Of that less than 5% remaining full democracies, Norway has been ranked the best democracy in the world. On the other hand, the relegation of the United States from a full democracy to a flawed democracy can be traced back to American voters losing trust in political institutions and the increasing role of lobbying. With their automatic voter registration, collaborating political parties, and healthy relationship between lawmakers and citizens, Norway’s democratic success is no surprise in comparison to the United States of America.
The political structure of both nations also contributes to their major differences. Norway is a constitutional monarchy with the king as the head of state and a parliamentary democracy system composed of three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. The constitution grants executive powers to the king, but the cabinet, appointed by the prime minister, exercises these rights. The monarch appoints a prime minister to acts as the political leader and head of government. The prime minister is given limited legislative powers but controls the party of parliament as well as the legislative and executive branch. The judicial branch, the highest court in Norway, is led by judges appointed by the monarch.
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The president is the head of the federal government as well as the executive branch. The legislative branch is composed of the two parliamentary houses: The Senate and House of Representatives. The judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court, federal courts, and minority courts. In regard to separation of power, both nations follow Montesquieu’s idea within the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; however, “Economist Intelligence Unit says [Norway] has better checks and balances than the U.S. system” (Smith and Adams,
The constitution splits the power given to national government into three branches, which are separate from each other: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The separation of powers was based on the ideas of Montesquieu, with him ‘L’esprit de lois’ which means the spirit of the law. The executive plays the role of administrating law. The president does this in many ways , for example he; executes federal laws and programs, conducts foreign policy , commands the armed forces, negotiates treaties and other such roles. Checks and balances another main factor of the constitution comes in here, as the people get to keep a check on the president every 4 years with the presidential election, which stops any tyranny of powers. This can also be seen in another branch of government. The legislature passes law, this is done through congress. Congress is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Its roles include;
The framers of The Constitution used the principle of separation of powers from the works of Baron de Montesquieu to separate the government into three branches. These said branches would have power over their own functions, but the branches would also have the power to keep each other from getting to powerful through the system of checks and balances. For example, the legislative branch has the power to enact laws, and appropriate the funds necessary to run the government. While these powers are reserved to the legislative branch the executive branch and the judicial branch both have
The government is divided into three branches. Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. James Madison states in his Federalist papers, “Liberty requires that the great departments of powers should be separate and distinct.” Legislative writes the laws for and consists of the House of Representatives and Senate. Executive branch passes the laws the legislative branch makes and the President is the head of this branch. Judicial branch decides if laws are constitutional or not and consists of the Supreme Court. This keeps one branch from getting too much power.
The structure of the United States Government created by the founding fathers is a foundation that holds the country together. It has gathered the trust of the American citizens and used it to make decisions that make America a better nation. The government is made up of three main branches, the Legislative branch, the Executive branch, and the Judicial branch. The branches are vital to America 's social and political integrity and the organization is considered one of the most unique forms of government in the world today. The three branches work together to face and solve the problems that confront the nation as a whole. The government changes as
Over 200 years ago the United States’ Founding Fathers created a unique system of government that allowed a balance to exist between both the federal government and the separate state governments. Through the three branches of government, specifically the executive and legislative branches, the United States has been able to act as a unified body with several varying individual parts. With the executive branch and the legislative branch each having outlined powers of their own the Founders were able to equally balance the power of the national government and the state governments. Although this system has managed to stay in tact for two centuries and has allowed the United States of America to become a dominate player in international affairs, there has consistently been a battle of power between the president in the executive branch and the two houses of congress in the legislative branch. As the United States continues to evolve and face multiple obstacles, so does the relationship between these two branches.
According to the constitution of the United States the federal government is divided up into three branches to ensure an equal and balanced government and to make sure that no one or branch of government has too much power. The three branches are the legislative branch, executive branch, and the judicial branch. Each branch serves different purposes in the United States federal government and each branch is made up of different federal government employees. For example, the legislative branch make the laws. The legislative branch has the power to impeach the U.S. President and declare war. The legislative branch is made up of U.S. Congress which include the Senate and House of Representatives. Then there’s the executive branch which carry
They also approve all Treaties and can impeach a president. The Legislative Branch checks the Judicial Branch by approving appointment of judges, possibility of removing judges through impeachment and creating lower courts. The Executive Branch checks the power of the Legislative Branch by having the power of veto, proposing and vetoing laws and legislation and calling special sessions of Congress. They check the Judicial Branch by appointing members of the Supreme Court and other federal judges. Lastly, the Judicial Branch checks the Executive Branch and Legislative Branches with the ability to deem things unconstitutional and interpreting the laws. Judges also can be appointed for life and become free from the control of the Executive Branch. The system of checks and balances gives a separation of power to three different branches. It has been an extremely effective form of government and other countries have adapted to US
The federal government, as stated before is divided into three branches: the legislative, executive and judicial. The federal constitution lays out the powers of these branches, however vaguely. The executive branch is made up of one president that is decided by an electoral college. The legislative branch is divided into two, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The president’s and congress’s powers are described in broad terms, causing issues among different interpretations. This forces the third branch, the judicial branch to step in and use their discretion to decide what powers belong to who and if they are legal. The Supreme Court is made up of one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices who all hold office for
The United States Constitution provides the National Government three distinctive branches of government: the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial Branch, each with its own form of powers, duties and roles. Separation of powers and duties within the branches enable them to check and balance one another as well as balance the authority of the other two.
Despite being one of the oldest and most consistently stable democracies in the Western world, the American government, and American democracy as a whole, has frequently come under fire in recent years. Whether it is political parties, pundits, bloggers or citizens, Americans and non-Americans are all lining up to take shots at what they diagnose as a storied democracy crumbling before their eyes. Two of Robert Dahl’s criteria for a healthy democracy are enlightened understanding: are citizens able to acquire the political information necessary to participate in their own democracy, and control of the agenda: do the American senators and members of congress have exclusive and
Despite the many crises that the United States has faced historically, democracy has persisted. However, this is not to say that the system is secure or deeply rooted. In fact, based on the events of recent decades, it has been weakening. In How Democracies Die, Levitsky and Ziblatt provide examples of how American democracy has exemplified the positive and negative aspects of other global democracies of the past and present. Although the US is exceptional in some ways, with its longstanding democratic institutions and diverse population, it is more similar to others than different. Thus, the idea that few parallels can be drawn to other nations is disproven. The process of comparing each state is analogous to that of differentiating between
We live in this country for the land, and the for the free as Americans we rely on many attributes in this world in order for us to live our lives. Our government has supplied us with many great things for us to be proud of. Our government is “the institutions and processes though which public policies are made for society.” (Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry, p. 7). With all these institutions which includes the President, Congress, the courts and all the federal administrative agencies. These are the institutions that make up public policies for us, and to shape the way we live as Americans. The way this system has been operating through all the years has been
The United States of America is one of the oldest contemporary democracies, is currently the second largest democracy, and is ranked the 16th best democracy in the world (Campbell et. Al, 2014). Yet there is a legitimate question over whether or not the United States can still truly be considered a democracy, with some studies even suggesting it has begun to resemble an oligarchy (Chumley, 2014). In this essay, I will use Dahl’s criteria of voting equality and effective participation to determine whether or not the United States are truly a democracy.
The US Constitution divides the federal government into three branches - legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch, consisting of the House of Representative and the Senate, make laws,
parlance). These ministers are usually not simultaneously members of the legislature, although their appointment may require the advice and consent of the legislative branch. Because the senior officials of the executive branch are separately elected of appointed, the presidential political system is characterized by a separation of powers, wherein the executive and legislative branches are independent of one another. Presidents have greater control over their cabinet appointees who serve at the President's pleasure, and who are usually selected for reasons other than the extent of their congressional support (as in parliamentary systems). The U.S. represents the strongest form of presidentialism, in the sense that the powers of the executive and legislative branches are separate, and legislatures (national and state) often have significant powers.