Check and Balances in the American Governmentby Matthew Elton

copyright 2007 Matthew Elton

After the American Revolution, the founding fathers established a blueprintcalled the Constitution, which outlined the system of government which the UnitedStates of America should be based on. Most of the founding fathers opposedmonarchy, since putting too much power in the hands of any single person almostalways led to oppressive and tyrannical government. To prevent any single personor group in the government from gaining too much power, the government wasdivided into three branches, and a system of checks and balances was established. This system attempts to ensure that each branch has an equal amount of power, sothat no single branch of government can control the other two branches. The systemof checks and balances, as outlines in the Constitution of the United States, is stillused in U.S. government today. The three branches of government are the executive branch (the president andexecutive officials), the legislative branch (Congress), and the judicial branch (thecourts). The executive branch can check the legislative branch by vetoing acongressional bill. An example of this is President Bush’s recent veto of a billwhich would have established a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq. Inaddition to being able to check the legislative branch through vetoes, the executivebranch can also check the judicial branch by nominating candidates of his choice forjudicial positions. An example of this is President Bush’s nomination of judgeMichael Mukasey for the position of Attorney General. The legislative branch can check the executive branch by overriding a presidentialveto with a two-thirds vote. An example of this is when Congress overrodePresident Nixon’s veto of the Clean Water Act on October 17, 1972. In addition tobeing able to check the executive branch through veto overrides, the legislativebranch can also check the judicial branch by impeaching judges and removing themfrom office. An example of this is the impeachment of judge James H. Peck onJanruary 31, 1831. The judicial branch can check the executive branch by declaring executive actionsas unconstitutional. An example of this is when the Supreme Court declared thetwo New Deal programs established during the Roosevelt presidency asunconstitutional. In addition to being able to check the executive branch bydeclaring executive actions and unconstitutional, the judicial branch can also checkthe legislative branch by declaring laws passed by the legislative branch asunconstitutional. An example of this is when New York’s death penalty law wasdeclared unconstitutional on June 24, 2004. Through this system of checks and balances, power in the United Statesgovernment is divided and shared amongst three branches. No single branch cancontrol the other two, but rather, each branch checks the other two to make sure thatthe other branches do not have too much power. This system of checks andbalances has been effects ever since the ratifying of the United States Constitutionin 1791, and it is still in effect today.