Checks And Balances: The Separation Of Power
The Separation of Powers
The separation of powers is a concept also known as Checks and Balances in which each branch can check the power of the other branches to make sure all the power is evenly and fairly balanced. This system is a fundamental principle of the American Government that prevents any abuse of power.
Aristotle first introduced the idea of a “mixed government” where he drew upon many of the constitutional forms of city-states of Ancient Greece and led to the formation of the Roman Senate, consuls and assemblies. John Calvin who set up a several political institutions where the idea of checks and balances were first introduced favored early biparty systems and so resisted political absolutism and pushed for a more democratic system. In 1748 the French enlightenment political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu first introduced the tripartite system with intentions for a government that was in no way centralized in its power but instead distributed it evenly so no one could usurp complete power this model of his was based on similar ones like the Constitution of the Roman Republic. …show more content…
A condensed description of the divisions is as follows: the legislature makes the laws, the executive enforces them and the Judiciary interprets the law.
The power of the legislature is expressed in article 1 and this branch has a series of checks that can affect any of the two branches and thus challenge their power. They have a large mass of responsibility that revolves around laws, which are written, discussed and voted on in the congress. Congress is made up of the senate and the House of Representatives with 100 senators in the senate (two per state). The house of the representatives is composed of 435 members (each state has a different number of representatives depending on their
The separation of powers is a concept also known as Checks and Balances in which each branch can check the power of the other branches to make sure all the power is evenly and fairly balanced. This system is a fundamental principle of the American Government that prevents any abuse of power.
Aristotle first introduced the idea of a “mixed government” where he drew upon many of the constitutional forms of city-states of Ancient Greece and led to the formation of the Roman Senate, consuls and assemblies. John Calvin who set up a several political institutions where the idea of checks and balances were first introduced favored early biparty systems and so resisted political absolutism and pushed for a more democratic system. In 1748 the French enlightenment political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu first introduced the tripartite system with intentions for a government that was in no way centralized in its power but instead distributed it evenly so no one could usurp complete power this model of his was based on similar ones like the Constitution of the Roman Republic. …show more content…
A condensed description of the divisions is as follows: the legislature makes the laws, the executive enforces them and the Judiciary interprets the law.
The power of the legislature is expressed in article 1 and this branch has a series of checks that can affect any of the two branches and thus challenge their power. They have a large mass of responsibility that revolves around laws, which are written, discussed and voted on in the congress. Congress is made up of the senate and the House of Representatives with 100 senators in the senate (two per state). The house of the representatives is composed of 435 members (each state has a different number of representatives depending on their