American Democracy and its Checks and Balances
Written by Will Wigginton
The United States of America’s central government is overly complicated, yet the most successful democratic country in world history. And, yes, the United States is a democracy. If anybody tries to tell you that America is strictly a republic, then they need to go back to high school civics class. America is what you would call a representative democracy–that is, it is a country that directly elects officials to “represent” the will of the voters who placed them in those positions. Too many people misconstrue democracy as “tyrannical” based on the fact that some aspects of democracy can rely on so-called “mob rule” in the governmental decision-making process. This, to be blunt, is right-wing propaganda that has unfortunately been successful in the modern climate of widespread misinformation and disinformation.
The aspects of democracy that are considered to be mob rule come from a branch of the tree of democratic principles, aptly referred to as direct democracy, in which the people themselves directly create, vote on, and implement laws. In America, we do this, but by proxy, with the elected representatives in our local, state, and federal legislative bodies carrying out the will of the people. Although representative democracy is infallible--like any governmental system--it has still proven to be one of the most effective and fair systems of government that has ever been utilized; therefore, it must be preserved at all costs. The point of discussing this to begin with is to educate those who don’t have a baseline understanding of how the United States’ government functions and operates. For that reason, this article will begin a crash course series going over overarching aspects of American government to not only explain the history of the country’s founding, but how and why these institutions operate and exist.
To start, we’ll go over the U.S. federal government's system of checks and balances. To provide a brief history, during the founding of the country, deliberation over what would eventually create the country's Constitution occurred in 1787 in Philadelphia, called the Constitutional Convention. The reason a constitution was necessary to begin with came from the ineffective Articles of Confederation that the colonies utilized following the Revolutionary War. In a nutshell, the Articles established a laughably weak federal government, so much so that the central bodies of the country could not tax the collective states, nor could it effectively manage trade and relations between the different states within the country. As many know, a weak federal government was established to prevent a potential monarchy from being established in the country, which is one of the main reasons Americans declared independence from the British Empire. However, what resulted was a central government that was about as disorganized and weak as the old Holy Roman Empire, which was neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire. To counter this, the Constitution was created, which paved the way for a much more powerful and efficient central government--one that relied upon checks and balances between the three branches of government (the legislative, executive, and judicial) to ease the concerns of the Anti-Federalist party in the country, which was a group that despised the premise of a powerful central government.
Between the different branches, there were intended purposes for each of them--albeit vague--thanks to the simple and ambiguous language of the Constitution. Before discussing the interplay between the branches, it’s important to establish the broad roles of each:
The Legislative Branch:
To allow for the ratification of the Constitution, a bicameral legislature was established in the United States. States with a larger population desired a legislative body in which states with higher populations would make up a greater proportion of Congress, while smaller states demanded equal representation for each state. To compromise, the federal Congress would be made up of a House and a Senate. The House satisfied the needs of the larger states, as it was the hall of Congress that was amassed based on population size. For example: a state like New York would have many more representatives in the House than a smaller state like South Carolina. However, to compensate for having so many members in the body, the elected officials would only serve two years per-term. The current number of members in the House is 435, but is subject to change during each census. The Senate, on the other hand, would allow for two representatives per state, which is why it is now made up of 100 members. Members in the Senate serve six-year, staggered terms, meaning that a third of Senators are up for reelection every two years. To organize this, Senators are organized into different cohorts, with each member being placed in the A, B, or C group to determine when their position is up for election.
For a bill to go through Congress, it must pass through both the House and the Senate, but the process can start in either chamber. Based on the Constitution, both halls are allowed to institute their own rules, meaning that the House and Senate do not operate entirely the same. However, that conversation is outside the bounds of this discussion, so we’ll move on. On top of basic lawmaking, Congress is guaranteed the ability to have the power of the purse for the federal government. To carry this out, Congress passes what is called the budget resolution to organize how the federal government will spend its funds. This means that our spending as a country is reflected greatly on Congress, not on the president, although president’s do have a large impact on the budget if the party they represent is the majority in Congress, and can have shorter-term impact through things like executive orders. Think of FEMA in disaster relief scenarios, as an example.
Furthermore, Congress has the power to impeach presidents (in the House) and vote to remove them from office (in the Senate); to confirm presidential nominations for executive positions or the judicial branch; override presidential vetoes with a 2/3 majority; and has the formal power to declare war. However, the last point has almost become moot, as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 that Congress passed essentially provides the president with the power to unilaterally declare war. Congress itself hasn’t declared war formally since World War II.
What’s most important to understand about Congress is that it was intended by the Framers to be the most powerful branch of government. However, as the centuries have passed, Congress has slowly delegated more often to the executive branch, providing presidents with ever-increasing power. This trend began with Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression, and few presidents have looked back. In my opinion, the only exceptions to this since FDR are Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter.
The Executive Branch:
What’s important to establish about the executive branch is that it is much, much more than just the presidency. Beyond the commander-in-chief, the vice president, presidential cabinet members, and executive agencies also play a major role in the federal government. Furthermore, the role of vice president is pretty weak, relative to its counterparts. The strongest roles in the executive branch are the presidency and executive agencies. Another important note: when a president enacts an executive order (EO), that is NOT a law, it is an order by the president for the country’s executive agencies to carry out within the bounds of the Constitution. Basically, the ability for the president to do this was vaguely mentioned in the Constitution, and has only grown as presidents have continuously pushed the boundary of this ability without repercussion. So, if a president were to create an executive order regarding climate change, then the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an executive agency, would be the body to implement the guidelines of the order, not Congress.
In terms of the president’s role in the system of checks and balances, they are expressly able to veto bills from Congress and nominate Supreme Court Justices. While that may not seem like much, it’s intended to be that way. Since the executive branch has so much power in the day-to-day operations of the federal government, the other two branches require more ways to check the power of the executive than the other way around.
The Judicial Branch:
The judiciary, while the weakest in terms of the ability to act in comparison to the legislative and executive branches, holds the most important power within the entire country: the ability to decide on constitutionality. It has always been, and should always be, considered the pacifist warrior of democracy. The judicial branch is made up of three different levels: district courts (trial courts), circuit courts (the first level of appeals courts), and the United States Supreme Court (the peak of the mountaintop). Although the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of the Constitution, it isn’t utilized nearly as much as the former two levels. For a case to make it to the Supreme Court, the justices within the institution must vote to grant a writ of certiorari, meaning that they have chosen to hear the case presented to them by petitioners to the court. Nearly all of the cases that are presented to the Supreme Court are turned down. So, if someone threatens to take you all the way to the Supreme Court, you take those odds.
In terms of checks and balances, the SCOTUS relies on the power of judicial review, which was instituted in the famous Marbury v. Madison case of 1803, in which the Supreme Court established the direct power to deem laws passed by Congress as unconstitutional. This would later extend to executive orders to allow the judiciary to have the ability to check the power of both branches. However, it’s necessary to add that for the Supreme Court to declare a law or EO as unconstitutional, there must first be a damaged party to take the case to the Supreme Court. One quick example was the Brady Bill Handgun Violence Protection Act passed by Congress, which was largely struck down by the SCOTUS, as many of the law’s core tenants were determined to be unconstitutional in the case Printz v. United States.
Key Takeaways:
It’s important to understand that much of what I have discussed here are only surface level details regarding the separation of powers within the United States. Beyond the federal level, you have checks and balances in both state and local governments, which largely emulate the structure of the federal government, but still have differences in each state. Therefore, it’s necessary for you to conduct more research regarding explicit and implied powers of each branch of government, as each state has its own executive, legislative, and judicial branches, with a commander-in-chief (the governor), Congress, and Supreme Court.
The United States' separation of powers system indeed bogs down the ability of the federal government to operate efficiently, but it is the necessary evil to safeguard the integrity of the Constitution. If it weren’t for this system, the dream of the Shining City on a Hill by the Founding Fathers can never be realized. America is a deeply flawed state, but it is undoubtedly the best example of democracy in world history…so far.
What’s important to establish about the executive branch is that it is much, much more than just the presidency. Beyond the commander-in-chief, the vice president, presidential cabinet members, and executive agencies also play a major role in the federal government. Furthermore, the role of vice president is pretty weak relative to its counterparts. The strongest roles in the executive branch are the presidency and executive agencies. Another important note: when a president enacts an executive order (EO, that is NOT a law, it is an order by the president for the country’s executive agencies to carry out within the bounds of the Constitution. Basically, the ability for the president to do this was vaguely mentioned in the Constitution, and has only grown as presidents have continuously pushed the boundary of this ability without repercussion. So, if a president were to create an executive order regarding climate change, then the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an executive agency, would be the body to implement the guidelines of the order, not Congress.
References
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1996/95-1478
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/5us137
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/articles-of-confederation
https://bensguide.gpo.gov/j-check-balance