Congress as the Most Powerful Branch of Government In the Federalist 51 of the Federalist Papers James Madison writes “In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates...the weight of the legislative authority requires that it should be thus divided.” It is necessary for the legislative branch to have the most power because they reflect the will of the people since we directly elect members of Congress and the laws the legislative branch creates inevitably affects the people. The members of the legislative branch are the closest link to the people; they represent specific interest groups and must be responsive to those interest groups or risk losing re-election. The framers of the constitution such as James Madison believed that since Congress is closest to the people they would have a democratic legitimacy that neither the Executive or Judicial branches would possess. Congress has a multitude of powers over the executive branch such as they may pass laws by overriding a presidential veto, may approve presidential appointments and foreign treaties, may investigate actions of the executive branch, and have impeachment powers over the President. The checks that Congress has over the judicial branch is that Congress must approve appointed judges (a check on the judicial branch before they even get there), have impeachment powers over federal officers and may propose amendments to overturn judicial decisions. If these powers weren’t enough to cement
Furthermore, the Legislative makes the laws. Executive, enforces the laws. And Judicial, judges the laws. This way, each of these branches can check each other. Federalist paper #47 states, “Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.¨ This is saying that without the power being divided between the three branches of government, there would be
The constitution makes use of separation of powers in order to prevent tyranny. In conjunction with his view of tyranny, Madison also said “(L)iberty requires that the three great departments of power be separate and distinct” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, Document B). This quote alludes quite clearly to separation of powers. Using this philosophy the founders gave each branch a few set jobs to perform. The legislative branch
Federalist 51 mentions that “the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for the inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches.” Keeping this idea in mind, it is the reason why the legislative branch is divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate. By dividing the legislative branch, Congress assures that too many individuals do not control one large portion of the government and that the legislative branch works with more efficiency without too many conflicting opinions. Additionally, in the Judiciary branch, the author explains that “some deviations [from absolute democracy] must be admitted.” The exception is necessary because according the Hamilton or Madison, the branch needs specific qualifications in order to elect essential members and that the position must be permanent so that it combat all dependence on authority. This concept sets up the process by which Supreme Court justices are put into power today where the president appoints a judge to serve for life or until the judge chooses to retire. Moreover, the article proposes the design that the overall government itself should be split into two sections, the federal and state level. This so that the state government can adhere to the values of its individual populations while the federal government lays down the general guidelines so that the state government’s values does not exploit the citizen’s natural
"The accumulation of al powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary... Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct " (James Madison- Document B). The Legislative hold Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Judiciary holds the Supreme Court. Lastly, the Executive branch holds the Vice President and the President of The United States of America. By separating the three powers you keep one person, or group from gaining too much
Unlike in a parliamentary system, in the United States, the federal government is divided into the separate branches of legislative, executive, and judicial. These separate bodies each have their owned defined authorities and responsibilities. According to Document B, James Madison, in federalist paper #47, explains that "the accumulation of...legislative, executive, and judiciary (powers) in the...hands...of...a few, (is) the very definition of tyranny.” He then states that “liberty requires that all three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.” This separation of powers protects against tyranny because it ensures that the federal government is not overrun with corruption and
The Constitution guarded against tyranny since 1790. They did this by separating the powers of the three branches of the federal government in a way that the branches can check with each other, and giving each state 2 senators. In Federalist Paper #47 by James Madison, it says, “(L)iberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.” This quote conveys that James Madison think that the three branches of the federal government, legislative, executive, and judicial, should be divided, but each will have equal power. The separation of power guards against tyranny, so one branch could not become too powerful than the other two. From the Federalist Paper #51 by James Madison, it states,
According to James Madison in Federalist Paper #51 in Document C it states, “...the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other… [The three branches] should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” As Document C shows in the chart, the Legislative Branch checks on the Judicial Branch by having the Senate confirm the President's nominations, and also by allowing Congress to impeach judges and remove them from office. The Judicial Branch checks on the Legislative Branch by allowing the court to declare laws unconstitutional. The Legislative Branch can check on the Executive Branch by allowing Congress to approve, Presidential nominations, override a President’s veto, impeach the President and remove him or her from office. The Executive Branch can check on the Legislative Branch by vetoing a Congressional Legislation. The Executive Branch can check on the Judicial Branch by presenting the President nominates judges. Finally, the Judicial Branch can check on the Executive Branch by allotting the court to declare presidential acts unconstitutional. The check and balance system is yet another way that our nation has steered clear of tyranny. It allows each branch to have the ability to check on one another and make sure that the power is being distributed evenly, and no one group is getting too much power. This is a constitutional factor that has been working since the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, this is the way that it will hopefully stay for generations to
Power was distributed through each government body, giving each their own responsibilities and equal power (Document B). “Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct”. Madison did not want the power in one person (B). Each branch had an important job such as legislative powers should be vested in Congress, the executive should be vested in the President of the United States, and the Judicial should be invested in one Supreme Court (B). James Maddison wanted a person elected to the House of Representatives to serve at the same time on Supreme Court because he wanted the government separate (B). This safeguard has been established to make sure each branch doesn’t control the government
The power that the legislative branch holds over the judicial branch is that even though the president gets to pick the judge, the legislative branch gets to approve the judge. And like with the president the legislative branch/ congress also has the power to impeach the judges.
Now, even though all the branch keep each other in line. The legislative branch have a higher influence or them all. It can veto laws, impeach our president, and reject treaties. Finally, their work has higher value then the others. They have the power to declare war, write laws, and grant money.
Some may think that the Executive branch is the utmost powerful . I understand why you might say that , by reason of it involves the president, but everything that the president wants to be passed it has to go through congress first . For an example, “your “ president trump tried to pass multiple bills such as not allowing Transgenders to join the military and getting rid of Obama care . Congress didn’t pass these laws so consequently they failed due to most of the bills that trump passes are unconstitutional . We should appreciate that congress is in control in view of if trump was in charge, we would be in a great amount of trouble . Now I might know why you would believe the judicial branch is the powerful because it is the supreme court . The supreme court is the highest judicial court in the country . Which consists of nine justices and have the power of all the courts in the nations .Here is my argument for that , The supreme court is only in charge of the lower courts . Even the supreme court deals with laws and bills, but it still has to go through congress
The Founders' test, as they based on their involvement with a national government under the Articles of Confederation, was to build up an administration that was not all that intense that individuals could utilize it to seek after their own advantages to the detriment of other individuals' rights. Therefore, they settled on what is known as an established republic. That is the reason they separated our administration's energy between official, authoritative, and legal branches. It is additionally why they split Congress into two bodies. The Founders enabled this Congress to make laws, yet gave the energy of directing those laws to the president and the official branch. Isolate from these was the Supreme Court, its individuals selected by the president yet with the Senate's endorsement. The Constitution was designed with the goal that the contending desire of government authorities and in addition the contending aspirations of various branches and levels of government would work to frame an arrangement of balanced governance.
The Author believes that the Constitution would not be recognizable by our founding fathers. We have a very unique Congress compared to 200 years ago and is a prominent institution today. Congress has some control over presidency, because of the weakening representative group of the legislature. This is a conflicted of voter dissatisfaction, but having control over our president at this point in time may be a positive for our government
If the judicial branch had not gained the power of judicial review it wouldn’t have any effective power to check the executive or the legislative branch. This is because judicial review is the ability that the court has to examine and decide if a statute, treaty or administrative regulation contradicts or violates the provisions of existing law, a State Constitution, or ultimately the United States Constitution. Without this review the court wouldn’t have the power to review or revise laws if they contradict or violate anything already in place. Without this review of checks and balances both branches could just create statute, treaties or administrative regulation that contradict or violate the provisions of existing law, a State Constitution,
After all, there was a reason why the framers of the Constitution of the United States regulated the powers of the branches of government, and also granted and denied powers to the government. In terms of powers to the branches, the framers wanted to have three separate branches of government with their individual powers, working together to form a more synchronized and unified government. They also wanted to avoid the one-man-rules-all monarchy of the British. Under the constitution, they separated the powers of the government into 3 branches, the Legislative branch, whose duty is to make the laws,