Question

HISTORY.

In 200 words explain the separation of powers and checks and balances that were incorporated into the United States Constitution of 1787.

Answer 1

There is no explicit requirement in the Constitution to protect the limits of the three specific powers it gives, nor does it explicitly demand that a system of checks and balances be preserved. However, it gives the powers to legislate, execute and adjudicate to three separate branches and provides the means throughout the document by which each branch could resist the blandishments and incursions of the other branches. The Framers drew up our basic charter against a history rich in the theorizing of scholars and statesmen about the proper ordering in a government system by giving ample power to rule while withholding the right to limit freedoms of the governed

When, after the Revolution, the colonies split from Great Britain, the framers of their constitutions were imbued with the deep tradition of the division of powers, and they openly and expressly expressed the idea in their charters. However, the principle of checks and balances was not preferred, as it was taken from Great Britain, and thus abuses of the concept of separation-of-powers by the state legislatures were prevalent before the Convention was convened. Theory as much as experience guided the Framers in the summer of 1787

The doctrine of the separation of powers, as implemented in the drafting of the Constitution, was based on several generally held principles: the separation of government into three branches, legislative , executive and judicial; the conception that each branch exercises unique and identifiable functions appropriate to each branch; and the limitation of the staff of each branch to that branch, so that no one person or group should be able to serve in more than one branch simultaneously.

Institutional devices pervade the Constitution to attain these principles. Bicameralism decreases legislative predominance, while the presidential veto provides the president a way to protect his interests and avoid overreaching by the Congress. The role of the Senate in appointments and treaties controls the Chair. The courts are assured independence through tenure of good conduct and compensation security, and the judges will check the other two branches through judicial review. The power of impeachment gives Congress the power to root out corruption and the abuse of power in the other two branches.