checks and balances and the three branches of government.?

Question

Explain checks and balances and the three branches of government.

Answer 1

The three branches of government are legislative, judicial, and executive. The idea of separation of powers is that they should each be independent of each other so that the power is balanced.

But some of their powers overlap so that they can act as checks on one another. For example, the President can veto legislation, even though he is the executive and not legislative. And Senate approves cabinet appointments even though that is an executive matter.

Answer 2

I believe the entire system is undermined. You mention how lawyers have friends and colleagues in other branches of government. However, I think it’s a problem even within the same branch. I used to work in the criminal justice system for many years. I have seen how some judges are more friendly with some lawyers than they are with others. Is that judge able to be objective and put aside his personal feelings? I really wonder sometimes. From some of the rulings I saw, I would bet that oftentimes, it’s not always too objective. There was on case where it was purely obvious, as the judge and one of the lawyers had a brief (about 20 second) dialogue about some social event they both attended the night before. . . and he ended up ruling in favor of the client that lawyer was representing. Judges should recuse themselves in that situation, but I'm sure bias goes on all the time. Furthermore, what you said about the diminished checks and balances among the different branches makes lots of sense. Each branch should operate independent of the other; but if Jane Doe Lawyer of one branch is good friends with John Doe Lawyer of another, I really do believe that it can compromise the integrity of the process, especially if Jane and John kind of like each other a whole lot. I don’t know if there is an answer to fix it because it’s the good old boy network that doesn’t change and only the few privileged lawyers are at the helm to make the decisions and policies. But in the end, it’s us, the American people who suffer the consequences.

Answer 3

Congress proposes laws, the president approves or disapproves(veto) them, the Supreme court reviews them. Congress is made up of two houses, the Senate whose members serve 6 year terms, and the House of Representatives whose members serve 2 year terms. Since representatives represent the people, they stand for reelction most often which allows the changing will of the people to be closely represented. The Senate represents the states , and generally does not need to reflect change as much. The president is elected by the electoral college which usually reflects the will of a party. The president may propose a course of action, but Congress controls the writing of a bill, its debate and passage, and most important of all, its funding and the structure by which it may be administered, The president signs it into law, upon which occasion, it is then enforced. The president is in charge of its enforcement also. If someone feels the law, or the enforcement is unfair(violates the Constitution in some way), they may challenge it in court. The Supreme Court has 9 Justices, appointed by the president to lifelong terms so there are few vacancies in any presidential term, who will first decide if they should hear the case, then if they do, they will each render an opinion. Whichever side of the case gets the most opinions supporting it, wins. Other powers of the president, to take miltary action in times of peril and natural disaster, but the Senate must approve within 60 days, or the action must cease; the power to make treaties with foreign states, but the Senate must ratify the treaty. The senate has the power to impeach, but the House must vote todismiss him or not.

Answer 4

Checks and balances are meant to prevent any one branch of government coming to dominate the others or the people.
Executive - Legislative branch can impeach.
Judicial - Executive appoints Judges, Legislative confirms them.
Legislative - Executive can veto bills, Judicial can rule them unconstitutional

As you can see, each branch is watched over by the others, which many view as the genius of our government.

Answer 5

look over the responses above, and look at some of the federalist papers particularly federalist papers 47 and 48, which are titled:
47 - "The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among Its Different Parts" and
48 - "These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No Constitutional Control Over Each Other"

these are pretty short reads, so i would at least read a summary on wikipedia or something to get you started, and they are great references