Checks and Balances

In 1787 the United States of America Constitution, written by America's forefathers, established a revised plan of government for the United States of America. The United States of America Constitution proclaims its purpose in its Preamble: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. After the Preamble, the Constitution creates separation of power by dividing the government into three separate branches. These branches include the executive branch, the bicameral legislative branch and judicial branch. In order to ensure that no branch were to overpower the other two branches, the forefathers of the United States of America created a system of checks and balances (Axelrod, 54). Because the United States of America Constitution created the separation of power that is supported by a system of checks and balances, the United States of America government is arranged in a manner that allows for a well-organized, competent, and able government to govern the people.

In the Constitution, the first three articles create a separation of power and a system of checks and balances intended for the United States of America government. In doing so, the Constitution makes certain that no governmental power is dominant and, thereby, protects the freedoms and rights of the people. By discussing Congressional Provisions in Article I, Americans received representative government in the form of a bicameral legislative composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. While the number of representatives from each state in the House of Representatives would be calculated according to population of that state, the Senate was to have two representatives per state. This system guarantees impartial and balanced representation to each state. In Article II Executive Powers, the executive branch of government is created. Article III of the Constitution discusses Judicial Powers of both Supreme and inferior courts ensuring that all Americans receive a justice through fair trial. The remaining articles of the Constitution, Articles IV, V, VI, and VII, focus on Procedures for Amendments, a process which utilizes the system of checks and balances to create amendments. America's founding fathers were able to create a system of government “under God…of the people, by the people, for the people (Abraham Lincoln) by creating separation of power by branches and a system of checks and balances on and over the different branches (Allen, and Larry, 66).

The United States executive branch checks both the Congress and judicial branch and is balanced by both the legislative and judicial branches. The President of the United States of America is able to check and balance the legislature by the power to veto, the power to recess appointments, the power to call emergency sessions of one or both houses of Congress, the power of forced an adjournment when both houses cannot agree on ...