Checks And Balances System Of Our Government example essay topic

When our founding fathers were building our country, they felt that our new nation should have a Constitution that would balance a limited form of government against the sovereignty of its people. In order to do this and safeguard the rights of the citizens they created a system of checks and balances, bicameral legislatures, and a republican governmental structure that would become know as federalism. Of the three, the Checks and Balances portion would play an important role in protecting the citizens of this new republic from the potential abuses of government. In order to understand the Checks and Balance system, we must first understand that it is an integral part of our federal government. It plays an important role in a federation that unites political entities into a single cohesive unit and that it's goal is to work together to maintain the integrity of individual rights. Through the Checks and Balance system, the founding fathers and state delegates decided that the federal government should possess limited power over the people.

They wanted a government that would respect its citizens and provide as much local control as needed to maintain the feeling of freedom, which would be the foundation of the new democracy. Based on the ideology of natural laws and natural rights, our founding fathers developed the concept of constitutional checks and balances to separate the three branches (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) of government to ensure that governmental power would not be used in an abusive manner. They would write provisions for this system into the Constitution that would distinctly separate the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. Through these provisions, the founding fathers would develop a bicameral government that would be comprised of two legislative houses of congress that would run separately and would be subject to a presidential veto. The check and balance of this system would enable Congress to override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote of each house. When questions about the legality of the legislation came up, the judicial branch would be used to either declare the legislation unconstitutional or legally binding based on the Constitution.

The checks and balance system also mandates that the judiciary itself be subject to executive and legislative scrutiny. This is accomplished through the appointment of judges, delineation of court jurisdiction, and the passing of legislation that governs judicial and organizational procedures. Other provisions provided to enhance the Checks and Balances system of our government are the ability to change our Constitution through amendments which are used to reverse legislative rulings and judicial determinations and impeachment to remove presidents who have disenfranchised the general population.