his or her decision, but the