Presidential system help?
Background info: Founding fathers created a new presidential system to create a stronger central government. Power is divided between state and national levels and organized so no group overpowers the other.
Problem: i need 3 examples where this new system was helpful and a good idea. Each example has to be a different president before lincoln.
ANY help would be very much appreciated! I dont even need specifics, but more of just general things to look into. Thank you so much :))
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Not helpful.
Originally the founding fathers created our first system of government which was the Articles of Condeferation in 1777. It was a short document mostly about individual states rights and what little power any form of central government had, which was almost nothing at that time. About ten years later after the Revolutionary war ended, they gathered again to discuss the option for creating a new more powerful central governement that dealt with issues such as foreign trade, diplomacy and commerce across state and national lines and overseas. At this time it was never their intention to change anything but most of the ideas were agreed upon and sent out to the state legislatures to be voted on. Later a Constitutional Convention was gathered and the issues were split pretty well down the middle.
In order to facilitate a balanced system they agreed that there would need to be checks and balances between any and all branches of the government. The Senate and House of Representatives was based on the Parliament of Great Britain (England) and was adopted by the U.S. as the source for representation between the smaller populations such as counties, cities and towns (The House) and the larger population en masse per state (The Senate) together forming Congress. In order for the people to be represented as a whole, it was decided that a President would be elected to act as the figure head and spokeman for the country at large. Most of these duties and responsibilities were never actually written into the Constitution but were rather established by George Washington during his two terms. Lastly, is the Supreme Court of the land which determines whether or not the laws written by either Congress or the President were in fact allowed by the Constitution or what is widely regarded as the "intent" behind the words in the Constitution.
In a nut shell, it can be used like this;
The system of checks and balances is used to keep the government from getting too powerful in one branch. Often this represents a circular arrangement, for example:
- The executive branch can veto bills from the legislative, but
- The legislative can override the veto.
Executive Branch
1. The President is the commander-in-chief of the army and the navy, but only Congress can declare war.
2. The President nominates judges.
3. The President can veto congressional legislation.
Legislative Branch
1. Congress approves presidential nominations.
2. Congress controls the budget.
3. Congress can pass laws over the president's veto.
4. Congress can impeach the president and remove him/her from office.
5. The Senate confirms the president's nominations (for judges, etc.).
Judicial Branch
1. The Court can declare laws unconstitutional.
2. The Court can declare presidential acts unconstitutional.
So in any given example, would, in all honesty, be far too encompassing to post here. Suffice it to say, there are exmamples of this going on everyday with our government. (This is why it takes forever to get anything done. Maybe Anakin Skywalker had it right the whole time lol)