The System of Checks and Balances

Not only does each branch of American government have particular powers, but each branch has certain powers over the other branches – it has the power to check and balance them (hence the name - the system of checks and balances). For example:

Congress may pass laws........but the President can veto them.

The President can veto laws.......but Congress can override the veto with a 2/3 vote.

The President and Congress may agree on a law..........but the Supreme Court can declare a law unconstitutional.

The President can appoint Judges and other government officials.......but Senate must approve them.

Justices of the Supreme Court have life terms.......but they can be impeached by Congress.

These are but a few ways (there are many more than listed), in which the Constitution balances power. These checks and balances are used on a regular basis. Real life conflicts that test the system have occurred throughout history. After the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson vetoed over 20 bills. In 1918, Congress refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, a peace treaty ending World War I that President Wilson had worked very hard on. In 1930s, the Supreme Court declared two economic programs by the Roosevelt administration unconstitutional. In 1987, when President Reagan appointed Judge R. Bork to the Supreme Court, his nomination was defeated. There are thousands of other examples of checks and balances at work.

Research Incentive:use the Internet to answer trivia questions.

1) What are the posts of the presiding officers in the Senate and in the House of Representatives called? What people do currently hold these positions?

2) What is “pocket veto” and who introduced it?

3) There is a “federal city” in America, whose residents sometimes refer to themselves as the “last colony” because they are the only residents of the United States who do not have voting representation in Congress, yet they pay federal income taxes just like anybody else. City officials even added the slogan “Taxation without Representation” to their license plates. What is this city?

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

Check the pronunciation and the Russian translation of the words and expressions;

reproduce the context in which they are used in the text.

Regardless of to be directly proportional to to hold a national census

To sign a bill into law to veto a bill to override a presidential veto

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1073