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Structure of the legislative branch essay
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In Federalist 51 Madison talks about the need for elected government officials to be controlled by a system of checks and balances. He talks about how each part of the government must be made sure as to not get too powerful as they might overpower the others. To do this Madison states that power must be distributed equally between each part, and divided as much as possible. For example Madison says “In the republican form of government, the legislative branch tends to be the most powerful.”
Because the separation of powers was created, there need to be a way for no branch to become too powerful. With the checks and balances system, “each branch
Federalism guards against tyranny, so does the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each guard in different, unique ways. All of them do the same job to guard against tyranny. Federalism divides the government into the state and central governments. The division of powers gives each branch of government equal power, while checks and balances allows each branch to check each other.
By splitting the power into a central and state governments, as well as dividing powers into three distinct branches, gaining all power became a feat much harder to achieve. By establishing a checks and balances system, no type of tyranny could even begin to form within a branch without being stopped by another. Finally, all states were given the representation they deserve, therefore stopping any one group from gaining too much power. With all the separation and limitations placed on all areas of the government any type of corruption can only go so far before being immediately
Federalism helped the Constitution guard against tyranny by specifying which powers belong to the Federal government and which ones belong to the State government. This separation leads to a double security so that the state government can watch the federal government and the federal can watch the state. James Madison states in his Federalist Papers #51(Document A), “power surrendered by the people is first divided between two
“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.
It provides the overall structure of our democratic government. By separating powers into three branches and creating a system of checks and balances between the branches, it continues a long tradition in American
As James Madison stated, “ The accumulation of all powers… in the same hands… may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” However, if you separate this power between multiple branches of government it provides a fairly effective safeguard against one person or group gaining too much power over the other. Also, along side with these separations, each appointed government official serves a certain term. After this term they either have to run again or cannot be in that position again. This protects against tyranny because without the ability to serve a full lifetime, it becomes extremely difficult to gain too much
Limited Government is the most important principle of government out of the seven principles of government because it prevents anyone from having too much power. The powers that rulers have are limited by the constitution, which protects individual rights, and protects private property and lets citizens have more control over their own lives. It also lets citizens participate in politics. Thomas Jefferson says, "The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."
I would explain the difference between a limited and unlimited government as one of governmental power. In a limited governments, the government has less authority than that of unlimited governments. Restraints such as laws and elections are a commonplace in limited governments, whereas unlimited governments have no such restraints. I do think that this difference is important as it draws the line between a dictatorship and a democracy, two opposing forms of government that couldn’t be classified without this.
The Checks and Balances are the ways that the three branches of government check each other to make sure each one doesn’t go crazy with power. Legislative Branch checks the Judicial Branch, Judicial Branch checks the Executive Branch, and the Executive Branch checks the Legislative Branch. (Document C). This helps guard against tyranny because each of the branches can check the other one to make sure the branches don’t get too much power. The final way that the constitution helped guard against tyranny was the Big States and Small States Compromise.
The Constitution is still relevant today because it separates the power each branch of government has in the United States. The separation of powers serves several purposes. The separation prevents concentration of power, seen as the form of tyranny, and provides each branch with weapons to fight off encroachment by the other two branches. As argued by James Madison in the Federalist Papers (No. 51), "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."
Now compare this with limited government. Limited government is when the powers of the government are fewer than the power of people. During Christmas, your parents control how much money your spending for gifts. But, you can control what gift you want. It’s your choice to choose the present, and your parent’s choice to determine if it’s on sale and not too expensive.
Therefore, power has been justly distributed between each division of government. Checks and balances are yet another form of separation of powers in the government. As the Constitution was initially written, there were checks and balances preventing any one branch of becoming too powerful. Since we still follow the same Constitution (with a few amendments) those checks and balances are still used.
(The Three Branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” In conclusion, the constitution protected us from tyranny using the three methods,Equal Representation from all the States, Federalism, and the system of checks and balances. The framers succeeded in creating a well built constitution because all three methods have created security that no tyrant, or tyranny would
