...1787, the framers signed the Constitution “in Order to form a more perfect Union” (US Const. Preamble). They intended to establish a central government without granting it too much power. To ensure that, the framers both, limited and empowered the government in certain ar- eas. But since the original seven articles of the Constitution are over 200 years old, the framers could not foresee the expansion of the government’s power that has happened until the present day. With the “war on terror” being one of the governments priorities, questions arise if the gov- ernment has become too powerful, especially with regard to practicing surveillance. This essay aims to analyse the limits and powers given to the government by the framers in the seven Arti- cles of the Constitution, and finally apply these Articles to the government’s practice of sur- veillance today. The most essential points limiting the government’s power is the separation of power and the system of checks and balances. The federal government itself consists of three branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial branch; in other words, Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court. The power is divided between these three branches in order to keep any of them from becoming too powerful. Thus, the framers intended to prevent a corruption of power and tyranny over the states by imposing controls on each branch. The legislative branch, for in- stance, is kept in check by the President, who has the power to veto bills...
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...All of the many people who suggested their ideas for the Constitution, got them by thoroughly studying other governments and places. The United States now runs by an indirect democracy. All in which was took bits and pieces from many other governments. The major influences on the making of the United States Constitution were ancient civilizations, the British government, and the Enlightenment. One of the many influences on the US Constitution was ancient civilizations governments that were studied extensively by the framers. Ancient Rome consisted of a strong representative type of government, a republic. The Roman Republic consisted of different types of governments, or a mixed government. Their republic included elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The government worked in which a way where the decision were based off of the need of the people. In this type of government citizens were able to vote for congressmen and representatives. Likewise, the Constitution illustrates a republican form of government. In the United States, people elect senators, members of the house, and have some say in who the President shall be. Under British rule, the Americans were involved in a monarchy. The colonist...
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...nation under a written Constitution, the Framers of the United States had a vision of a republic that shared the balance of governance within a three branch system; each designed to organize a balance of power whereby Constitutional division of powers provide each branch the means to frustrate the goals favored by a single branch; in an attempt to promote interbranch cooperation. The Framers had extreme distrust in a large national government and especially in the case of executive power due to the events that led to the Revolutionary War. However, by the time the Constitutional Convention, most of the Framers were convinced of the need for a strong and independent executive at the national level. They also took steps to ensure the executive position could act with the necessary decisiveness and dispatch, most importantly the President was granted extensive powers, primarily the enumerated powers found in Article II of the Constitution. Despite the absence of a written provision of separation of powers in the Constitution, the Framers believed the principle to be implicit within the structure of government under the document. As John Marshall stated the framers sought to create a Constitution “intended to endure for ages to come and consequently to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs”. The ideas within the Constitution are seemingly designed to create perfect harmony, however, conflict and power struggles are as age old as the Constitution itself. Within five...
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...Hulshoff Branches of Government The founding Fathers of America divided the United States government into three branches of power in order to maintain a system of checks and balances. They did not want a government where one person or one body of government had all the power. The founding fathers of these United States wanted to step away from the totalitarian system of governance imposed on colonial America by the British (Trethan). Three Branches of Government With this thought in mind the founding Fathers of the United States came up with what Americans know now as the Federalist governing system. This Federalist government consists of the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Each of these branches has its own distinct and essential duties to perform in the function of the United States government (Trethan). Executive Branch The executive branches of the United States government consist of the president, vice-president, and 15 cabinet level departments. These 15 cabinet level departments include the State, Defense, Interior, Transportation, and Education. The chief point of power is in the hands of the president. The president chooses his vice president, cabinet members, and appoints the Supreme Court Justices. The primary function of the executive branch is to ensure the laws are carried out, the constitution is followed, and that the day to day operations like collecting taxes, homeland security, and representing the United States political...
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...Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances * Analyze how the U.S. Constitution implements separation of powers and checks and balances. Briefly explain why the constitutional framers based the new government on these ideas. Evaluate how separation of powers and checks and balances are working out in practice, today, justifying your assessments with persuasive reasoning and examples. “The ancient political philosophers, particularly Aristotle, believed that a successful republic could best be achieved through a mixed constitution (also called a mixed government), whereby power would be divided among a sovereign, a legislature, and the aristocracy. Politically, this entailed the separation of powers into distinct branches of government so that one branch could prevent another from tyrannizing the majority. The tendency toward despotism and corruption, in other words, would be limited because of the checks placed on power. But it was not enough to have checks and balances between different branches of government; there also had to be checks and balances within the legislative branch. Republicanism specifically called for a bicameral legislature, which was the division of the legislative body into two chambers.” (Levin-Waldman, O.M. (2012) I have found it very important to finish this discussion properly by adding these writings: “The Declaration of Independence puts forth many core American values. However, these values have to be institutionalized, or made concrete in...
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...2012 Self-Government Separation of Powers Checks and Balances Of the people by the people Authority to vote for and delegate the authority to elect government representatives Ability to change the constitution or laws when need be No one person or group has majority power and/or control 3 separate branches each with distinct power Work together to serve the people Ensures the three branches work together In place to prevent any single branch to have the ability to overpower the other Prevents dictatorship The Effectiveness of the Check and Balance System In the creation of the Constitution the framers divided powers between the different branches of government. The three levels of government are executive, legislative and judicial. The framers wanted them to be separated in so that they could perform on different levels while still and yet not allowing one branch is more power than the other. The framers knew that in order to provide the people with the type of government that they were trying to build; they would have to put into place a system in which each branch would be held responsible for their actions and/or decisions. This is how the check and balance system came into existence. Each branch functions on its own and has certain responsibilities. Each branch even tries to have more power than the other however; with the checks and balance system that the framers put into place prevents this from happening (Patterson, 2011)...
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...How the Constitution Guards against Tyranny The United States of America learned from Great Britain’s government and used what they had learned to create the government that the United States has today. After the Thirteen colonies broke away from Great Britain, they needed a plan of government so, they made a document entitled the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation worked like a constitution would and it worked very well until the framers of our now Constitution realized that The Articles of Confederation would never work to suit the needs of the new blossoming country. Upon this realization, they made a whole new plan of government called The Constitution which protected the people’s rights, set out the rules of the government, and most importantly protected all the citizens from an abusive government otherwise know as a tyrant....
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...Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances Vena Roberts American Public University The doctrine of separation of powers, as implemented in drafting the Constitution, was based on several principles generally held: the separation of government into three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial; the conception that each branch performs unique and identifiable functions that are appropriate to each; and the limitation of the personnel of each branch to that branch, so that no one person or group should be able to serve in more than one branch simultaneously. The Separation of Powers devised by the framers of the Constitution was designed to do one primary thing: to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist. Based on their experience, the framers shied away from giving any branch of the new government too much power. The separation of powers provides a system of shared power known as Checks and Balances. Three branches are created in the Constitution. The Legislative, composed of the House and Senate, is set up in Article 1. The Executive, composed of the President, Vice-President, and the Departments, is set up in Article 2. The Judicial, composed of the federal courts and the Supreme Court, is set up in Article 3. The Constitution nowhere contains an express injunction to preserve the boundaries of the three broad powers it grants, nor does it expressly enjoin maintenance of a system of checks and balances. Yet, it does grant to three separate branches the...
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...There were plenty of methods the framers proposed to make the federal government weaker. The Constitution is one of the many ways of limiting the government’s power. It says that people shall not be infringed by the government. The federal government is limited by the delegated powers. The delegated powers are in Article One Section Eight of the United States Constitution. For example, “To borrow Money on the credit of the United States”, is one of the delegated powers. The delegated powers are also in the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, which are in the Bill of Rights. The Ninth Amendment says that nothing in the Constitution can be used to negate amendments. The Tenth Amendment basically says that any power not given to the federal government...
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...The three branches of government were originally designed by the fathers of the constitution to be equal in power, with a democratic system dependent on checks and balances. Checks and balances are designed to disperse and constrain power in order to maintain the desired balance between the powers of the three branches. Over time though, it seems as if there has been a slight shift of power that now favors the Legislative branch. The Constitutional system of checks and balances has been gradually corrupted over time, and the critical balance between our economic system and our system of government has been lost. As a result, the careful balance between the three branches of government that the framers wrote out has been lost. In the present day system of our democracy, the Legislative branch has slightly more power than the Executive or Judicial branches because of its ability to pass legislation. The Legislative branch has the power to pass laws, change laws, and even alter the Constitution. Laws dictate the direction in which the entire country is going, and affects every person living in the country, and even those in other countries. Without laws governing the United States, there would be no structure to the country. Without this skeleton of society, there would surely be chaos. Laws are in place to maintain the status quo, to protect property, to protect vested rights, and to protect established relationships. With the absence of laws, our society would not be able to...
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...Federalism Prof. Rogelio Garcia Political Science 3517 Federalism With the discontent from Britain’s policies and wanting to find a balance form of government, the Framers of the American Constitution decided on a new federal form of government, and created The Articles of Confederation. Under the Articles of Confederation (1781-1788), it provided the states to retain sovereignty and more power than the central government. Congress had no power to levy taxes or regulate interstate commerce. Areas assigned to the central government were difficult to legislate, as they had to be approved by nine of the thirteen states. States had the power to veto changes made by Congress. States taxed each other’s goods and even negotiated their own trade agreement with other nations (Government by the People pg.13) and unnamed democracies were on the rise in some states (“Pennsylvania’s’ Constitution”) (Prof. Garcia). Biased popular assemblies were against the privileged and believed that wealth undermined equal rights. Since the Articles of Confederation were weak and flawed to successfully govern the new United States; a new federal form of government of federalism was adopted that recognized the idea that people had basic rights that the government must protect along with separation of powers to avoid the conflicts between the states and the national government. The framework included the following: freedom of religion, speech, and the press, as well as the right to trial by jury and...
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...Introduction In 1787 our forefathers came together and wrote our country’s constitution. They created a structure of government that really exist yet. The U.S is divided into three branches: legislative, judicial, and executive branches. This was done for the purpose of checks and balances. The branches have the power to check one another hence having a balance in power so the no branch is more powerful than another. Operating idea of federalism and constitutionalism, states could govern themselves, to a certain extent, and the national government would have the right to govern the states and nation as well. Ultimately the framers would divide powers amongst the three branches. No other democracies around the world use this approach. Many believe our three branches of government is the strength of the United States government. America’s forefathers divided the government into the legislative, judicial, and executive branches When the framers were developing the constitution, they wanted to establish a government where the freedoms of the people would not be susceptible. The framers used the principles defined by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Thomas Hobbes came up with the idea of social contract where individuals gave up certain rights in order for protection. Hobbes knew the people would need to give up some freedoms and follow a leader who would supply safety. John Locke believed that all individuals were entitled to his or her absolute rights and that social contracts...
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...How Was The Greatest Constitution and Government Formed George Washington Political Science 201 Professor X August 24, 2012 Introduction The Greatest Constitution and Democracy on earth, these are my heartfelt feelings concerning the country that I live in. Why do I feel this way, because of the freedoms that we naturally have as citizens of the United State. Freedoms that are sometimes ignorantly ignored by the average citizen instead of being cherished and utilized. U.S. citizens have rights thanks to the original Bill of Rights, for example the right to free speech and the right to bear arms. The framers of the U.S. Constitution which is the basic structure of the American system of government. The U.S. Constitution is a written constitution, "it is the world's oldest written constitution still in force, drawn up in 1787, ratified in 1788 and inaugurated in 1789" (Powell, 2015, p. 687). Our constitution was developed to be a working document, meaning the framers created a document that can be edited and corrected through the political processes put in place that merit changing or amending by using our three branches of government, the executive, legislative and judicial. The Constitution The U.S. Constitution has several strengths and weaknesses that definitely make for it to be the keystone of our political system and the pillar for democracies throughout the world. A major strength to our Constitution is that it makes for a strong Central government with checks...
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...Roy Moore, a judge and politician, once said “the basic premise of the Constitution was a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances because man was perceived as a fallen creature and would always yearn for more power.” Checks and balances is a system that prevents any of the branches in our government from exerting an excessive amount of power. Each of the branches of the government can influence the decisions of the other branches. The branches all have to cooperate in the decision making process so that the system runs smoothly. The structure of the government is created in Article I, Article II, and Article III of the Constitution. The three branches of the government are the legislative branch, the executive branch, and...
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...I believe the framers of the U.S. Constitution were essentially progressive and very much wanted to protect political principles but through a new kind of government with and ideas for the United states, I believe essential they wanted to limited power of the government, but also to ensure the states’ rights through the U.S. Constitution because of the intrusiveness of the government they previously rebelled upon. The framers wanted to create a haven for themselves to procreate and become a nation free of feudalism but powerful in national recognition. With a nation of “Young go getters”, and “can do attitudes” we find the components of a nationalism at its finest. I do not believe it was a bad thing, obviously it worked out for us a few hundred...
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