Branches of the Government
Learning Team D
HIS 301
Professor Bruce Franklin
Branches of the Government
“Historically, the concept of Separation of Powers dates back as far as ancient Greece. The concepts were refined by contemporaries of the Framers, and those refinements influenced the establishment of the three branches in the Constitution” (Mount, 2014).
The idea of a separation of powers first appeared in the political philosophy of Montesquieu. He advocated for a government where each branch had clear cut rules on what they could and could not do. This idea of a separation of government, or a government that was for the people would be perpetuated by other philosophers ...view middle of the document...
Through checks and balances, no single branch has absolute power over another or over any particular role. There are several checks and balances that can be found in the Constitution. So here is how it works, “the roles delegated to one branch are ‘checked’ by, or shared with, another branch that way it provides ‘balance’ to the system by keeping each branch accountable to its coordinate branches.” Checks and Balances work together in order for the separation of powers to be evenly apportioned within the branches of government. Congress is accountable for making the law however it is checked as if successful it is enforced by the president. The president is checked by the Congress. For example, the president is commander-in-chief of the military but Congress holds significant authority by guiding the military. The president is also checked by the judiciary. Through judicial review the president’s engagements are checked for constitutionality. The judiciary is also checked. Article III judges are selected by the president. However, the Senate has to be in approval of the presidents selections. Another example of checks and balances is the fact that the president can veto a bill that was passed by Congress. However, Congress has the authority to override the president’s veto. There are separations of power but no branch is independent in the presentation of its purposes. “Because of these checks, inter-branch cooperation, especially between Congress and the president, is increased and the potential for unlawful, unethical, and unreasonable governmental behaviors is decreased.”
As most people have seen in the news and online, President Obama declared executive orders on November 20, 2014 to help with immigration reform. Many people were angry that he took it upon himself to do this saying that it is illegal and immoral. Congress was working quickly to come up with a bill to block the President from this executive order, but could not pass it into law because of the Senate majority being Democrat.
According to the New York Times this would apply to at least five million people. (Parlapiano, 2014, Who could be affected?) Many people argue that keeping these illegal immigrants in the United States and allowing them to work would take away jobs from U.S. citizens. However according to Organizing for Action the United States could grow the economy to $210 billion in ten years and that would shrink the federal deficit up to $25 billion in the next decade. ("Comprehensive Immigration Reform", 2015)
The President has urged Congress for the past few years to pass a law for immigration reform. However they always end up in a dead lock. So he used his power as President to do something about the problem of illegal immigration. This may have been met with anger and frustration, however it has been shown that people would rather help those in need than to turn them away. Isn’t that really all that President Obama did? After he is not the only President to...
