Separation of Powers
Government power is not only limited; it is also divided. The Constitution assigns specific powers to the three branches: the legislative (Congress), the executive (President), and the judicial (federal courts). This separation of powers is intended to prevent misuse of power by one branch of government.
How is Separation of Powers applied?
Separation of Powers is applied through the legislative branch of government. The legislative branch of government makes the laws. According to Macgruder's American Government "Article one section one declares all legislative power herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States..." Also the legislative branch can get the president out of office.
Another example of how separation of powers is applied
Separation of Powers is applied through the executive branch of government. The executive branch of government interprets the laws. The president of the United States interprets the laws to the people so they can follow them and not get in trouble. The legislative branch gives the laws to him. According to Macgruder's American Government "Article two section one declares the executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America.
A final example of how separation of powers is applied
Separation of Powers is applied through the judicial branch of government. The judicial branch of government interprets the laws. According to Macgruder's American Government "Article three section one declares the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme court and in such inferior courts as the congress may from time to time ordain and establish".
How has Separation of Powers applied over time?
Rights as trial by jury SP
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads in part as follows:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed....Trial by jury is one of the essential prerequisites of a free society. As our American ancestors understood so well, it is one of the ultimate safeguards against tyranny and oppression. The famous English legal commentator William Blackstone described trial by jury as the “palladium of our civil rights.http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0501a.asp
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed....Trial by jury is one of the essential prerequisites of a free society. As our American ancestors understood so well, it is one of the ultimate safeguards against tyranny and oppression. The famous English legal commentator William Blackstone described trial by jury as the “palladium of our civil rights.http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0501a.asp
Due process of law protection against the arbitrary taking of life, liberty, or property. SP
According to Wikipedia.org."Due process is the principle that the government must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person according to the law. Due process holds the government subservient to the law of the land protecting individual persons from the state. When a government harms a person, without following the exact course of the law, then that is a due process violation which offends the rule of law". http://nationalparalegal.edu/conlawcrimproc_public/DueProcess/SubstantiveFundamentalRights.asp
A representative body with thee power to make laws, slowly grew in influence. SP
According to Wikipedia.org. "The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster.The House of Lords is independent from, and complements the work of, the House of Commons; the Lords share responsibility for making laws and checking government action.The House of Lords has its own support services, separate from the Commons, including the House of Lords Library".http://www.sacred-texts.com/nth/tgr/tgr13.htm
Original characters of other colonies were canceled. SP
According to Thomas Hagen "The diversity of the United States goes back to its beginning as a collection of northern, middle, and southern colonies. Their differences in religion, politics, economics, and social issues, and the way they dealt with them, are what shaped our country into what we are today.
The Puritans founded the northern colonies of New England. Puritanism evolved from the Protestant Reformation in England after King Henry VIII outlawed the Catholic Church in order to control religion in his country (Roark 68). Not all New England colonists were Puritans, but the Puritan religion was a major influence in the seventeenth-century New England way of life (Roark 70). In the last half of the seventeenth century the Quakers began to populate Massachusetts. Quakers believe that neither preachers nor Bibles are necessary to worship God, which is the polar opposite of the Puritan religion.http://www.bucklinsociety.net/timeline-bucklin-colonies.htm
The Puritans founded the northern colonies of New England. Puritanism evolved from the Protestant Reformation in England after King Henry VIII outlawed the Catholic Church in order to control religion in his country (Roark 68). Not all New England colonists were Puritans, but the Puritan religion was a major influence in the seventeenth-century New England way of life (Roark 70). In the last half of the seventeenth century the Quakers began to populate Massachusetts. Quakers believe that neither preachers nor Bibles are necessary to worship God, which is the polar opposite of the Puritan religion.http://www.bucklinsociety.net/timeline-bucklin-colonies.htm
The laws passed by the legislature had to be approved by the governor and Crown. SP
The constitution of New Zealand consists of a collection of statutes (Acts of Parliament), Treaties, Orders in Council, letters patent, decisions of the Courts and unwritten constitutional conventions. As with the United Kingdom, there is no one supreme document; the New Zealand constitution is not codified or, with the exception of certain electoral law, formally entrenched.
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. This system is often known as the Westminster system, although that term is increasingly inapt given constitutional developments peculiar to New Zealand. The head of state and source of executive, judicial and legislative power in New Zealand is the monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen is represented in the Realm of New Zealand by a Governor-General. http://www.libraryindex.com/history/pages/cmxyrclequ/imperial-colonies-colonial-royal.html
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. This system is often known as the Westminster system, although that term is increasingly inapt given constitutional developments peculiar to New Zealand. The head of state and source of executive, judicial and legislative power in New Zealand is the monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen is represented in the Realm of New Zealand by a Governor-General. http://www.libraryindex.com/history/pages/cmxyrclequ/imperial-colonies-colonial-royal.html
The governor’s council did not act as one house of the legislature. SP
According to Wikipedia.org "The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. It is a unique parliamentary chamber in Australian politics in that it is the only chamber in any state parliament that is majority non partisan, with only 2 of 15 current MLCs being endorsed representatives of a political party. _
King’s approval was required before the governor could take office. SP
Martin Luther King's approval was required before the Governor could take office. He is also known for his amazing speech entitled "I Have A Dream".http://www.opm.gov/oca/worksch/html/holiday.htm
Laws made by their bicameral legislatures were not subject to the governor’s veto nor was the Crown’s approval needed. SP
According to Macgruder's Government book a veto is " chief executive's power to reject a bill passed by a legislature. http://quizlet.com/11236625/apus-unit-one-1600-1750-flash-cards/
Franklin proposed the formation of an annual congress of delegates. SP
According to web.hcpss.org Benjamin Franklin dedicated years to public service, including time as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, a commissioner to France during the War for Independence, and a member of the Constitutional Convention. Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union to provide for the defense of the American colonies. In his autobiography, he spoke of its defeat and defended his plan:
“The different and contrary Reasons of dislike to my Plan, makes me suspect that it was really the true Medium; and I am still of Opinion it would have been happy for both Sides the Water if it had been adopted. The Colonies so united would have been sufficiently strong to have defended themselves; there would then have been no need of Troops from England; of course the subsequent Pretence for Taxing America, and the bloody Contest it occasioned, would have been avoided.” /separation-of-powers.html
“The different and contrary Reasons of dislike to my Plan, makes me suspect that it was really the true Medium; and I am still of Opinion it would have been happy for both Sides the Water if it had been adopted. The Colonies so united would have been sufficiently strong to have defended themselves; there would then have been no need of Troops from England; of course the subsequent Pretence for Taxing America, and the bloody Contest it occasioned, would have been avoided.” /separation-of-powers.html
The delegates urged each of the colonies to refuse all trade with England until the hated taxes and trade regulations were repealed or revoked. (SP
According to the liberty club.net " In the early 1930's, Bankers, the only source of new money and credit, deliberately refused loans to industries, stores and farms. Payments on existing loans were required however, and money rapidly disappeared from circulation. Goods were available to be purchased, jobs waiting to be done, but the lack of money brought the nation to a standstill. By this simple ploy America was put into a "depression" and the greedy Bankers took possession of hundreds of thousands of farms, homes, and business properties. http://www.course-notes.org/book/export/html/192