Upon founding of the United States government, not all three branches were to share the same amount of power. In fact, “Congress was the most powerful branch of government” (Katznelson, Kesselman, Draper, p.43). However, over time, due to representation responsibilities and compromise, Congress has lost much of the lawmaking influence. “...the president has taken the lead in...national defense and foreign policy, and...domestic policy such as fiscal policy” (Katznelson, Kesselman, Draper, p.44). Under Article I of the Constitution however, Congress holds many exclusive and monumentary powers, including but not limited to: budgetary powers (taxation, control of national debt), military powers (declare war), lawmaking (passing federal legislation), representation of constituents, investigation, and serving its consittuents.
In the constitution, there is a diagram stating which branch has power for each other. This power protects against an absolute power because if each power checks on each other, they are certain that they will not become powerful then one another. The last guard against tyranny was the Big States versus the Little States which means that each state will have certain amounts of senator’s (The bigger the state, the
Federalism is included in the Constitution by showing that powers were divided between the central government and the states. In document A the chart describes the powers of the states and Central Government. The Central Government pas the power to regulate trade, declare war, provide the army and the navy, and conduct all foreign relations. The states had powers like setting up school, setting up a local government, hold elections, regulate in-state businesses, and pass laws about marriage and divorce. The Central Government and the states also share some powers like taxes, setting up courts, making laws, enforcing laws, and borrowing money.
In 1787 a group of delegates for 12 of the 13 states go together to try to better the country. The Constitution was mainly written in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was made to make a guideline for the building of a federal government so that there wouldn’t be any tyranny. It was also made so that the government doesn’t become too powerful. How do you think our rights were protected against tyranny by the Constitution?
It is through laws that policies of government are laid down for implementation. It does however have many constitutional roles to fulfil such as the power of the purse, oversight, foreign policy and legislation. It can be argues that Congress does fulfil its constitutional roles as it may deliver effective over sighting, legislation, money bills, representation and foreign policy that may provide good checks and balances. However, most would argue that Congress may not carry its roles effectively thus leading to poor scrutiny (sometimes over scrutinising) which leads to ineffective fulfilment of constitutional roles. The principle organ of the US state is to legislate, represent and scrutinise the other, safely separated, branches of the government.
At that time it was probably true. However in modern times, and within just a couple hundred years, the Principle of Separation of Powers has eroded away. The Principle of Separation of Powers is why the Legislative branch was split at the convention; unfortunately the founding fathers did not foresee how the Judicial branch could be used to promote the interests of an imperialistic few who took control of all branches through crony promotions and political
In the US the executive branch is associated with the President, the Vice President, Executive Departments, and Agencies. In both the UK and the US the executive is by far the most popular branch of the government, being constantly in the media’s spotlight. However it seems to be an overstatement to suggest that in the UK the executive dominates everything, it could be argued that it dominates most political areas and that it has sufficiently more power than the US executive. There are multiple reasons for why this is the case. The constitutional status of the executives is a crucial factor.
Federalism is a theory of government by which political power is divided between a national government and state government, each having their own area of substantive jurisdiction. Federalism involves a degree of decentralisation. Decentralisation is the principle by which governmental and political power is vested not only in the federal government, but also in the state governments. Although in the Constitution, nowhere is it directly stated that the government shall pertain to the idea of federalism, it did reference the enumerated powers of the 3 branches of the federal government for example, Congress was to "coin money", and the President was to be the "Commander in Chief." It was also included in the implied powers of the federal government eg Congress's powers' to "make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."
CHAPTER 4 Federalism Learning Objectives After reading this chapter you should be able to • Define the key terms at the end of the chapter. • Explain why the founders adopted a federal system. • Contrast the two competing views of federalism. • Explain the significance of the “elastic clause” and the “commerce clause” as they pertain to federalism. • Describe the tools used by the national government to extend its power over the states.
The USA also has a complex legal system, having both national and state courts. Federalism in this sense thus leads to confusion, as what is legal in one state may be illegal in another, making it sometimes difficult for the central government and the people to distinguish between state laws and federal laws. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes writes “We are under a constitution, but the constitution is what the judges say it is.” The federal-state relationship is a continual source of conflict and controversy, and in these times the Supreme Court handles the issues. However, the federal constitution and the state constitution are open to individual interpretation. Federalism thus allows the Supreme Court to dictate the outcome, and without federalism, there may