Constitutional checks and balances

Constitutional checks and balances The government system comprises of the Judiciary, the Legislature, and the Executive. These are referred to as the arms/branches of the government. The constitution gives powers to these government arms in a complementary way. The government arms are supposed to support each other and check on each other’s excesses. The Legislature is composed of an elected Congress that is given the responsibility of passing laws.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Constitutional checks and balances specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Executive enforces these laws and jails convicted people. The Judiciary tries people. The grand jury listens to the facts of every case and issues an indictment, while the trial jury convicts people accused of offenses. Therefore, there are limits to the actions of each government branch. Checks and balances ensure that no government branch misuses its power. This paper is an analysis of the check s and balances set up by the Constitution to protect the citizenry from excesses by the arms of government. As mentioned above, the Legislature plays the role of making laws in the government. It has also been given certain powers by the constitution in order to check the excesses of the Executive. Such powers include the ability to override vetoes by the President if two-thirds of its members accept the override. The Legislature can also influence the amount of funds given to the Executive for delivering services to the citizenry. It can also impeach the President. The Senate checks Executive powers by approving treaties and appointments by the President. Legislature can also impeach judges, create low categories of courts, and approve judicial appointments. The Executives’ checks over Legislature include its power to recommend legislation, the President’s veto power, power to ask for special Congressional sessions, and power to seek people’s opinions on certai n legislations. It also has checks over the Judiciary. This is because the President, who also appoints federal judges, is responsible for appointing the Supreme Court. The Judiciary checks the excesses of the Executive because of its independence from the Executive. Courts can declare the unconstitutionality of Executive actions. The Judiciary also checks Legislative excesses by declaring the acts of the Legislature as unconstitutional. The government can properly address the current issue of lack of proper regulation in the banking industry if it implements proper checks and balances. The Executive can propose legislation for regulation. If this legislation contains excesses by the Executive that are unlikely to solve the problem, the Legislature (Congress) can reject it. Otherwise, if the bill originates from Congress, the President can use his veto power to reject the bill if it is passed by the Legislature with some shortcomings. If the President misuses his veto power, Congres s can override the power by a two-thirds vote. If a defective bill becomes law having been passed by the Legislature without checks by the Executive, regardless of the origin of the bill, the Judiciary can declare the bill as unconstitutional during judicial review. This process is meant to ensure that those with power effectively solve problems without misusing such power.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Checks and balances play an invaluable role in governance. They are necessitated by the likelihood of misuse of power vested upon individuals and institutions. If all the governance power and legislative power was bestowed upon a single entity, the citizenry will lose faith in the individuals and institutions. Actually, division of power and establishment of checks and balances was the reason behind having a government made up of several branches/arms.

An Overview of the Top Awards and Honors for Economists

An Overview of the Top Awards and Honors for Economists Not surprisingly, the most prestigious award that a living economist can get is the Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Nobel Prize is, in a lot of ways, a lifetime achievement award, despite the fact that its often awarded to economists well before they retire. Since 2001, the prize itself has been 10 million Swedish kronor, which is equivalent to between $1 million and $2 million, depending on the exchange rate. The Nobel Prize can be split among multiple individuals, and prizes in economics have been shared by up to three people in a given year. (When a prize is shared, it is generally the case that the winners fields of study share a common theme.) Winners of the Nobel Prize are called Nobel Laureates, since in ancient Greece laurel wreaths were used as a sign of victory and honor. Technically speaking, the Nobel Prize in Economics is not a true Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prizes were established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel (upon his death) in the categories of physics, chemistry, literature, medicine and peace. The economics prize is actually named the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel and was established and endowed by Sveriges Riksbank, Swedens central bank, in 1968 on the banks 300th anniversary. This distinction is mostly irrelevant from a practical perspective, since the prize amounts and the nomination and selection processes are the same for the Economics prize as for the original Nobel Prizes. The first Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded in 1969 to the Dutch and Norwegian economists Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch. Many economists have been awarded since then. Only one woman, Elinor Ostrom in 2009, has won a Nobel Prize in Economics. The most prestigious prize awarded specifically to an American economist (or a least an economist working in the United States at the time) is the John Bates Clark Medal. The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to whom it considers to be the most accomplished and/or promising economist under the age of forty. The first John Bates Clark Medal was awarded in 1947 to Paul Samuelson, and, whereas the medal used to be awarded every other year, it has been awarded in April of every year since 2009. Because of the age restriction and the prestigious nature of the award, its only natural that many economists who win the John Bates Clark Medal later go on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. In fact, about 40 percent of John Bates Clark Medal winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, despite the fact that the first Nobel Prize in Economics wasnt awarded until 1969. (Paul Samuelson, the first John Bates Clark Medal recipient, won just the second Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded in 1970.) One other award that carries a lot of weight in the economics world is the MacArthur Fellowship, better known as a genius grant. This award is granted by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which announces generally between 20 and 30 recipients each year. 850 winners have been chosen between June 1981 and September 2011, and each winner receives a no-strings-attached fellowship of $500,000, paid out quarterly over a five-year period. The MacArthur Fellowship is unique in a number of ways. First, the nominating committee seeks out people in a wide variety of fields rather than focusing on a particular area of study or expertise. Second, the fellowship is awarded to individuals who exhibit a capacity to do creative and meaningful work and is thus an investment in future results rather than simply a reward for past achievement. Third, the nominating process is very secretive and winners are unaware that they are even under consideration until they receive a phone call telling them that theyve won. According to the foundation, over a dozen economists (or economics-related social scientists) have won MacArthur Fellowships, beginning with Michael Woodford in the inaugural year. Interestingly, six MacArthur Fellows (as of 2015) - Esther Duflo, Kevin Murphy, Matthew Rabin, Emmanuel Saez, Raj Chetty, and Roland Fryer- have also won the John Bates Clark Medal. Despite there being significant overlap among the recipients of these three awards, no economist has achieved the triple crown of economics yet.