Congress

Part 1: Discuss and explain how the Legislative branch shares in the powers of the Judicial Branch and can serve to "check and balances" judicial branch decisions. Provide examples.

The U.S. Constitution divides the powers of government into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Generally speaking, the legislative branch, Congress, makes the nation's laws. The executive branch enforces the laws through the president and various executive offices. The judicial branch, made up of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, decides cases that arise under the laws. This division of government is called the separation of powers. The purpose of the separation of powers is to prevent tyranny, which is arbitrary (random) or unfair government action that can result when one person has all the power to make, enforce, and interpret the laws.

In addition to the broad separation of powers into three branches, the Constitution keeps the legislative and executive branches separate with various specific provisions. Article I, Section 6, prevents members of Congress from serving as officers of the government in the executive branch. Article I, Section 5, says each chamber of Congress, namely the House of Representatives and the Senate, is the sole judge of who wins congressional elections and who is qualified to serve there. The same part of the Constitution gives the House and Senate sole authority to make their rules of operation.

The men who wrote the Constitution in 1787 wanted each branch's power to be separate, but not absolute. They considered absolute power, even over just a portion of the government, to be dangerous. They were especially fearful of giving too much power to the president, who might come to resemble an uncontrollable king. They were also fearful of giving too much power to the House of Representatives, which they saw as the chamber of Congress that would represent the popular will of America. The men who wrote the Constitution wanted to protect the wealthy class of society from the passions of popular democracy.

To prevent the power of any one branch from being absolute, the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution to contain a system of checks and balances. These are powers that each branch has for limiting the power of the other branches. Some scholars say the system of checks and balances actually creates a government of shared powers instead of one with separated powers.

The term "checks and balances" usually refers to the power that one branch of government has to limit the powers of the other branches. For example, the president checks the power of Congress with the ability to veto laws that Congress passes. Congress, however, has an internal system of checks and balances. Its two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, check each other, because a law cannot pass Congress unless both chambers approve it by simple majorities.

This internal check was important to the Founding Fathers, the men who wrote the Constitution in 1787. Many of them saw the Senate as the voice of wealthy Americans, and the House as the popular ...