Essay on Role and Functions of Law

The Founding Fathers created the federal constitution during their time and this contained an intricate set of checks and balances between different levels and branches of government. This remains relatively unchanged within the US constitution. This set of checks and balances works in a way that makes the different branches of government still have independence and work on their own, but also requires them to work together interdependently. This creates better, stronger

In order to protect against tyranny, a system of checks and balances was designed to keep any one of the three branches from gaining more power than another branch. According to James Madison, “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 braches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” (Doc C) He thought each of the three braches could watch one another and keep them in check. They have the ability to control portions of the other branches. If one branch does something unacceptable, another branch can step in and overrule the branch in question. An example of this is that the President has the ability to veto legislation if Congress passes a law that is too extreme. At the same time, the Legislative branch has the power to override a veto by the President or even impeach the President. (Doc C) Without a system of checks and balances, one of the three branches could gain control over the others allowing tyranny. This structure framed into the constitution gave assurance that the powers would oversee each other and not allow major shifts among

The constitution guards against tyranny through, checks and balances, Federalism, and by giving large and small states powers. One way the Constitution guards against tyranny is through a system called checks and balances. Checks and balances is a way for each of the three branches of government to check on each other to make sure none of them gets too powerful. Some examples of checks and balances include, the Executive checking the Legislative by being able to veto bills, then the Legislative can check the Executive on that by overriding the veto, and finally the Judicial can check both of them on that by declaring that law unconstitutional, but then the Legislative branch could propose an amendment to the constitution (C). It could

The Constitution was made to avoid tyranny. They wanted to create a government that avoids having too much power to a person or a group. They also wanted to create a government that wasn’t to weak to support the nation. The Constitution guards against tyranny by creating checks over the branches, giving power to the central government and the states, and creating the three branches separate and distinct.

James Madison needs the trust of the people to frame the government's branches to separate the power of the governmental branches. Secondly, the government to repeal against tyranny had to use checks and balances to keep every part of the National government in check. 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." Telling us that during the meeting of the continental constitution they discussed a plan to keep all parts of the government in check in with each other. This also tells us that they had to make it perfect enough so that if a law wasn't right for example, it went through the executive branch and the judicial branch before it was able to become a law.

James Madison can concludes that without a checks and balance system, that branches can make negative decisions. For example, congress passes a bill, that is unconstitutional and the president disagrees with. Without the check and balance system that bill becomes a law, with the checks and balance system the president can veto the bill and the judicial branch can declare the bill unconstitutional. The government is set up to be intentionally divided to assure one branch will not be able to overpower the others. The complex process of checks and balances prevents tyranny because all the branches have equal and competing

Checks and balances is a system that prevents one branch from having too much power, and giving each branch some power over the others. Doc C is an excerpt from Federalist #51, that was written by James Madison in 1788. The federalist papers were written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, to convince the states to ratify the constitution. According to Doc C, “... the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several officers 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.” The quote from Doc C shows that each branch should have some power over one another to ensure that not one branch becomes a tyrant. The constitution guards against tyranny through checks and balances, which lets each branch check each other on their actions, and stop them if they are abusing their

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,

The constitution was established by men who had experienced the dictatorships of Europe and had escaped from its grasp. They sought to establish a form of government that would never allow a dictatorship or tyrant ruler to hold power over the people like in the places they had fled. With their creation of the foundation of what our government is today they created a system where 3 branches were all of equal power and each could be overruled by another which prevented any branch becoming superior of another. The separation of powers provides a system of shared power called Checks and Balances.(2) The three branches are legislative, judicial and executive and they each have specific powers to

     In order to control the effects of a faction, Madison said that the government needed to have a checks and balance system. By doing this, factions are prevented from getting too powerful. This is the reason why the Americans clearly put a checks and balance system in the constitution. In the constitution, these rights are guaranteed (Ziegler 216-220).

Madison said “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” (Madison, 1788). A system of checks and balances needed to be implemented. Madison argued that the only way the government could be effective was to allow it to “control the governed, and in the next place [be obliged] to control itself” (Madison, 1788). The Executive Branch is responsible for implementing the laws passed by the Legislative Branch, and those same laws are either upheld or rejected by the Judicial Branch. The three branches of government must work together to provide for the general welfare. The fragmentation of the power, along with a system of checks and balances, greatly diminishes the ability for one branch to gain too much power. This guarantees the rights of the people and ensures the government’s ability to govern.

The Law Commission is the main law reform body. It was set up in 1965

(Thomas Jefferson 59) He means by this that if too much power is given to one branch of government that they will abuse the power and they will be corrupt with the power if given too much. The checks and balances are set in place to prevent this from happening and keep the people safe from a dictatorship being formed by the

The rule of law is a difficult concept to grasp and proves elusive to substantive definition. However, the following work considers the attempts of various social and legal theorists to define the concept and pertinent authorities are considered. Attitudes and emphasis as to the exact shape, form and content of the rule of law differ quite widely depending on the socio-political perspective and views of respective commentators (Slapper and Kelly, 2009, p16), although there are common themes that are almost universally adopted. The conclusions to this work endeavour to consolidate thinking on the rule of law in order to address the question posed in the title, which is at first sight a deceptively simple one.

William O. Douglas said, “Common sense often makes good law.” Well that is what laws essentially are, rules and regulations that make sure common sense is followed. One could even say that laws are enforced ethics. Laws serve several roles and functions in business and society, and this paper will discuss those roles and functions.