ixed government we contend for, the ministers, at least of the executive power, are responsible for every instance of the exercise of it; and if they dispose of a single commission by corruption, they are responsible to a house of representatives, who may, by impeachment, make them responsible before a senate, where they may be accused, tried, condemned, and punished, by independent judges.” (Isaak 2004:103-104) So the system of checks and balances was established and became an important part of the U.S. Constitution. With checks and balances, each of the three branches of government can limit the powers of the others. This way, no one branch is too powerful. Each branch “checks” the powers of the other branches to make sure that the power is balanced between them. The major checks possessed by each branch are listed below.
- Can check the president in these ways:
- By refusing to pass a bill the president wants
- By passing a law over the president’s veto
- By using the impeachment powers to remove the president from office
- By refusing to approve a presidential appointment (Senate only)
- By refusing to ratify a treaty the president has signed (Senate only)
- Can check the federal courts in these ways:
- By changing the number and jurisdiction of the lower courts
- By using the impeachment powers to remove a judge from office
- By refusing to approve a person nominated to be a judge (Senate only)
- Can check Congress by vetoing a bill it has passed
- Can check the federal courts by nominating judges
- Can check Congress by declaring a law unconstitutional
- Can check the president by declaring actions by him or his subordinates to be unconstitutional or not authorized by law
By distributing the essential powers of the government among three separate but interdependent branches, the Constitutional framers ensured that the principal powers of the government, legislative, executive and judicial, were not concentrated in the hands of any single branch. Allocating governmental authority among three separate branches also prevented the formation of too strong a national government capable of overpowering the individual state governments. In order to modify the separation of powers, the framers created a best-known system—checks and balances. In this system, powers are shared among the three branches of government. At the same time, the powers of one branch can be challenged by another branch. As one of the basic doctrines in the U.S. Constitution, separation of powers and a system of checks and balances contribute to a stable political situation in the United States.
Separating Powers between the Federal Government and the States
As is mentioned above, the United States was in a chaotic state after the American Revolution. Under the Articles of Confederation, all of the thirteen states only had a kind of very loose connection. They were like thirteen independent countries, and could do things in their own ways. They had their own legal systems and constitutions, made their own economic, trade, tax and even monetary policies, and seldom accepted any orders from the central government. Localism made the state congresses set barriers to goods from other states, thus trade between states could not develop. At the same time, the central government did not have any important powers to control the individual states well. As time went by, the old system became more and more adverse to the stability and development of this young country. Many Americans viewed a number of grave problems as arising from the weakness of the Confederation. They thought the Confederation was so weak that it was in danger of falling apart under either foreign or internal pressures. They appealed for reforming the governmental structure and establishing a stronger central government. This government should have some positive powers so that it could make and carry out policies to safeguard state sovereignty against foreign violations and to protect the people’s interests. This idea was embodied in the U.S. Constitution: The powers of the national government