The weakness on the other hand, is that the power is centralised in the executive arm of government. America's biggest strength and biggest weakness lies within our relationship between our founding documents and us. Strengths Three branches of government Strengths Legislative has many powers Strengths Executive Branch led by president Strengths Judicial branch to review the laws Strengths Firm system of checks and balances Weaknesses Power held by the states Weaknesses One branch of government- Congress Weaknesses Legislative branch had few powers Weaknesses the framers created three branches of government to help maintain a checks and balance . People who seek unlimited power (because they JUST KNOW what Good Things must be done) always oppose checks on government power. The phrase pork barrel legislation refers to the overwhelming tendency among legislatures to give the public what it wants in exchange for the publics approval during the next electoral cycle. These strict voting requirements made it difficult for the Congress to accomplish much, and even when the Congress managed to pass laws, it could not enforce them. Leadership skills. The highest and most important court in the united states in the supreme court. For this reason, the Judicial review is the Judicial branch one strength to declare if the laws and policies are in conflict or not to the U.S. Constitution rules and amendments. This gives all 3 branches of government about the same power but over certain things. As for the jJudicial Branch, the lLegislature creates the lower courts, can impeach judges, and must approve Supreme Court cases. WEAKNESSES. The American Revolution was a rejection of the British Crown and the notion that a chief executive or leader unanswerable to the citizenry was not to be tolerated in the newly formed United States of America. The Roman Republic began in 509 B.C. They are biased in the complex world of politics for the American people to develop their own mindset of whom he or she want to vote for at the polls. There were many weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.There was no national executive i.e. Previous ArticleWho is Griffith University named after? Two different family lines of limited hereditary monarchs who were kept in check by the other parts of government as well as by each other. What are some employee strengths? The Constitution which was written 229 years ago, comes with many strengths and weaknesses. This act is called checks and balances. This branch, along with judicial review limits the power of the sovereign of the parliament as the parliament is ultimately no longer the sovereign, but rather the constitution itself if the sovereign. Cost-Effectiveness: Some entities are able to reduce pollution at a lower cost than others. Again, fearful of an autocratic chief executive with the wherewithal to lead the nascent nation into unnecessary wars, the Framers of the Constitution vested the authority to go to war with Congress. who describes himself as an American, British and Scottish citizen asks: It would be interesting to compare the strength and weakness of the American constitution. Public speaking. The three branches were established by the Constitution and divided into executive, legislative, and judicial. This allows the judge or jury decision to be as fully and fairly informed as possible. Were the Constitution more easily amendable, including changing the original text, it could be modified and updated to help resolve them and others. Analytical skills. Stark economic differences across states have a profound effect on the well-being of citizens. . The third problem was the Articles of Confederation, The Articles of Confederation was Americas first constitution and at the time it seemed like a great alternative for a government. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Nor did it prevent these individuals from working cordially and professionally across the political divide. Latest answer posted October 18, 2020 at 12:28:44 PM. Writing skills. It could not enforce power upon individuals, unify foreign and domestic policies, enforce treaties, or pass navigation, After proclaiming independence from Great Britain, the United States needed an established document to help unify the thirteen colonies. First, the legislative branch is restricted to making laws. Please report any comments that break our rules. These are the strengths of the president. 78, Hamilton stated that the judicial branch was perhaps the least dangerous of the three, due to the fact that it will not put the liberty of the people at risk, as opposed to the executive and the legislative. Strengths and weaknesses Witness the impact of the global financial crisis of 2007-08 See all videos for this article The U.S. economy is marked by resilience, flexibility, and innovation. States particularly relished the three branches of government and the idea of a republic, where citizens elect political . Governor served only a 1 year term This strong legislature is the same one that allowed for mob ruling and actions by debtors. The United States Congress, by design the branch of the government most responsive to the public, is also arguably over-sensitive to the demands of that public, at least when it comes to spending finite amounts of the publics money. The Articles of the Confederation was the first government constitution that the United States used, and, although there were strength like the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, there were major weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation like the following: requiring 9 out of the 13 colonial votes from the representatives from different states to pass a law; having no executive and judicial branch; and the federal government being unable to impose tax revenue onto the states. One Example of this is in document B where is says, The judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the, The authors of the Constitution set limits, which still apply to our modern day society, on each branch of government. The president as ahead of the executive branch has several terms he or she may serve limited to two four-year terms. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Strengths and Weaknesses of US System of Government Although Tocqueville praises the Constitution, he believes that it succeeds because of the natural mindset of the American people. The Whiskey rebellion showed that these, The Articles of Confederation, the first governing document in American history, only allowed for one branch of government, Congress, which could lead to one group of people having all of the power, possibly not allowing for representation of all of the social classes. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Chief Justice John Marshall first brought up this power in the. In other words, the president, the office of which is established in Article II of the Constitution, cannot, under the Constitution, declare war on other countries. However, as long as the US maintains the current constitution, it will continue to be an object of reverence and unity. This attests to a broad consensus over the Constitution as an important unifying symbol. What follows reflects the perspective of someone who resides in the United States, the legislative branch of which, the United States Congress, differs from legislative branches in other democratic systems, most of which are characterized by parliamentary systems. They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts).. People of the Constitution claimed that judicial review gave the judiciary power superior to that of the legislative branch. Chief Justice John Marshall first brought up this power in the. The articles of confederation had many problems. The new states needed a central government. This process is called judicial review; judicial review by definition is the power of a court to declare acts of governmental bodies contrary to the Constitution null and void (Neubauer and Meinhold 492). With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. They could not regulate taxes, and this led to states taxing other states. In addition, although the president can veto the bills that Congress puts on his/her desk, the Congress can override the presidents veto with a super majority-- of the representatives in Congress must vote to pass the bill. No individual member of Congress leads Congress and can speak for the whole body. SerDaniella Herrera, The Articles of Confederation had many things that it could not do, things that were needed in order to have a strong central government. No other branch of government can actually make laws. By doing this they determine if the laws that are passed by congress are allowable by the constitution. As you prepare your response, keep in mind these additional do's and don'ts: Don't be too humble or underestimate yourself when the Romans expelled the Etruscan kings and set up their own government. To further emphasize this point, Article I, Section 8 further vests with Congress the power to raise and support Armies, meaning that the chief executive not only cannot unilaterally take the nation to war, but he or she cannot even create and maintain the military needed to do so if so inclined. The executive branch can veto congressional legislation (Doc C). The Supreme court also decides if the treaties negotiated by the president and approved by the senate are accepted by the constitution. The Judicial branch is the third government branch that is made up of different types of courts. The Articles of Confederation were written during a time when the American people feared a strong national government. Communication skills. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. They control the taxes money, and relationships between states. Another benefit of having the checks and balances system is that none of the three branches is so far apart from each that they have no power over the others, but they are far enough apart to prevent the power from accumulating. These three different styles of government include the mayor-council form, the traditional commission form, and the council-manager form of city government. However, they realized that memories of the revolution against the British monarch were too fresh to permit . Thus, acquiring ultimate power is prevented ("The United States Constitution, 1787, cited in Mount, 2008). It interprets the law and decides if the laws are constitutional. Keep them coming and send your questions to us at letters@thenational.scot. This fundamentally undermines the intent of the Framers in drafting the Constitution by allowing for excessive power on the part of the chief executive and majority party while ensuring that the minority party in the Senate cannot put the brakes on a drift towards autocracy through the minoritys final vestige of power, the Senate filibuster. E. Critique - In this step, we take a critical examination of the idea formed, weighing its strengths and weaknesses before establishing a theory or principle. The branches of government I pick is the judicial branch. However, one weakness of the judicial branch is that Congress can overrule their decisions. Being detail oriented. Led by Daniel Shays- a Massachusetts farmer and a war veteran- a group of farmers went to the Springfield Arsenal as, The first problem with the Articles of Confederation was that Congress could not raise taxes and had no money of its own because the States collected taxes and were reluctant to fork over any money to the Congress. Only Congress can make the laws, but Congress is very weak when it comes to trying to encourage the people to support a given agenda.