Politics The Relative Power of the Judicial Branch 1. “It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.” These are the words written on the wall of the Supreme Court building and are a summary of the outcome of the landmark case Marbury v. Madison. In a most simplistic, pithy and straightforward way, this single sentence sums up the Judiciary Branch’s infinite strength and relative weakness at the same time. The Judiciary branch cannot create new law, they cannot lay a path for governmental change, and in a sense of driving change the Judicial Branch has no power whatsoever. But, it is the responsibility to interpret laws that have been previously made and apply their interpretations and applications to the current time.
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
It also means that members of Congress are not elected on a joint mandate as members of a prospective government, as would be the case in a parliamentary system, but to represent the interests of their districts and states, and on a separate mandate from the president. However it can be argued that this hinders the system as the president only has limited influence over Congress, and this creates the potential for gridlock and contributes to the weakening of parties. So if the president is a different party than Congress he has hardly any power which is concerning considering the president is head of state and should therefore have the most power. On the other hand it can be seen as a positive, since legislation is the product of compromise and consensus and it is therefore better founded than, for example, legislation whipped through the House of Commons. To conclude it helps the system in a way that it stops there being a dominance of one person or party which is good in a way that the parties have to find compromised and there want me dictatorship.
“Under the Articles, disorder within the states were not manageable. Some states adopted trade tariffs and further barriers to foreign commerce that were contrary to the interests of other states. Tax and other barriers were also being erected between the states. But even after the ratification of the Constitution, the states continued to be more important than the national government. 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.
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
In a democratic society, Americans have earned the right to vote and choose their candidates. Voting has been a right that dates back to Mediaeval times. Through history, our founding fathers have fought to protect the right for Americans to vote. Voting is a right of the American people to elect who they want to represent them. The right to vote is the most important aspect of a democratic society.
This is wrong; states usually have a preference to a certain party and your vote could sway that preference and alter the distribution of states to candidates (State Political). As American Citizens we have to remember that voting is the only say that we have in government. We can influence the way tax money is spent to the healthcare that we receive. By not voting, each citizen is stating that they do not wish to influence what happens around them and to let things carry out “naturally”. Another issue is the age group of voters.
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.
In the USA we have a 2 party system for the most part. The problem with that is when you have a slip congress nothing seems to get done. Right now the Republican Party controls the house and the Democrats control the senate. The issue is nothing can get passed because of party lines. The tea party Much of the cause of the gridlock in congress is the tea party.
a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.” Unfortunately like many others, this promise is bound to broken. It has been introduced to Congress often since the early 1990’s. Recently, two bills have been designed to be passed for this issue, one by Representative Barney Frank and another by Senator Jeff Merkley. Both bills are still in the committee showing no means of progressing any further. Another factor keeping the probability of this bill being passed minimal is the Republican Party’s control over the United States House of Representatives and that this bill is not one of the Republican Party’s priorities at the moment.