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The constitution vs. the articles of confederation
Explain separation of powers
The constitution vs. the articles of confederation
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When the states finally gained their independence from Great Britain, our founding fathers were pressed with the issue of establishing a new form of government to guide and oversee the new formed nation. In doing so, they crafted the United States Constitution with one specific goal in mind. The founding fathers aimed at creating such a government where the power was derived from the citizens of the nation and the possibility of a tyrannical leader taking control of the new nation would be extremely difficult. However, creating such a democracy would still be subject to tyranny. Tyranny of the majority allows for a majority rule that could lead to encroachment on individual rights. With this in mind, the drafters of the Constitution implemented a system of separation of powers and checks and balances.1
The Constitution divided the power of the government into three separate branches. The first three articles of the Constitution list the powers, duties, and responsibilities of each branch of government. In dividing the power between three separate branches, the drafters of the constitution also established a system of checks and balances between each branch. Each branch of government was assigned specific powers to limit each of the other two branches, in an even further effort to impede the chances of a tyranny occurring.1
Article one of the Constitution is reserved to the legislative branch of government. The legislative branch is made up of a bicameral Congress, consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The drafters of the constitution thought that Congress would be the most central part of government between the three branches. The main responsibilities of Congress include enacting and amending legislation, as we...
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...ree equal branches of government and allowed each branch to limit the actions of the other two. In doing so, the U.S. Constitution has thus far succeeded in its original task; avoiding a strong central government and tyrannical leadership. After more than 220 years, the original democracy our nation was founded upon still exists and allows each and every American to live out their dreams in a free nation.
Works Cited
1. Smith, Daniel. “Federalism: Foundations of American Government.” American Public University. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
2. The White House. “The Executive Branch.” n.d. http://www.whitehouse.gov/our- government/executive-branch
3. The White House. “The Judicial Branch.” n.d. http://www.whitehouse.gov/our- government/judicial-branch
4. The White House. “The Legislative Branch.” n.d. http://www.whitehouse.gov/our- government/legislative-branch
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Our Constitution establishes three branches of government and defines their very existence. The reason for the three branches is to separate the powers. The phrase “separation of powers” isn’t in the constitution, but it best explains the intention of the Constitution. It is essential that the assignment of lawmaking, enforcing and interpreting be spread out among the separated powers to ensure that all power doesn’t fall into the lap of one group, or even a power-hungry individual. The powers of which I’m speaking that were intentionally separated by way of the Constitution are the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally, the Judicial Branch.
The Constitution of the United States of America was too vague to work. The way the constitution was written it gave power to four parts: the congress, the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the states. Because it was so vague it did not really define which powers went where (with a few exceptions).
The founding fathers of the American Constitution divided the government up into the following three branches to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist; legislative, judicial, and executive. The three braches were created by the Constitution: Article 1, Legislative branch made up of the House and the Senate, collectively known as Congress; Article 2, Executive branch, or President; Article 3, Judicial branch, made up of the federal courts and the Supreme Court. This was done in efforts to distribute power amongst the three so that one would not have more power than the other. Each branch has the ability to check the power of the other branches. This power check of the other branches is referred to as the checks and balances, better known as the Separation of Powers. This was to prevent tyriny.
Within the Constitution, there are many features that are absolutely vital to the success of not only the longevity but success of the government it established. Certain features prevent one aspect of government becoming tyrannical in its power, and some establish the role of constituent states in policy making. While each of these is different, each with a similar role, each must be examined for the reasoning behind their addition to the Constitution. These specific additions are checks and balances, the separation of power, and Federalism.
The principle of separation of powers is laid out in Articles I, II, and III, in effort to avoid tyranny. It is a part of a system called check and balances. The check and balances play the roles of the three branches of government. This system was made so that no one branch will over power the other. The three branches come together and help one another by being independent of the other. The legislative branch consists of the Congress, the judicial branch consists of the courts, and the executive branch consists of the president. For an example, when a bill is in progress and the chief executive (president or governor) does not approve of it, he can reject legislation and return it to the legislature with reasons for the rejection. This is a process called veto power.
During the construction of the new Constitution, many of the most prominent and experienced political members of America’s society provided a framework on the future of the new country; they had in mind, because of the failures of the Articles of Confederation, a new kind of government where the national or Federal government would be the sovereign power, not the states. Because of the increased power of the national government over the individual states, many Americans feared it would hinder their ability to exercise their individual freedoms. Assuring the people, both Alexander Hamilton and James Madison insisted the new government under the constitution was “an expression of freedom, not its enemy,” declaring “the Constitution made political tyranny almost impossible.” (Foner, pg. 227) The checks and balances introduced under the new and more powerful national government would not allow the tyranny caused by a king under the Parliament system in Britain. They insisted that in order achieve a greater amount of freedom, a national government was needed to avoid the civil unrest during the system under the Articles of Confederation. Claiming that the new national government would be a “perfect balance between liberty and power,” it would avoid the disruption that liberty [civil unrest] and power [king’s abuse of power in England] caused. The “lackluster leadership” of the critics of the new constitution claimed that a large land area such as America could not work for such a diverse nation.
Between 1787 and 1791 the Framers of the US Constitution established a system of government upon principles that had been discussed and partially implemented in many countries over the course of several centuries, but never before in such a pure and complete design, which we call a constitutional republic. Since then, the design has often been imitated, but important principles have often been ignored in those imitations, with the result that their governments fall short of being true republics or truly constitutional. The Framers of the Constitution tried very hard to design a system that would not allow any one person or group within the government to gain too much power. Personally, I think they succeeded. In order to guard against what one of the Founding Fathers called an "excess of democracy," the Constitution was built with many ways to limit the government's power. Among these methods were separating the three branches, splitting the legislature so laws are carefully considered, and requiring members of Congress to meet certain criteria to qualify for office. The Founders did leave a few problems along with their system.
There are three branches of government in the U.S. There is the judicial branch, the executive branch and the legislative branch. The powers of the branches are all divided by the constitution which is called the separation of
The men who wrote the American constitution agreed with Thomas Hobbes that humans were naturally evil. Therefore, they agreed that in order to prevent a dictatorship or monarchy, the citizens should have influence in the government. The writers wanted a more ideal constitution, but they realized evil human motives would never change. One of the main goals of the constitution was to create a balanced government that would allow the citizens to prevent each other from being corrupt. The writers wanted to give citizens liberty, but they did not want to give people so much liberty that they would have an uncontrollable amount of power. The writers agreed that a citizen’s influence in government would be proportionate to that individual’s property.
One of the biggest threats to a thriving country is a tyrannical government. To prevent this, the Founders declared that the power of the government must be separated. This principle, the Separation of Powers, states that, to prevent tyranny, one governmental branch cannot have supremacy over the country. The power must be divided among three branches. These are the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. The Separation of Powers is of equal importance now as when the Constitution was written because it prevents tyranny.