Solomon Habib Mid Term Essay Poli-Sci 121 – 5692 11/4//15 What branch of government is the most powerful? A conception of the American public opinion is that the judicial branch is our most powerful branch of government. It can be argued as such that our judicial branch is in charge of deciding the meaning of laws, how to apply them to real situations and whether the law breaks the rules of the Constitution. Obviously our Constitution is the highest law of our Nation. But does the judicial branch really find itself more powerful than the legislative and executive branches? I firmly believe that this is a misconception and hold the theory that our legislative branch is by far the most powerful. Not only is it constructed in our constitution …show more content…
The past four decades has seen Congress attempt to centralize the budget process and place restraints on overall spending. The passage in 1974 of the Budget and Impoundment Control Act, Congress established a new budget committee in each house. These committees receive the president’s budget and analysis provided by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO was created with expertise equivalent to that possessed by the Executive branch. You could infer that creating such an office only implies more power to Congress considering they are working around the Executive branch in this instance. Although the president can recommend a budget for Congress to consider, the actual appropriation of funds is in the hands of the House and …show more content…
The Senate also has the authority to approve or disapprove treaties through its treaties ratification powers. The argument that the judicial branch has the most power can be countered with the power Congress has in the form of impeachment. This is based on Article II, Section 4, of the Constitution, which holds that “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The removal process involves two steps, and both being by the two equal parts of Congress: • The House of Representatives votes articles of impeachment, or formal charges, against the
The legislative branch holds the budget for the country and creates the laws in which the citizens must abide by. The judiciary, he says, will have no power over the executive and legislative branches. He also writes that it cannot move forward the society in wealth and in strength, and cannot resolve any active problems that the country is facing in any circumstances. According to Hamilton, the judiciary could be said to have “neither force nor will, but merely judgment,” and that it must depend on the executive branch, even to make their judgments more effective.
...09). Congress is supposed to enact laws, and the ability of judges to modify them with court decisions shows how their power may extend past what the system of checks and balances had intended. The last aspect that shows how powerful this branch may be is the judges. Originally, the lifetime appointment was supposed to relieve them of pressures when deciding cases, but this serves as a double edged sword. Judges without fear of retribution shows the amount of power that they posses. Overall, the development of judicial review, judges lifetime appointment, and ability to modify laws has led to an unbalance of power by the Judicial Branch among the three branches of government.
Additionally, with the judicial branch having the least amount of power of the three, it is best in a position to prevent the executive or legislative branches from infringing upon the rights of citizens. Hamilton stated, “Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must perceive, that, in a government in which they are separated from each other, the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them” (The Federalist No. 78). While the judicial branch is the least likely branch to place one 's politcal rights in danger, it is also in a position to protect those same Constitutional rights and does so by offering a system of checks and balances against the other branches of
Federal spending is necessary for the economy and is essential to the accomplishment of national goals and advancement. This is why a budget is needed, however, there is no actual process mentioned in the Constitution that explains how Congress should do this. The Constitution states:
Congress is split into two large bicameral legislatures, the house of representatives and the senate. The Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers which shows how they have too much power because even though they are split into two separate entities, they can share and overtake other parts of the government and basically do whatever they want from making laws to declaring war.
Policies are unable to be passed as law without the majority of votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate. If the majority in both bodies of Congress have passed the bill, then it is sent to the President to sign and approve. The President holds power under the Executive branch to veto a proposed bill. However, the veto can be negated by a two-thirds majority vote of both parties representing Congress. Although the President has authority over the military and foreign affairs, his power of authority has limitations, and a two-thirds majority vote in Congress is needed. The President is also dependent on Congress for the monetary approval of the budget and funding for federal departments under his management. Out of the three co-equal branches of government, the Legislative branch is known to have the strongest power. Fifty percent of the Constitution is comprised of seventeen powers, which are delegated to Congress. The President nominates the judges of the Supreme Court but is required to have the Senates approval for their appointment. Congress can impeach both the President and appointed members of the Justice system; however, this process needs warrant and be validated by the majority. The Judicial branch oversees that the actions of the Executive and Legislative bodies are within the law of the
...tes approves appointments of judges. 2) May remove judges through impeachment, and 3) Creates lower courts. The Executive Branch is given the power to carry out the laws and has some checks over the Legislative Branch like: 1) Ability to call special sessions of Congress. 2) Can recommend legislation, and 3) can appeal to the people concerning legislation (Arnold, 2004). The Judicial branch has the power to interpret the laws and check over the Executive branch like: Courts can judge executive actions to be unconstitutional through the power of judicial review
I believe that the legislative branch has the most power in the constitution because the constitution says in section 7 article 1, that The legislative branch are the ones in charge of making laws. This means that the legislative branch is the one that is allowed to make laws, the president can make laws but the legislative branch has to vote to make that law a real law. This also means that if we didn’t have the legislative branch we would be like in the 1700s when they had just one king or a queen making the laws for a whole entire country. In my opinion I think that this section talks about one of the most important reasons why I think that the legislative branch has the most power in the constitution. It explains very well that if the president veto a law, if 4/6 on the legislative branch want to make the law possible they can make that law possible.
In conclusion, The Legislative Branch is the most powerful branch of the United States government not only because of the powers given to them by the Constitution, but also the implied powers that Congress has. There is also Congress’s ability to triumph over the Checks and balances that limits their power. The only thing truly holding The Legislative Branch back from gaining all the power, is the large amount of people involved in the process and their difference and ideologies, and that Congress is split into multiple houses, with public opinion and elections affecting half of the branch of government. Therefore, The Legislative Branch is the most powerful branch of the United States Government.
The judiciary branch is the seen as the “least dangerous” branch; therefore, it will not be able to attack the way the other two branches can and it cannot defend itself against attacks. The judicial branch is only seen as one that can pass judgment on cases that are either constitutional or unconstitutional, but it cannot act on it; therefore, the reason they are seen as less dangerous and cannot compare to the power that the executive and legislative branch have. They have to hear appeals,
Since the day that we were born, we were taught that all branches of the United States government have equal powers. The government, our teachers, and the media all try to drill it in our heads that not one branch has a higher power than the others, but in real life, they are wrong. If any human being would take the time to look into the fine details of our government, they would find out how deceiving the United States government actually is. The United States government has three “branches” of government, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch. In my opinion, the Executive branch holds the most power out of all of the branches.
The United States government has settled on top-down methodology after many decades of budget improvement and evolution. Around the early 1920’s, the United States budget was handled by the House of Representatives Appropriations and Ways and Means Committee. There was not a clear and defined process. The President would propose a new initiative and the Committee would adjust the budget accordingly. Due to increased spending and a growing national deficit, the government created the Bureau of the Budget (known today as OMB) and the General Accounting Off...
Who has the most power according to the constitution? Who do you think has the most power in the constitution do you think the state has the most power? The executive branch? The Legislative branch? The Judicial branch? Or do you think the People have the most power in the constitution? In my opinion, I think the people have the most power in the constitution because we get to vote for our Presidents and our Senate’s . If you look at the first three words of the constitution it says “We the people.” Meaning yes us the people, Citizens of the United States and all around. I also believe that the people have the power because we get to vote for the president and the senate’s we want and we keep our government in check meaning we don’t let
The Supreme Court of United States is considered the most powerful branch of the government, did not start off that way, while being formed in the Constitution Article 3 which states, “Judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court. Other than forming a Supreme Court, the Constitution does not really give the court any powers or responsibilities. This all changed in 1803 during the case of Marbury v. Madison, in this massively impactful case, Marshall the supreme court justice, granted the Supreme Court the power as the final authority on the interpretation on the U.S Constitution even today they still retain this power. The Supreme Court justices once appointed by the president and approved by the Senate, serve until death or retirement. Some of the most influential cases of the Supreme Court are; the Dredd Scott case, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Miranda v. Arizona, Roe v. Wade, and the Obergefell decision. The Supreme Court affects us every day, and with a new president elect, who must fill a supreme court vacancy, the Supreme Court is going to continue to play a huge role in our
The resources of our court system are finite and for this a potential plaintiff must satisfy a number of requirements. Before an individual can argue their case before a judge he must show standing. He must show that he has personally had his rights violated, and further that he has sustained some kind of loss. If the victim has a legitimate complaint the matter must be resolved by a judge, or a jury of his peers. Through fact-finding the issues at stake are converted into hard legal questions. Through a decisional process an output, or ruling, is issued. In most cases this settles a dispute. In many others it spells the beginning of years of political and judicial wrangling, which sees laws upheld, struck down and created