Writing on this topic, the old Schoolhouse Rock song “Three Ringed Circus” comes to mind. In the song, a young boy describes the system of government, like the title suggests, as a three ringed circus. Each ring connects to each other, with a bit of their own ring in that of the others. The rings are separate and whole, with a bit of control over what happens in the other rings. This metaphor accurately describes the system of checks and balances in the American government, to keep one of the “rings” of the federal government from taking total control. Though the Supreme Court has the final say on the constitutionality on any legislature from Congress or the President, each of those branches has their own different forms of control over the …show more content…
The Supreme Court is the highest level of the United States Court System. Like all courts, the cases must be based off of actual, concrete disputes. Abstract, hypothetical cases are not accepted. Each case is made up of the plaintiff (Suing) party, and the defendant (Suee? Not the hog call, the one being sued) party, a judge to preside over the session, and the jury of unbiased citizens to decide the fate of the case (Edwards, 505). Unlike many courts, the Supreme Court is limited in the nature of the cases that it can have original jurisdiction over. The U.S. Supreme Court only has original jurisdiction in cases involving foreign …show more content…
The writing of opinions seems reminiscent of James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton in The Federalist No. 10. This particular Federalist deals with the topic of federalism, and the appearance of factions in American politics. Factions, according to these Founding Fathers (as well as the past few tests) are undesirable, but inevitable in a free society. People tend to flock to join people of a like mind on issues as them. When factions arise, the public differentiate themselves based on those topics, leading to more dissention. The only way to “control” these factions are to establish a state of federalism, where different levels of government have authority over the same people in the same province. In this system, the majority vote rules, but the minority has a set of rights that must be taken into account in the final decision made by the government. The releasing of opinions by the justices, both concurring opinions and dissenting opinions, is directly in line with The Federalist No. 10. The majority gains an initial “head start”, as it were, from the initial vote, but the minority still has the right, and ability to change the opinion of the majority. At its most basic, the whole
Checks and Balances. Checks and balances is a system that is a part of out U.S. Constitution. This system was put in to place so that no part of government would have too much power. The three branches: judicial, legislative and executive are constantly granting and checking the other branches actions, this is to make sure no one person can gain an excessive amount of control in government. For example according to ," the legislative branch is in charge of making laws. The executive branch can veto the law, thus making it harder for the legislative branch to pass the law. The judicial branch may also say that the law is unconstitutional and thus make sure it is not a law.The legislative branch can also remove a president or judge that is not doing his/her job properly. The executive branch appoints judges and the legislative branch approves the choice of the executive branch. Again, the branches check and balance each other so that no one branch has too much power".
United States Supreme Court cases are argued and decided on Constitutional grounds. All arguments and decisions are based on interpretations of the original Constitution and, more often, on Constitutional amendments.
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 American government is comprised of three different branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch. Each one of the branches is essential to the government, and the other two branches. Each branch plays an important part in making sure the other two are doing what they are supposed to be doing, as well as making sure its own duties are getting done. Without these three branches America’s government would be chaos.
In brief, the United States government consists of three branches of government. These branches- the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative are outlined in the Constitution. Without these, the country would not run smoothly, nor live up to the full potential of the great United States of America.
In the United States Constitution, there is a specific system designed to prevent one of the three branches from gaining control or much power. This system is known as Checks and Balances. The system has been put on the effect due to many instances over the course of the year history. The designed system of Checks and Balances is very open yet complex. For example, if the President executive is not fulfilling his responsibilities as a leader or behaving inappropriately, the Legislative Branch Congress can limit him through the power of impeachment. The Judicial Branch can limit his power through the process of judicial review. This is when a justice can declare a law unconstitutional. The Congress can propose a bill to the President that they feel he is not in the best interests of the nation. These are fundamental of government under which different branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are formed to share power. The executive, the legislature, and the judiciary are the backbone of the government to carry out his duty and to fulfill the obligation of the nation interest.
The Supreme Court and Federal court have the same authority as in the Constitution. This system is called checks and balances which prevents the sole power of any one of the three branches. In addition, this power can be divided between the states and Federal government. The Federal government’s role in “domestic and foreign affairs and how they have grown” (Fe...
The Supreme Court of the United States has the highest authority in the Judicial Branch and is the third branch of government. The function of the Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution. The Supreme Court looks at federal and state statues and executive actions to determine if they comply with the United States Constitution. On the Supreme Court, there are nine justices that hear cases that have been appealed through the justice system. When the Supreme Court rules in a case that is the la...
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
The US Supreme Court was created in Article III of the Constitution and has the ultimate authority on the interpretation of constitutional law and is therefore deemed the highest court in the nation (USSC). The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices who review cases from lower courts throughout the nation and rule on the constitutionality of the issues (Urofsky, 2001). The Supreme Court plays a large role in the American legal system because its rulings become law, affecting subsequent cases throughout the nation. During the late fifties and sixties, a time known as the Warren Court, the Supreme Court handed down multiple rulings that were controversial and especially impactful in the area of criminal investigations.
The U.S. district courts are the case courts of the federal court system. “Federal district courts have original jurisdiction over all cases involving alleged violations of federal statutes.” A community can be branched into segments, and it can have many places where the court trials different cases. “U.S. district courts handle tens of thousands of cases per year (Schmalleger).”
The United States government consists of three main branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Within the contents of this essay, the judicial branch will be examined. The judicial branch of the United States government oversees justice throughout the country by expounding and applying laws by means of a court system.1 This system functions by hearing and determining the legality of such cases.2 Sitting at the top of the United States court system is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States encompasses the federal judiciary, explicitly the judicial branch. This court is comprised of life-long serving Justices who are selected by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate.3 Cooperatively, the Supreme Court, the President, and Congress attempt to work in accord to run the three-pronged government of the United States.
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
The US court system consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The trial court is the first to hear the facts of a case and has original jurisdiction. The appellate court hears cases whose resolution is disputed by the losing party in the trial court. The supreme or high court hears cases whose outcome is disputed by the losing party in the appellate court. The supreme or high court chooses which cases warrant a hearing. The federal and the state court system have the same basic structure. Each consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The Federal Court of Appeals has thirteen (13) circuits which cover most states except the District of Columbia. The federal system also has specialty courts such as the Court of Federal Claims and the United States Tax Court.