Theseparationofpowerandthesystemofchecks-and-balancesinUSA美國的三權分立制度

1、The sep arati on of po wer and the system of checks-a nd-bala nces in USAIt is known to us that the p olitical system vary from country to country depending on its different national condition, such as the constitutional monarchy of UK 英國的 君主立憲制and the Peoples Congress system of China中國的人民代表大會制度， th

2、e separation of power of US 美國的三權分立.During this discussion, we will talk about the how the America n gover nment works un der the idea of sep arati on of po wer which is associated with the checks and bala nces system.Accordi ng to the U.S. Con stituti on declared that the gover nment was divided in

3、to three different branches including a legislative 立法權,an executive 行政權 and a judiciary 司法權,in accordanee with the idea of separation of power. This idea was created because that America ns did not want these po wers to be con trolled by just one man or one group. They were afraid that if a small g

4、roup received too much po wer, the Un ited States would wind up un der the rule of ano ther dictator or tyra nt.Separation of powers is a political doctrine originating in the writings of Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws where he urged for a constitutional gover nment with three sep arate bran

5、ches of gover nment. Each of the three bran ches would have defi ned po wers to check the po wers of the other bran ches. This idea was called sep aratio n of po wers. This p hilos ophy heavily in flue need the writi ng of the United States Constitution. The legislative, executive, and judicial bran

6、ches of the United States government are kept distinet in order to prevent abuse of power. The United State s form of separation of powers is associated with a system of checks and bala nces.How does the Un ited States do whe n pu tt ing the idea of sep arati on of po wer into p ractice? Which dep a

7、rtme nt is respon sible for the legislative, executive, and judicial work respectively? In fact, in USA, the legislative is headed by Congress; the executive branch headed by the P reside nt and judicial bran ches headed by the Supreme Court. If we have to use very simpie words to describe the work

8、of these three bran ches, it can be summarized as follow: the Legislative Branch makes the law; the Executive Branch en forces and carries out the laws; The Judicial Branch in terprets the laws. Each branch of the gover nment have p articular po wers, it will be in troduced followed.The P reside nt,

9、 who is res pon sible for the Executive Branch carries out federal laws and recomme nds new on es, directs n atio nal defe nse and foreig n p olicy, and p erforms cerem onial duties. The main po wers in clude:May veto lawsdeali ng with intern ati onal po wers,act ing as chief law en forceme nt offic

10、er,direct ing gover nment, comma nding the Armed Forces,Wages war at the directi on of Con gress (Con gress makes the rules for the military)Makes decrees or declaratio ns (for exa mple, declari ng a state of emerge ncy)p romulgates lawful regulati ons and executive ordersAppoints judges and executi

11、ve dep artme nt headsHas po wer to grant pardons to conv icted persons, exce pt in cases of imp eachme ntThe Legislative Branch is headed by the Con gressl國會,which in cludes the House of Rep rese ntatives眾議院 and the Sen ate參 議院.The mai n task of these two bodies is to make the laws. Its main po wers

12、 in cludeWrites and en acts lawsEn acts taxes, authorizes borrow ing, and sets the budget.Has sole po wer to declare war.May start inv estigati ons, esp ecially aga inst the executive bran ch.The Sen ate con siders p reside ntial appoin tme nts of judges and executive dep artme nt heads.The Sen ate

13、ratifies treaties.The House of Rep rese ntatives may imp each, and the Sen ate may remove, executive and judicial officers.Sets up federal courts exce pt the Sup reme Court, and sets the nu mber of justices on the Sup reme Court.May override p reside ntial vetoes.orig in at ing spending bills (House

14、),imp each officials (Se nate), and app rove treaties (Se nate).Headed by the Sup reme Court, Judicial branch has the final right to interpret the law, that is to say, once the Sup reme Court defi nes the law, the other differe nt debates will be in effective. The mai n po wers of the Sup reme Court

15、 in clude:interp reti ng the Con stituti on,reviewi ng lawsdecide cases involving states rights.Determ ines which laws Con gress inten ded to apply to any give n caseDeterm ines whether a law is uncon stituti onalDeterm ines how Con gress meant the law to apply to dis pu tesDeterm ines how a law act

16、s to determ ine the dis po siti on of prisonersDeterm ines how a law acts to compel testim ony and the p roduct ion of evide neeDetermines how laws should be interpreted to assure uniform policies in a top-down fashion via the appeals process, but gives discretion 自由裁量權 in in dividual cases to low-l

17、evel judges. (The amount of discreti on depends upon the sta ndard of review, determ ined by the type of case in questi on.)P olices its own membersNot only does each branch of the gover nment have p articular po wers each branch has certa in po wers over the other bran ches. This is done to kee p t

18、hem bala need and to p reve nt one branch form ever gai ning too much po wer, which p ractices the system of checks-a nd-bala nces. This can be show n in the some asp ects:I. Weather a law is p assed or not decided by the Con gressThe House and Senate may pass a law that the President does not like.

19、 The President can veto the law but the Congress override the video requiring 2/3 vote of both houses.2.The Supreme Court can decide weather the President or the Congress is unconstitutional.If The House and Senate pass a law, the President signs it, but the Supreme Court decides it is unconstitutio

20、nal, they can strike down the law.3. The appointment of the Judges for the Supreme Course is decided by both the President and the CongressThe President nominates Judges for the Supreme Court; the US Senate must approve the Judge nominated before he can serve.4. The Judges of Supreme Court can be re

21、moved by the Congress Supreme Court judges have life terms. But they can be impeached.5. The Congress can veto the proposals of the President and the can reject it again, but it was decided by the Congress.As we can see there are many ways (there are many more than listed) that the Constitution bala

22、nces power. The picture below shows us clearly how does the three branch of the American government restrict each other mutually, for each branch has certain powers over the other branches.There are some definite examples to show how the system of checks-and-balances operates:1.After the Civil War P

23、resident Andrew Johnson vetoed over 20 bills.2. After the Civil War Congress overrode over 20 Presidential vetoes!3.In1987 President Ronald Reagan appointed Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, his nomination was defeated.4.In 1935 and 1936 the Supreme Court declared the NIRA and then the AAA (tw

24、o New Deal programs passed during the Roosevelt administration) unconstitutional.5. 1918 Congress refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, a peace treaty ending World War I that President Wilson had worked very hard on.There are thousands of examples of checks and balances at work. Real life conf

25、licts that test the system have occurred throughout history. These checks and balances are used on a regular basis.Actually, in theory, the political system of China is in some way similar to the system of checks-and-balances. The National Peoples Congress has legislative power, but are not administrative. The Judicial departments enforce law independently. And the government has only the administration without prejudice to the legislative and judicial. However, there are many differences in the specific institutional and practical implementation. In China, the party leads all and somet