They were influenced by the writings of the french political philosopher Montesquieu. In his book ‘The Spirit Of The Laws’ Montesquieu argued for a separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches of government in order to avoid tyranny. ‘When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person…there can be no liberty’ wrote Montesquieu. The Founding Fathers implemented this, through the president, Congress and the US Court System with a Supreme Court which holds ultimate judicial power. The separation of powers was designed to limit government, as each branch would carry out different functions of government this meant no single branch has total control in order to form a dictatorship.
How do you think our rights were protected against tyranny by the Constitution? Tyranny is when one person is given all the power to control a country of a government in a dictator like manner. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in several ways, which were federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, big states vs. small states. The first guard against tyranny was Federalism, a system of government in which power is divided between a federal government and state government. The guard of federalism is shown one way in the Constitution when they set up the compound government to make sure that the federal government doesn’t get too much power.
The main weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation are that it legislated for states but not for individuals. Congress had no power to tax or regulate trade. It lacked power to control commerce. And it was too difficult to change any of the articles. Then the Constitution was put into place 1787 to overthrow the Articles of Confederation.
Popular Sovereignty is the principle that states that the source of government power lies with the people. This was with the belief and idea that government should be a benefit to its citizens. Limited government is another principle that states that since the people give government its power, government itself is limited to the power given to it by them i.e. The People. Thus meaning congress may not create power but must follow its own laws given to it by its people.
Locke and Montesquieu believed that limited government (government has limits and every person has rights) was best. Montesquieu thought that governments such as monarchies and despots caused conflict between the people and the government. Limiting the government’s power over the people would take away the chances of a monarchy or despotism forming, and the best way to do that would be to divide the government into three different branches. Dividing the government into three branches will make sure one branch is not becoming more powerful than another, eliminating the chances of it becoming ruled by a monarch or despot. Locke believed that the government should never even be given such a great amount of power.
Separation of Powers Vanessa Totsch Everest University The separation of powers is considered to be the division of powers and responsibilities between the different branches of the government. (Magleby & Light, 2009 Brief Edition, p. 21) This can also be within the same lines as “checks and balances”. The different branches of the United States Government can overrule another, for instance, the judicial branch can overrule the legislature if it finds that a ruling that the legislature has passed is unconstitutional. (Magleby & Light, 2009 Brief Edition) The Framers of the Constitution of the United States wished to have a strong central government, yet have limited powers that could be used by the government. This was to help keep someone from making the democracy into a monarchy for one example.
Madison states that the judicial branch was the weakest of the three. He suggests the judiciary is not meant to be part of the braches because it’s made up of judges and they are required to uphold the laws not the constituency it requires. He says ambition is both a problem and a solution. We expect people to seek power in the government and try to expand upon it. The legislative branch is what he calls has the most power of threat.
Engl Composition and Readin Summary Federalist #51 James Madison stated “a will in the community independent of the majority, that is, of the society itself; the other, by comprehending in the society so many separate descriptions of citizens, as will render an unjust combination of a majority of the whole very improbable, if not impracticable.” My paper will attempt to explain the preceding passage, and give a brief description of his involvement in drafting the Constitution. The will of the people is the inclination of the people mainly from the majority. For example many different favorable opportunists came to influence the will of the people from politics, new business e.g. the railroad in the civil war period, becoming a more powerful union as a state.. James Madison made laws that kept the will of the people from being influenced by those
Civil Disobedience Civil disobedience dates back to the formation of the government organization, where the written constitution was formed. The written constitution is basically a contract between the government, and the people in which it sets forth laws and protects individual right. The framework of the laws, and rights set forth in the constitution is what makes the government orderly. Without order the United States would have an increase in all levels of crime and evil. Henry David Thoreau believed the government to be an unjust institution; he believed people should first do what they think is right, and not abide by the laws of the government.
Issue paper Marlene A-Schultz Congress With the creation of the constitution came the creation of our government; it was created by men how feared and distrusted a government that had too much power. They set out to create a government that was fair and controlled by the people. They wanted to create a government where the people were represented and had a say in the laws; they sought to move away from dictatorships and monarchies. To do this they separated the powers into three branches: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. The first article in the constitution is dedicated to the role and powers of the legislative branch or congress.