This is possible due to the separation of powers between the executive, . The authors of the Constitution of the United States made the establishment of the legislative branch of the new government they were forming their first order of business for a reason: the Legislature would most directly and closely represent the interests of the people who elected congresspersons and senators to the respective chambers of Congress. Furthermore, with the court having the ability to disapprove the law, the executive, and legislative branch are clearly not sovereigns as they are not the supreme. What is the difference between unitary and federal systems? . Analytical skills. Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. Governor served only a 1 year term Unlike Britain, it gives the legislature strong powers and the President usually has to negotiate with it in order to carry out a legislative program. This confederation did not give national government any power of direct taxation. Separation of Powers. The Roman Republic began in 509 B.C. when the Romans expelled the Etruscan kings and set up their own government. It interprets the law and decides if the laws are constitutional. The most common weakness in the Article of Confederation was the lack of power that was given to the Continental Congress strangled the federal government. Paul H. Davis The system of checks and balances is meant to even power within the Federal Government, but within we know it has its flaws. The Constitution established an executive branch headed by a president, which represented a significant departure from the Articles of Confederation. Achilles heels of the US governing system include: A corrupt campaign finance system, enabling corporations and wealthy individuals to buy elections and have their interests represented, rather than the population at large. Therefore, the judicial branch can be also interpreted as an independent branch due to their strong use of passing limitations by the government. Please report any comments that break our rules. Employers often settle on the number 3 when they ask you to discuss your strengths and weaknesses! Executive Brach (President) Powers .Proposes laws .Can veto legislation .Serves as commander in chief of armed forces The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. Focusing on the judicial branch, the Constitution has established the Supreme Court as the only court to make decisions of national importance. To further emphasize this point, Article I, Section 8 further vests with Congress the power to raise and support Armies, meaning that the chief executive not only cannot unilaterally take the nation to war, but he or she cannot even create and maintain the military needed to do so if so inclined. Branches of Government: (Pick one: Executive, Legislative, or Judicial). . Another strength of the legislative branch of government involves its power to declare war on other nations. These strict voting requirements made it difficult for the Congress to accomplish much, and even when the Congress managed to pass laws, it could not enforce them. These changes in themselves would not be sufficient to resolve them, but are necessary constitutional tools for policymakers to do so. The Articles of Confederation was a significant step toward national unity. This process is called judicial review; judicial review by definition is the power of a court to declare acts of governmental bodies contrary to the Constitution null and void (Neubauer and Meinhold 492). The very fact that the US Constitution has lasted for 230 years demonstrates a remarkable resilience and endurance, which is in part because it is a minimalist document. After all, when power starts accumulating, that is one step closer to a tyrannical. They also dont do as much as the other branches, because while the Legislative Branch creates Laws and the Executive Branch controls most of the federal organizations the Judicial Branch just hears different cases that appeal through the lower courts. Political and macroeconomic stability has become a major prerequisite for the rejuvenation of economic growth and plays a decisive role Strengths like communication, teamwork, flexibility, adaptability, problem-solving and leadership are all qualities that would accomplish that. Out of these three, the judicial branch is the most powerful. However, Congress does not really have the power to lead. The major strength of this kind of government is that it is more efficient than a federal system. It could not enforce power upon individuals, unify foreign and domestic policies, enforce treaties, or pass navigation, After proclaiming independence from Great Britain, the United States needed an established document to help unify the thirteen colonies. Checks and balances refers to a system in U.S. government that ensures no one branch becomes too powerful. 9. For example, the federal government could decide to wage war, however they had no national army to fight and the states were responsible to gather their own militias. The Articles of Confederation shows to have more weakness than strength. Hamilton argued that Judiciary was a weak branch of government compared to Executive and Legislature because it lacked an army to command and would only react to what the two branches of the government had proposed. This act is called checks and balances. A Gannett Company. The new states needed to unify under one constitution and they needed to establish a soverign central government. For example, Congress overturn the Supreme Courts decision in Chisholm vs Georgia case in 1793 because of the Amendment XI to the U.S. Constitution. Two different family lines of limited hereditary monarchs who were kept in check by the other parts of government as well as by each other. This is not the case now. This way the national government could have, Due to the many weaknesses of the Articles the convention that was held to revise the articles ended up throwing away the Articles of Confederation and starting all over again. Its superior strengths include the "separation of power" clause where no one from the three branches of the government, namely the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary, is presumed to have the lawful authority to take over the other. While it has served as a coherent governing structure which has stood the test of time and is a source of unity, it has also shown its limits in the modern era in resolving issues the framers could not have envisaged. Congress have some control this branch listed last on the U.S. Constitution. That did not, however, prevent members of Congress from working together for a greater good. The legislative branchs weaknesses include its susceptibility to the sometimes-irrational demands of the citizenry, the increased level of partisanship in Congress, and its seeming unwillingness to exercise its constitutional prerogatives in fundamental questions of war and peace. The articles of confederation had many problems. The legislative branch, therefore, was established and vested with certain powers specifically to ensure that a dictatorship would not emerge. The type of power that allows a court to examine any of the actions in the branches is what the judicial review does. Federalism provides a structure that diffuses governmental power. One of the major strengths of the executive branch in the U.S. is its power rotation. The three branches in the UK are known as the legislative, (Parliament) the executive, (Government) and the judiciary (Courts) which are considered to function 'separately' as they have different legal powers. An example of checks and balances in action is how Congress voted overwhelmingly to override a veto by President Obama for the first time, passing into law a bill that would allow the families of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for any role in the, The Judicial Branch is so small. They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts).. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. The Articles created a government in which the colonies - now states - retained most of the power. The major strength of the legislative branch is that it is the branch that actually has the right and the power to make laws. who describes himself as an American, British and Scottish citizen asks: It would be interesting to compare the strength and weakness of the American constitution. Being able to check each other is one of the ways that the Constitution kept one group from having too much power. Which already shows how important the judicial branch is. https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-legi What are the weaknesses and strengths of the legislative branch? Electoral College Strengths And Weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses Witness the impact of the global financial crisis of 2007-08 See all videos for this article The U.S. economy is marked by resilience, flexibility, and innovation. In the first decade of the 21st century, the economy was able to withstand a number of costly setbacks. In document C, there is a very useful chart that shows one way that each of the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) holds a little bit of power over the others. Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who arent really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse. Those types of court are the Supreme Court, Judicial review is the courts power to interpret the U.S. Constitution meaning and the amendments towards laws and policies that were given by the Executive or Legislative branches. 1. For instance, both political candidates (i.e. However, one weakness of the judicial branch is that Congress can overrule their decisions. Leadership skills. Many of the Founders wanted an even stronger executive, essentially an elected king. Hiring. It doesnt have as many parts to it as the Executive and Legislative Branches. contact the editor here. Under the Constitution, the legislative branch is vested with what is called the power of the purse. That means that money spent by the federal government must be authorized and appropriated by Congress. 1. Important to realize, these three branches of government has specific power, duties and responsibilities in the U.S. national government. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Alexander Hamilton 's Federalist NO. Unfortunately, it is routinely carried to extremes, with billions of dollars spent every year on questionable projects that benefit only ones constituency. We have the highest court in our land, the Supreme Court, to decide these issues. In addition, although the president can veto the bills that Congress puts on his/her desk, the Congress can override the presidents veto with a super majority-- of the representatives in Congress must vote to pass the bill. This guards the U.S. Constitution against tyranny because one branch does not overpower, Out of all the branches the legislative branch has the most power. While the strengths of the legislative branch are impressive, the weaknesses of that branch of government emanate from those same strengths. Dahl feels that the judiciary branch has repeatedly used its power over authority to change the Constitution. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. This upper class tyranny was exactly the problem that the colonists had fled from in England, and they were afraid that these issues would continue to plague them in America. the executive, legislative branch and the judicial branch) to interact and function in one way to prevent abuse of power or tyranny. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. According to the doctrine of separation of powers, the U.S. Constitution distributed the. This means that it is very hard for Congress to get out and lead people to support a particular policy. It tried to give the states as much power as possible, but with this came many weaknesses. Most American historians said that the Articles of Confederation were insignificant because of the subsidiary position occupied by the central government. Editors' Code of Practice. Our federal government has three parts. Both the president and congress always making noise. Each have evolving goals and objectives to get citizens involved with politics to exercise their first Amendment to vote. This is because Congress is so big and has so many members. Latest answer posted November 14, 2019 at 7:38:41 PM.