Government Writing Assignment I
“A democracy is a political system that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually through the election of key public officials” (Ginsberg p. 11). The Professor I.M. Skeptic’s speech discussing the Constitution and American democracy argues the Constitution does not allow for real democracy to occur and I disagree upon the statement. The Constitution distributes power fairly between the national and state governments while guaranteeing rights to the people and the self interest of the community as a whole. The construction of the Constitution withholds numerous characteristics of democracy: providing representatives to voice the citizens demands, guaranteeing rights to
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Constitution). The fabrication of this system allows for the equilibration of powers and fair governing of the people by maintaining interest in the good of the people as a whole. For instance, Richard Nixon’s veto of the War Powers Resolution allowed him to dismiss the approval of Congress to officially declare war and to send troops to participate in the Vietnam War; fortunately, Congress was able to override his veto within a few months later (Glass). Since the three branches have divided powers the government was able to prevent Nixon’s abuse of power and granted the government to successfully perform democracy by not continuing the Vietnam War for the wellbeing of the people (Glass). Through the system of checks and balances it states “The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war. But it also makes the president commander in chief of the armed forces.” (Glass). Because of this regulation of power the president is unable to make any rash decisions on his own without the approval of Congress which provides grand safety to the people. If the executive branch were to come to decisions without being monitored by the legislative and judicial branch the U.S. government would function as a dictatorship where no one has a say in
War Power Reform When it comes to war-making powers, both the legislative and the executive branches play a major role determining the course of action. Constitutionally the legislative branch has the power to declare war, but the president (executive branch), without Congress’s permission, can “make” war. This is due to the War Powers Resolution, which was enacted by Congress in 1973 to keep the president in check.
This divides power between 3 departments that can also stop each other from having too much power. The way the 3 branches check each other is the legislative branch can check the president by overriding his veto but the president can veto congressional legislation, the legislative branch can check the supreme court by impeaching judges and removing them from office but the supreme court can declare laws unconstitutional. The supreme court can check the president by declaring presidential acts unconstitutional but the president nominates the
Chapter 9 is about the President and the powers that are given to him as a national leader. It explains the difference between formal powers and inherent powers. Formal powers of the president is the power to veto, to report to Congress and act as commander in chief in of the military. The president can make treaties with two thirds of the Senate’s votes and can grant pardons in all cases except impeachment.
In a perfect world the three branches would work seamlessly, as the writers of the Constitution had intended, but with over 430 members of the House of Representatives, 100 members of the Senate, and nine justices serving on the Supreme Court begs for convolution and, at sometimes, chaos. After the law has been proposed, carried out, and evaluated the President has the option to pass or veto the law. One would think that because the head of the American government, elected by the people, has made the order, the process would stop there. But because of the Constitution, Congress, really having all the power, are able to take Presidential veto and overturn
Regulating the branches of government is crucial to the success of our country, so the constitution laid out the concept of “checks and balances”. For example, the president can veto any bill passed by legislature. In this case, the executive branch checks the legislative branch of government. If this wasn’t possible, congress could pass any bill they want, and ultimately become a powerhouse. These guidelines help keep the government intact, and in turn keep the constitution intact.
Of the many roles the president plays for the American government, acting as the commander in chief is very important for the common good. The commander-in-chief 's main tasks are to leave the United States military, make decisions in times of war and to control the Armed Forces. However, to prevent excessive military control, checks and balances only allow Congress to declare war, not the
Others saw it the increase of the U. S. to the position of a world authority. The seeming dominance in war as a logical consequence of the mortifying influence of control. They maintained that presidents catered to popular sentiment because, often in the guise of patriotism, strong, violent muscle-flexing against foreign foes was rewarded at the ballot box (Power). There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person" (Secondat, Montesquieu). "The accumulation of all power, legislative, executive, and judiciary in the same hands...may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny" (Madison).
Constitution DBQ Around the time of the ratification of the American Constitution, there were some American citizens that wanted the government to have more power, and there were others that thought the people should be in control of the government. These two groups called themselves Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists wanted more government power, and the Anti-Federalists did not.
On August 2nd, 1964, three North Vietnamese Navy Cruisers were “unprovoked”, and fired on the USS Maddox while it was on a “standard patrol” in the Bay of Tonkin.[1] President Lyndon B Johnson proclaimed this event in a speech that provoked the first attack, ordered by him before war was declared on Vietnam. However, that event was most likely a fake created to increase action in North Vietnam.[2] Does the United States Constitution protect the United States from tyranny of the president over the people’s peace like that? The United States Constitution was written to give strength to the failed Articles of Confederation, and to protect the citizens from tyranny. Sadly, it was written in the 1700s. Tyranny is defined when one group or individual
Similarly, the President ordinarily enjoys broader authority and initiative in foreign affairs. If Congress can constrain the President's use of his inherent Commander in Chief or foreign affairs powers, it follows that Congress can apply at least as strong constraints to the removal power, an unenumerated, allegedly inherent, domestic power. What this has resulted in is the essential ability of the President to order forces into hostilities to repel invasion or counter an attack, without a formal declaration of war. A declaration of war by the Congress places the Unites States at war, but absent a declaration of war, the President can react to acts of war in an expedient fashion as he sees fit.
The powers of the president aren’t very strict because the other branches watch to see what they are doing. The powers included: making laws, signing treaties, appointing judges, filling up vacancies, appointing Ambassadors, and granting reprieves and pardons. Some presidents used the powers well, while others did not. The one president that used them the greatest was Washington, the greatest, and the first. He wielded the powers to impact the growing United States most effectively by signing treaties to enemies, passing acts,and trying out the National Bank.
The United States of America is not truly a democracy. America’s government is all over the place and pretty much a mixture of everything, it never has been just democracy. The characteristics of a democracy are where the majority wins but that never really happens. For example the president election majority does not elect the president. The United States of America is not a democracy for many reasons; Rule by law, we are more a republic than a democracy, and the founders of a nation didn 't want a democracy.
The framers of the Constitution did not wish to return to the totalitarian system of governance imposed on colonial America by the British government. To ensure that no single person or entity had a monopoly on power, the Founding Fathers designed and instituted a system of checks and balances. The president's power is checked by the Congress, which can refuse to confirm his appointees, for example, and has the power to impeach or remove, a president. Congress may pass laws, but the president has the power to veto them. And the Supreme Court can rule on the constitutionality of a law, but Congress, with approval from two-thirds of the states, may amend the Constitution
The constitution attempts to evenly distribute powers between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government by providing the president or the commander-in-chief the power to control and supervise the military upon approval by congress, who have the power to declare war and to support the armed forces. The subject of debate regarding the act is whether the president has the authority to send military troops to war without congressional approval. The way the war powers act was written makes it difficult to decipher approximately how much power is the president privileged in the war-making process. According to the constitution congress have the powers to authorize war by formally granting letters that verify and confirm the
Liberal Democracy is a democratic system of government in which individual rights and freedoms are officially recognized and protected, and the exercise of political power is limited by the rule of law. The word democracy is greek, the word “demos” means people and “kratos” means power. The idea of liberalism first began in the 1600’s with John Locke as he believed that the people should be allowed to remove the government currently ruling when they have misused their power for ulterior motives. Although the seed was planted in the 1600’s, liberal democracy only properly took form in the 1840’s in Canada. Australia and New Zealand followed not long after as they began to use the secret ballot system to elect political leaders.