Throughout these last couple of presidencies, the words “Executive Order” have often been heard in national media coverage of United States politics. However, what exactly is an Executive Order? Many American citizens may have heard this statement tossed around in the Obama or Trump presidency yet do not fully comprehend its meaning. In short, it is a written instruction that allows the president to oversee the use of resources and work his or her will through the executive branch. Nevertheless, it does not allow a president to establish new laws or to perform an unconstitutional act that passes certain boundaries set by the authors of the United States Constitution. The authors of this highly regarded piece of law and literature understood the importance in allowing the presidents to issue Executive Orders while also realizing that powers must be balanced between all branches to prevent an autocratic government from emerging.
The founders of the Constitution gave presidents the power of Executive Orders for its pragmatic and rapid decision making. Within the
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This balance of power definitely calms one over the future of American politics, especially in such as heated political atmosphere as it is right now. The notable authors of the Constitution were highly intelligent individuals who realized that by giving the power of Executive Orders to presidents that expediency would become apparent in some needed situations, yet they were also not naive to the fact that this power can be abused. The Congress and the Judicial Branch are thus there to prevent an unbalance of power from emerging. The government set-up is a strong base that will not be easily toppled or even scratched. Politics, most would agree, is overall a difficult topic to understand and at times not go insane from. In the end, however, the structure of the government in terms of the three branches and the Constitution is one thing the American people should remain putting their faith
The Constitution's bestowing of executive power to a single president by Article II of the United States Constitution
The three branches of the federal government is the Legislative, Judicial, and the Executive branch. According to the federalist papers, the Legislative branch is the strongest branch since they enact laws, therefore, by cutting the legislative branch in half by creating a Senate and a House of representatives, it makes the separation of powers more of a level playing field. Furthermore, the Judicial branch is considered the weakest out of the three since it has "...no influence over either the sword or the purse... can take no active resolution whatever... neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must... depend upon the aid of the executive arm... for... judgments” (Hamilton, Federalist 78) This means that it has no monetary or military power and that it relies directly on the legislative and executive branches to follow their rulings which makes sure that the government does not have too much power individually. Therefore, since it is the weakest branch, the court has the power of judicial review, which is the ability to decide whether acts by the other branches are constitutional or not (Hamilton, Federalist 78). Furthermore, one should not be concerned about the use of excess of power since according to Hamilton these are good people who aren’t influenced by outside sources other than the constitution. The separation of these three branches creates a system of checks and balances in which each individual form of government is independent of one another and is able to ensure that each other do not step out of line (Hamilton, Federalist
According to John Acton in 1887, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”, meaning that if unlimited power is given to any one person, they can be corrupted by it. The framers of the Constitution recognized this and built in a plan to prevent this from happening and a result of this, the Constitution spreads power equally between the three branches of government: The Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. These built-in checks and balances are very important to our government, because they keep one branch from gaining too much power over another. This balance of power prevents any branch of our government from being “corrupted absolutely”. This thesis will argue that this part of the Constitution is as important today as it was when first
When the framers of our revered Constitution came together to produce our governing system, they wanted to avoid the precedent of an all powerful entity that could control its citizens. They broke governments role into three important phases, which were the power to make laws, the power to interpret laws, and the ability to enforce them. To further decentralize these authority holding organizations, they created a system that allowed each of the three sections to have a say in each of the others ability to exercise said authority. This organization of overlapping power is referred to as a checks and balances system and was intended to create three equal powers to govern the United States. Over the years since its creation the initially equal powers have become unbalanced, but to understand how the scales have been tipped, one must understand each branches powers that allow them to carry out their mission, the powers that they have to balance out the other two branches, and the circumstances that have led to a change in the power equation.
The national government is separated into three branches: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. As James Madison points out in Federalist Paper #47, if all the branches were combined to form one single overpowering division, then tyranny would for sure ensue. He states, “Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.” In order to retain the rights and liberty of our country, the government’s power must have balance. Each branch vests its power into smaller groups. Legislative vests its power to Congress, which consists of the Senate and House of Representatives. Executive to the President of the United States, and Judicial is invested in the Supreme Court. Our constitution outlines these ideals. Each branch does not overrule another and all are equal. [Doc
The farmers of our Constitution recognized the need for separate powers as well as checks and balances among the executive, legislative and judicial branches. This in turn helps to "provide for the common defense". Separation of powers prevents one branch from becoming excessively dominant over the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.: In order to accede to the preamble and adhere in its goals, the Constitution ensures this is by clearly stating the authority of the Congress in Article I Section 8 and the authority of the President in Article II Section 2. These fixed powers in the Constitution clearly state that one cannot act without permission or authorization of another. It is designed to that one cannot take action without consent of the other branch. This is prevalent in Article I Section 7 that states the process of how a law is passed. The fact that there are clear steps to the initiation of a law states the importance of separation of powers so that a single dominant branch does not arise.
Executive orders are issued by the president and it is mainly a way to force a law into action. Executive orders go way back into history and are as old at the U.S. Constitution themselves. These orders were and are still currently being used by every president in our history all the way from George Washington to President Donald Trump. Executive orders stand as long as the current president wants them to and when a new president comes in they then have the power to cancel it. The most executive orders that were in place go back to Franklin Roosevelt’s days when he brought 3,522 different orders into play that he felt we needed in the country. Executive orders will be along for as long as everyone lives and will continue to be used by every
The legislative, executive, and judicial branches represent the constitutional infrastructure foreseen by the Founding Fathers for our nation 's governing body. Together, they work to maintain a system of lawmaking and administration based on checks and balances, and separation of powers intended to make certain that no individual or embodiment of government ever becomes too controlling. America is governed by a democratic government or a democracy which is a government by the people, in which the power is established in the people themselves. The people then elect representatives who carry out their power in a free electoral system. The United States government’s basic claim is to serve the people and only through a combined effort can we
Judiciary as the Most Powerful Branch of Government In answering this question I will first paint a picture of the power that the court holds, and decide whether this is governmental power. Then I will outline the balances that the court must maintain in its decision making and therefore the checks on its actions as an institution that governs America. "Scarcely any political question arises that is not resolved sooner or later into a judicial question." (Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America) If we take Tocqueville on his word then the American Judiciary truly is in a powerful position.
President Donald J. Trump has issued 15 executive orders according to The White House website. Many of which are concerning The United States of America’s government, economics, military, public safety, and world relations. I will be explaining an executive order President Donald J. Trump signed concerning the budget regarding U.S. military funding. I will be comparing this executive order by President Donald J. Trump to militarism that was discussed in Ch. 9 with Mr. Justus.
The United States government is designed with checks and balances to ensure that no one branch can become more powerful than another. Though this may be the case, it is still possible that one branch of the our government can still be more powerful than the others. The equality of power in our government has constantly changed over the course of the life of the United States. Although these changes have occurred, we still have not made all of the branches equal and the inequality has been due to meet the demands of the time. For example, in 1938 our country was facing a depression and nothing was getting done. So, Roosevelt took it upon himself to give the Executive branch more power, to then in turn, help the country creep back out of the hole it had dug itself. After the country didn’t need the reform bills and the size of the government that Roosevelt had put it, things were then downsized and put into a more stable equilibrium. Though there were attempts to make everything equal, the Legislative Branch now holds the majority of the power, and is the most powerful branch that our government has.
American politics is often defined by a continuing power conflict between the executive and the legislative branches of the government. This struggle for political power between the two stronger branches of the three is inherent in the Constitution, itself. The concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances ensure that the branches of government will remain in conflict and provide a balance that keeps the entire government under control. As it was first established, the executive branch was much smaller and weaker than as we know it today. Consequently, the legislative branch was unquestionably dominant. Over the course of history, the executive branch grew in both size and power to the point where it occasionally overtook the legislative and today rivals the legislative in a much closer political battle. Today both branches have major factors that contribute to their power, but on the whole the legislative remains the lastingly dominant branch.
The United States government braces its power among three powerful branches, legislative, executive and judicial. These branches interact with one another to establish authority that is strong, yet equal to have power over the country. Each branch pursues certain responsibilities and duties to operate in an efficient and effective manner in which society upholds. The executive, legislative and judicial branches all interact amid each other to validate accuracy of the nation’s most powerful law of the land, the Constitution. It is important to know how these branches interact with each other to learn how a bill becomes a law. Reflecting on how the three branches promote a balance of power that is constructive to include the agendas and electoral roles that also plays a vast part in the government’s operation.
Mayer believes that executive orders and initiatives and unilateral actions “are at odds with the prevailing scholarly view of presidential power.” (year) Political scientists traditionally view the president as weak, that the separation of powers and the short reach of his legal authority hold him. The president’s power is the “power to persuade” (Mayer, year) Branum says that although executive orders were originally used as an informl administrative tool, they have grown into a fundamental problem in modern-day America. Continuing, the “Constitution does not give one individual an executive pen enabling that individual to single-handedly write his preferred policy into law” and that there is an intrinsic danger in unilateral executive orders that should not be foolishly ignored. (year)
1.) While exploring the president 's roles in the nation during a lesson, I found a great interest in his specific jobs as commander-in- chief. I find it fascinating that one man has that much power over his followers. His influence reaches the minds and hearts of millions of people all over the world. I learned many new thing about the president of the United States like he has the power and control over the Army, Marines, Air Force, and the Navy. He is literally the “Commander- in- Chief” of all military in the United States. With the great power and responsibility of controlling an army, he can deploy his troops, but he must notify Congress within 48 hours. The powers of the great POTUS do not end there, he can establish executive orders. These “law” are a great power that the president has because he does not need the