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Turnitin Originality Report Processed on: 28-Sep-2014 9:10 AM CDT ID: 457514591 Word Count: 615 Submitted: 1

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Running head: DISCUSSION QUESTION Discussion question Student’s Name University Affiliation Discussion question Explain how the Constitution provides for a system of separation of powers and checks and balances. There is no place in the Constitution that contains an express order to protect the boundaries of separation of power and it also does not specifically direct on the maintenance of checks and balances system. Nonetheless, does it give the powers to adjudicate, legislate and execute to the three separate power branches (Daniel, 1997). Separation of powers refers to the dividing of the responsibilities of the government into separate branches in order to limit any branch from carrying out the core responsibilities of another branch. The intension of this is to avoid power concentrations and offer for checks and balances. The constitution of the United States intentionally inefficient. The Separation of Powers planned by those who frame the Constitution was intended to do one main thing which is to avoid the majority from ruling with dictatorship. Based on the experience of those who framed the constitution avoided giving any new government branch too much

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power. The separation of powers provides a shared power system called the checks and balances. In the constitution, three branches are created. One is the legislative which comprises of the house of senate. The other branch is the executive which comprises of the president and his deputy and their departments. Finally the other branch is the judiciary which consists of the Supreme Court and federal courts. Every branch has certain powers and each one of these powers is limited and is checked by another branch. For instance, the President selects the judges and the secretaries of the departments. However these appointments must be approved by the senate. A law can be passed by the congress but the president can vet to the law. A law can be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court but the states and the congress can amend that particular law in the constitution. All of these checks and balances, however, are inefficient. But that's by design rather than by accident. By forcing the various branches to be accountable to the others, no one branch can usurp enough power to become dominant. The executive has the following powers; pardon power, commander in chief of the military, ensuring that all the laws are carried out, making treaties, appointing of judges and other officials and vetting power over all the bills. The legislature has the powers of impeaching the president, overriding a presidential veto, establishing all lower federal courts and passing all the federal laws. the has powers of declaring any executive act or law to be unconstitutional, and powers of trying federal cases and interpreting the laws of the nation into those cases. However all these powers and responsibilities must be checked by another body to provide checks and balances. For instance the judiciary checks on the legislature on the judicial review, checks that the seats are held on a good behavior and that compensation cannot be diminished. The judiciary also checks on the executive that the chief justice sits as the senate president incase of a presidential impeachment and also checks on the judicial review. The executive checks on the judiciary on pardon power and power to choose judges. The executive also checks on the legislature on veto power, recess appointments just to mention but a few of the checks and balances provided by the constitution. References Daniel, H. (1997). Constitutional law. Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, Albany, NY. James, B., Peltason, W. & Thomas, C. (1984) Government by the people. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Minnesota: Minnesota House Research (2005). Separation of Powers: When Statutes and Court rules conflict. Retrieved on September 27, 2014 from: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/ss/ssseppw.pdf 1 DISCUSSION QUESTION 2 DISCUSSION QUESTION 2 DISCUSSION QUESTION 2