Separation Of Power

Since society has changed dramatically between the eighteenth and twenty first century, the U.S Constitution should be considered as a living document because it is not applicable in today's society and therefore in need of some changes in order to fit into today’s society. When our founding fathers wrote the constitution they did not have in mind all the technological advancements the U.S. will one day have. Such as the internet, television, radio, and so on. Other’s will say that if the constitution was considered a living document then judges will take advantage and manipulate the constitution to their benefit, but they don’t realize that people already manipulate the constitution. There were laws that contradicted the constitution like the Judiciary Act of 1789, which contradicts Article III of the Constitution in the Marbury v. Madison case.

James Madison wrote Federalist 51 over 200 years ago, yet its words still impact today’s government in 2016. When writing Federalist 51, Madison had two main objectives in mind; he wanted a government with a separation of powers, and he also wanted minorities to be protected. Both of his objectives have been accomplished and continue to be present in today’s American government with the latter objective being more present in today’s government even more so than in the past.

May 1787. 55 delegates, one long, sweaty conference. The Constitutional Convention was a huge event for the United States. During this convention, the 55 delegates from all states except Rhode Island met up to change their Articles of Confederation. Instead of editing, however, the 55 delegates rewrote the whole thing into the Constitution, which is still used today. The delegates wrote this Constitution with tyranny in mind; how could the Constitution guard against one person or group from gaining too much power? The Constitution protects against tyranny because the 55 delegates established: federalism, separation of powers, checks & balances, and equal representation.

“The accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether one, a few, or many… may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”-James Madison. Fifty-five delegates, from the thirteen states, met in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to discuss and revise the Articles of Confederation. The chief executive and the representatives worked to create a frame for what is now our Constitution. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in four ways; Federalism that creates a State and Federal government, Separation of Powers that gives equal power to the three branches, Checks and Balances that create balance in the three branches by checking each other and being checked and the Small States vs the Big States ensures an equal voice for all states no matter what their size.

“The accumulation of all powers..in the same hands, whether of one or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, 1788) ( Background Essay) This quote explains the reasoning for one of the framers, (B) Separation of Powers. The framers of the constitution were created to prevent tyranny and create a stronger government that would hold the nation together. Tyranny ultimately means harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual-- like a king or dictator. The constitution guarded against tyranny in 4 ways: (A)Federalism, (B)Separation of Powers, (C)Checks & Balances, and (D)Small State-Large State.

When the delegates met in 1787 they aimed to fix the national government. The previous governmental charter, the Articles of Confederation, failed because it was just too weak and wasn’t getting the job done. Under the Articles of Confederation, there was no court system, no chief executive, and there was no particular way for the central government to force states to pay their taxes. By creating the Constitution, it would build a stronger central government and would be able to hold the nation together. The Constitution protected the people from tyranny by federalism, checks and balances, and equal power between the Senate and House of Representatives.

The Constitution uses division of powers in order to prevent tyranny from occurring. James Madison, a man who was very dedicated towards our Constitution, decided upon dividing the government into two different sections, state and central, this idea is known as federalism. Powers needed to run a country are granted to the central governments, a few of those powers are printing and coin money, declare war, and regulate trade, and powers given to the state governments are the ability to hold elections, establish schools, and set up local governments. ( Document A ). The idea of federalism is important because it has a major effect on the prevention tyranny. Federalism makes sure that the governments only use the powers they were granted, and

Separation of powers protects liberty by making sure that all government powers do not fall in the hands of a single person or a group of people it also ensure that one branch does not exercise the powers of another branch. The legislative branch is mainly responsible for lawmaking, in article one of the constitution congress is granted limited but substantial legislative power. For Example, in section 8 it mentions “congress shall have the power to establish Post offices and Post roads meaning that neither the executive branch nor the Judiciary branch can exercise these powers. The Executive branch is mainly responsible for enforcing laws, Article II of the constitution grants executive power to the President, Some of the president’s powers are to veto legislation, recommend legislation, grant pardons and nominate judges. The Judicial branch is the law interpreting branch of government, article III of the constitution establishes a federal system of courts that are separate from the state courts, judges are appointed for life unless they are impeached and judges are also independent of the other two branches and through their exercise of judicial powers judges cannot be threatened by either the executive or the legislative branch. Separation of powers helps guarantees that all government power doesn’t

How come no one could ever take over the government? Well, we have the writers of the constitution to thank for this. WIthout the constitution, there would be a tyranny. The constitution was written in 1787. Its main purpose is to give our government a solid direction, and to describe the roles of the three branches in our government: The judicial, legislative, and executive branches. There are 3 ways the constitution has guarded us from tyranny: Equal Representation from all the States, Federalism, and the system of checks and balances.

After the Articles of Confederation failed because they failed to give enough power to the national government and congress, our founding father’s needed to reflect on its flaws for a new system to be set in place. Their new creation, our Constitution, was then set into place, and was created from a basis of the Articles of Confederation.

The government consists of the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial branch. These three powers guard against tyranny because the building of laws is represented to be more equal. James Madison, father of the Constitution and author of the Federalist Paper #51, wrote, "…. (L)iberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct” (Doc B). The three groups should not be associating to have more power because it is authoritarianism. So if each of them are independent, there would be a greater amount of freedom in the government. Federalist Paper #51 declared, “…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….” (Doc C). Although they are all apart, they have the right to “check on each other” and their power to confirm they are all accomplishing their duties and respecting the laws. They do this by impeaching the president, checking Supreme Court power, confirming President nominations, etc. All three branches will have equal amounts of power, to guarantee that they will not have constitutional control over one another when they are accumulated. Using this system will ensure that the three branches are all following their

There are five foundations of America’s political system. These foundations are Popular Sovereignty, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Federation, and Individual Rights. The first of the foundations is Popular Sovereignty, where,“the people possess the superior power over their political community, and can alter their government or amend the constitution.” (Ahmed Ehab,”Foundations of the American Political System”). The second foundation is the Separation of Powers, where the government is split into separate, equally-powerful branches. An example of this is the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the American government. The third foundation, Checks and Balances, involves the government’s divisions keeping each other in line, and from becoming too

The Constitution of the United States was formed 223 years ago. Since 1787, a lot has changed. We grew as a country, technology advanced, and we elected 43 different presidents. One of witch, being the first African-American President in history. Due to its age, some may argue that the Constitution is irrelevant to today’s problems. However, the Constitution is relevant. The Constitution is still relevant today because, it guarantees rights and freedoms to citizens, gives our country guidelines, and prevents a government from having too much power. America’s past, present, and future are bound and kept free by the Constitution. That is what makes the Constitution relevant. In a few words, the Constitution is the United States.

The lack of diversity is apparent in the Supreme Court of UK which is composed of 11 white men and one white woman. The composition of the panel can directly impact the cases. The case generally reaches the Supreme Court indicates that it is a matter where the law is not clear and there will be, in effect, two possible answers to the question. As Lady Hale recognises: “you will not get the best possible results if everybody comes from exactly the same point of view.” This conclusion is strongly supported by the research on the effects of the judicial diversity carried out largely in US which concluded:

Separation of powers refers to the idea that the major body of a state should be functioned independently and that no individual of a state should have power separately. Therefore, separation of powers means that splitting up of responsibilities into different divisions to limit any one branch from expurgating the functions of another. The intention of the doctrine is to prevent the application of powers and provide for checks and balances of governing a state. It is a doctrine of constitutional law under which the three branches of government, executive power, legislative power, and judicial power are been kept separately to prevent abuse of power.