What is it called when each branch of the government has the ability to influence what the other branches can and Cannot do?

The House of Representatives plays an important role in the United States Government. Its job was given by the Founding Fathers of the United States during the Philadelphia Convention in May of 1787 when our current Government was created.

The Three Branches of Government

  The signing of the ConstitutionOil on Canvas, Howard Chandler Christy, 1940, Architect of the Capitol

During the Philadelphia Convention, it was decided that the United States Government should have three branches. The three branches would keep each other balanced so that one branch did not become too powerful. All Americans have equal and fair representation through the three branches:

1. Legislative: The Congress
   The legislative branch makes the laws of the United States, controls all of the money, and has the power to declare war.
2. Executive: The President and Vice President
   The executive branch enforces the laws of the United States, spends money as allowed by Congress, declares states of emergency, appoints Judges to the Supreme Court, and grants pardons for crimes.
3. Judicial: The Supreme Court
   The judicial branch intreprets laws, judges when a law is unconstitutional, and makes arrangements for prisoners.

To be sure that one branch does not become more powerful than the others, the Government has a system called checks and balances. Through this system, each branch is given power to check on the other two branches. The President has the power to veto a bill sent from Congress, which would stop it from becoming a law. Congress has the power to impeach Supreme Court Judges or Presidents. The Supreme Court has the power to overturn a law that they believe is unconstitutional.

The Legislative Branch

  The U.S. Capitol

Congress meets at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Members of Congress have offices in buildings that are attached to the Capitol and visit the Capitol for meetings and legislative sessions. See if you can help A.Bill get from his office to the Capitol to vote on a law by trying the Capitol Maze!

During the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, participants from large states wanted the number of representatives in Congress based on the number of citizens in the state—so the more citizens the more representatives. Participants from small states were worried they would have no power and wanted an equal number of representatives from each state. To be sure everyone had equal representation and power it was decided that the Congress would have two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The two houses work together to pass laws.

The Senate

The Senate has 100 members—2 Senators from each state, regardless of its size. Senators serve 6 year terms and there is no limit to the number of terms they can serve.

The House of Representatives

  The House Chamber

The House of Representatives has 435 voting Members, five Delegates, and one Resident Commissioner. Members and Delegates each serve a two year term while Resident Commissioners serve for four years. The number of Representatives from each state is based on the state’s population. Each state has at least one Representative.

By separating the two branches of Congress, Americans are guaranteed equal representation. The houses work together to pass laws that are then enforced by the Executive Branch and overseen by the Judicial Branch.

The House of Representatives is full of traditions and artifacts. You can see what the oldest artifact—the coin silver inkstand—looks like by printing out the Relic Connect the Dots!

The system of checks and balances in government was developed to ensure that no one branch of government would become too powerful. The framers of the U.S. Constitution built a system that divides power between the three branches of the U.S. government—legislative, executive and judicial—and includes various limits and controls on the powers of each branch.

Separation of Powers

The idea that a just and fair government must divide power between various branches did not originate at the Constitutional Convention, but has deep philosophical and historical roots.

In his analysis of the government of Ancient Rome, the Greek statesman and historian Polybius identified it as a “mixed” regime with three branches: monarchy (the consul, or chief magistrate), aristocracy (the Senate) and democracy (the people). These concepts greatly influenced later ideas about separation of powers being crucial to a well-functioning government.

Centuries later, the Enlightenment philosopher Baron de Montesquieu wrote of despotism as the primary threat in any government. In his famous work “The Spirit of the Laws,” Montesquieu argued that the best way to prevent this was through a separation of powers, in which different bodies of government exercised legislative, executive and judicial power, with all these bodies subject to the rule of law.

The U.S. System of Checks and Balances

Building on the ideas of Polybius, Montesquieu, William Blackstone, John Locke and other philosophers and political scientists over the centuries, the framers of the U.S. Constitution divided the powers and responsibilities of the new federal government among three branches: the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch.

In addition to this separation of powers, the framers built a system of checks and balances designed to guard against tyranny by ensuring that no branch would grab too much power.

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary,” James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers, of the necessity for checks and balances. “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty is this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.”

Checks and Balances Examples

Checks and balances operate throughout the U.S. government, as each branch exercises certain powers that can be checked by the powers given to the other two branches.

• The president (head of the executive branch) serves as commander in chief of the military forces, but Congress (legislative branch) appropriates funds for the military and votes to declare war. In addition, the Senate must ratify any peace treaties.
• Congress has the power of the purse, as it controls the money used to fund any executive actions.
• The president nominates federal officials, but the Senate confirms those nominations.
• Within the legislative branch, each house of Congress serves as a check on possible abuses of power by the other. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have to pass a bill in the same form for it to become law.
• Veto power. Once Congress has passed a bill, the president has the power to veto that bill. In turn, Congress can override a regular presidential veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses.
• The Supreme Court and other federal courts (judicial branch) can declare laws or presidential actions unconstitutional, in a process known as judicial review.
• In turn, the president checks the judiciary through the power of appointment, which can be used to change the direction of the federal courts
• By passing amendments to the Constitution, Congress can effectively check the decisions of the Supreme Court.
• Congress (considered the branch of government closest to the people) can impeach both members of the executive and judicial branches.

Checks and Balances in Action

The system of checks and balances has been tested numerous times throughout the centuries since the Constitution was ratified.

In particular, the power of the executive branch has expanded greatly since the 19th Century, disrupting the initial balance intended by the framers. Presidential vetoes—and congressional overrides of those vetoes—tend to fuel controversy, as do congressional rejections of presidential appointments and judicial rulings against legislative or executive actions. 

Executive orders, official directives issued to federal agencies by the president, are powers afforded to the executive branch that do not require congressional approval. They are not directly provided for inthe U.S. Constitution, but rather implied by Article II, which states that the president “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Executive orders can only push through policy changes; they cannot create new laws or appropriate funds from the United States treasury. 

Overall, the system of checks and balances has functioned as it was intended, ensuring that the three branches operate in balance with one another.

Roosevelt and the Supreme Court

A political cartoon that was captioned 'Do We Want A Ventriloquist Act In The Supreme Court?' The cartoon, a criticism of FDR's New Deal, depicts President Franklin D. Roosevelt with six new judges likely to be FDR puppets, circa 1937. 

The checks and balances system withstood one of its greatest challenges in 1937, thanks to an audacious attempt by Franklin D. Roosevelt to pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices. After winning reelection to his second term in office by a huge margin in 1936, FDR nonetheless faced the possibility that judicial review would undo many of his major policy achievements.

From 1935-36, a conservative majority on the Court struck down more significant acts of Congress than any other time in U.S. history, including a key piece of the National Recovery Administration, the centerpiece of FDR’s New Deal.

In February 1937, Roosevelt asked Congress to empower him to appoint an additional justice for any member of the Court over 70 years of age who did not retire, a move that could expand the Court to as many as 15 justices.

Roosevelt’s proposal provoked the greatest battle to date among the three branches of government, and a number of Supreme Court justices considered resigning en masse in protest if the plan went through.

In the end, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote an influential open letter to the Senate against the proposal; in addition, one older justice resigned, allowing FDR to replace him and shift the balance on the Court. The nation had narrowly averted a constitutional crisis, with the system of checks and balances left shaken but intact.

READ MORE: How FDR Tried to Pack the Supreme Court

The War Powers Act and Presidential Veto

The United States Congress passed the War Powers Act on November 7, 1973, overriding an earlier veto by President Richard M. Nixon, who called it an “unconstitutional and dangerous” check on his duties as commander-in-chief of the military. 

The act was created in the wake of the Korean War and during the Vietnam War and stipulates that the president has to consult Congress when deploying American troops. If after 60 days the legislature does not authorize the use of U.S. forces or provide a declaration of war, soldiers must be sent home.

The War Powers Act was put forth by the legislature to check the mounting war powers exercised by the White House. After all, President Harry S. Truman had committed U.S. troops to the Korean War as part of a United Nations “police action.” Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon each escalated the undeclared conflict during the Vietnam War.

Controversy over the War Powers Act continued after its passage. President Ronald Reagan deployed military personnel to El Salvador in 1981 without consulting or submitting a report to Congress. President Bill Clinton continued a bombing campaign in Kosovo beyond the 60-day time in 1999. And in 2011, President Barack Obama initiated a military action in Libya without congressional authorization. In 1995, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on an amendment that would have repealed many of the Act’s components. It was narrowly defeated.

State of Emergency

The first state of emergency was declared by President Harry Truman on December 16, 1950 during the Korean War. Congress did not pass The National Emergencies Act until 1976, formally granting congress checks on the power of the president to declare National Emergencies. Created in the wake of the Watergate scandal, the National Emergencies Act included several limits on presidential power, including having states of emergency lapse after a year unless they are renewed.

Presidents have declared almost 60 national emergencies since 1976, and can claim emergency powers over everything from land use and the military to public health. They can only be stopped if both houses of the U.S. government vote to veto it or if the matter is brought to the courts.

More recent declarations include President Donald Trump’s February 15, 2019 State of Emergency to obtain funding for a border wall with Mexico. 

Sources

Checks and Balances, The Oxford Guide to the United States Government.
Baron de Montesquieu, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
FDR’s Losing Battle to Pack the Supreme Court, NPR.org.
State of Emergency, New York Times, Pacific Standard, CNN. 

What is it called when each branch of government has a power that keeps another branch from getting too powerful?

What is it called when each branch has its own responsibilities and powers?

How does one branch of government influence the other?

Which branch of government has the most influence?