Government Balance of Powers
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At different times in our history, critics have found that the supposed balance of power embedded in the U.S. Constitution has shifted from one branch of government to another. At times it has been claimed that we have a Presidential system of government, meaning that the Executive Branch predominates, while at other times it has been said we have a Congressional form of government, with Congress dominating. The Judicial Branch has been accused of trying to legislate at times, but it was developed as the weakest of the three branches of government and has never been said to be predominant as have the other two branches. The degree to which the people can influence their government may depend on which branch is in the ascendancy at a given time. In the long term, we have a three-branch system, for while we might have what is called an Imperial Presidency at one time or an Imperial Congress at another, which branch comes to dominate depends more on circumstances and personalities than on design. The U.S. Constitution was constructed as a series of compromises between the two major factions involved in its writing, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The framers of the Constitution feared the potential "mischiefs" of faction and designed a governmental system that would balance competing interests and prevent the ascension of any one faction. A given faction might gain control of one of the branches of government or one level of government, but this would not enable
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he vagaries of public opinion. The Supreme Court is a vital institution precisely because it serves as the final arbiter for balancing competing interests and for protecting the minority--even a minority of one--from the tyranny of the majority. The Framers developed a system both flexible and resistant to abrupt change.
The essential form of the new government would be a republic, as supported by the Federalist position. There were specific problems facing the new republican government that had not been solved in Europe. Madison pointed out that Americans found a way of applying a republic to an extended territory, and he also noted that the elaborate system of representation in the Constitution would do two essential tasks:
It would prevent the central government from grasping excessive power, because representatives were always to be responsible to their electors; and it would, in turn, screen the central government from the elemental force of popular passion (Pole 16).
In No. 39 of The Federalist Papers, Madison asked whether the new government would be strictly republican:
It is evident that no other form would be reconcilable with the genius of the people of America; with the fundamental principles of the revol
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Founding Fathers, Federalists Anti-Federalists, Papers Madison, Locke Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson, Bill Rights, Supreme Court, Madison Americans, Judicial Branch, McKenna Feingold, branches government, form government, guilford connecticut dushkin, connecticut dushkin, founding fathers, power power, central government, separation powers, checks balances, guilford connecticut, republican form,
Approximate Word count = 1523
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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