Principles of the separation of powers system in the United States

When Columbus landed in the New World, there were many ethnic minorities in North America, presenting colorful cultural characteristics. In particular, the six Iroquois tribes in the northeast formed the Iroquois Confederation, which was highly politicized. This federal organization had a political system of mutual supervision and restriction, which provided a model for the American political system to learn from. He is native to the area.

The real foreign immigration originated around 1620. The British Puritans could not bear the persecution of the British autocratic government. In pursuit of freedom, they crossed the Atlantic and came to the North American continent. The immigrants founded thirteen North American colonies under a management system different from that of Britain.

At first, the colonies did not have a constitution that was formulated by a specially convened constitutional convention, but people increasingly realized that the constitution was fundamentally different from universal legislation. "In New Hampshire, New York, The revolutionary legislative bodies of Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia all enacted the constitution after obtaining special authorization directly from the voters."

The division of institutional powers was practiced in thirteen states. Each has different embodiments, among which the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 is one of the blueprints for the Federal Constitution of 1787. New Hampshire stipulates that the president is the head of the executive branch and the president of the Senate. Once the parliament votes for and against an equal vote, the president's vote plays a key role. The president is elected by the legislative body, the Senate also hears impeachment cases, and members of the judiciary are appointed by the president. Massachusetts allows for a mixture of powers. The chief executive has the power to veto decisions of the legislative branch, which appoints certain government officials. The Senate is the court for impeachment of members of the executive and judicial branches, and the executive branch appoints members of the judiciary. In New York State, the chief executive and judicial officials have part of the power to manage the legislative branch. The legislative branch appoints executive officials and judicial officials. The judicial functions are jointly undertaken by the legislative branch and the judicial branch. In New Jersey, the Legislature appoints the Governor, who is a member of the Supreme Court, the president and trustees of the State Court of Balance, the Speaker of a certain house of the Legislature has voting rights, the Legislature together with the Governor constitutes the Court of Appeals, the Legislature appoints members of the Judiciary, and is governed by Impeachment and removal from office by the Legislature. In Pennsylvania, the governor is the head of the executive branch and is elected by the legislative branch. The governor and the executive council appoint members of the judicial branch to form an impeachment court; the legislative body removes Supreme Court judges and magistrates of the peace. Delaware stipulates that the legislative body elects the chief administrative officer. The two speakers of the legislative body are the deputy chief executive of the executive branch, the chief executive and the two houses of Congress appoint six people to form the Supreme Court of Appeal. The main officials of the executive branch are appointed by the legislative body. The Maryland Constitution confirms that the legislative branch appoints the chief executive and that the executive branch may appoint members of the judicial branch. The Virginia Legislature appoints the governor and executive council, appoints principal officials in the judicial branch, and has executive authority for partial pardons. In North Carolina, the legislative branch appoints all principal officials in the executive and judicial branches. South Carolina provides that the legislative branch selects the chief executive and also appoints members of the judicial and executive branches. The Georgia Legislature has the power to appoint executive offices and has the power to execute pardons, and the Legislature appoints magistrates of the peace. Since the constitutions of Rhode Island and Connecticut were drafted before the Revolutionary War and are not included in the analysis, only eleven states are represented.

Although the power systems of the eleven states have many differences, the similarities are obvious, that is, the legislative, judicial and executive powers are mixed and intertwined with each other. Among the three powers, the legislative power is basically in a dominant position, while the executive power and judicial power are in a secondary position. Moreover, the legislative body consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which share power. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, Pennsylvania tried to establish a single parliament, which was mainly based on the principle of popular sovereignty. However, soon after, it revised the law and established a bicameral system. People finally realized that the legislative power must be divided among several legislative bodies. The cases of the eleven states are inconsistent with the principles of constitution-making: the principle of independence of powers and separation of powers. Madison called this phenomenon "with obvious traces of haste and haste in its composition, especially lack of experience."

In 1776, the United States won the War of Independence. The Articles of Confederation were passed in 1777, providing for a unicameral Congress. The 1781 Federal Constitution confirmed the bicameral system, adopted the principle of separation of powers and mutual checks and balances, abandoned the cabinet system of integrating legislation and administration, and gave the president greater power. In order to prevent the president and his agencies from abusing their power, necessary restraints are also provided.

That is to say, the three powers have both independent parts and overlapping and interoperable parts to achieve the purpose of restraining the three powers.

Why are the institutional practices of the eleven states so different from the later federal constitutional system? The relevant answer can only be found from people's ideas before and after the constitution was made.

Before and after the American Revolutionary War and during the creation of the Constitution, many thinkers such as Paine, Adams, Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, etc. were not only influenced by European ideas, but especially by the ideas of Locke and Montesquieu. , and was also affected by the reality of anti-monarchy in Europe.

Why should we set up a system of separation of powers? Thinkers at that time were first based on their understanding of freedom and autocracy.

Madison believed that “the legislative, executive, and judicial powers shall be vested in the same hands, whether one, a few, or many, whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elected, may impartially It was concluded that it was a tyranny. "Because the North American continent "had become a refuge for persecuted people who loved civil and religious freedom from all over Europe." People were afraid of the "return of monarchy" and the persecution of tyranny and the loss of the freedom they had gained. The best way to protect freedom and prevent autocracy is to eliminate the concentration of power. The enemy of democracy is the monopoly of power, and power itself is intrusive. The limits of power should be clarified and regulated through a certain system. So far as the legislative, executive and judicial powers are concerned, "it is agreed on all sides that the powers which rightly belong to one of the branches should not be exercised directly by any other branch, and it is equally evident that none of the branches in the exercise of their respective powers It should have an overwhelming influence on other departments directly and indirectly. "It opposes the existence of dominant and absolute power, and advocates that legislative tyranny and administrative tyranny have the same meaning, and that legislative tyranny is more dangerous than violent tyranny. This mainly lies in legislation. Departments have access to the people's purses alone. People's property rights are easily violated and they lose their security.

Within the legislative body, there are institutional choices between unicameral and bicameral systems. The key point in this choice lies in the evaluation of unicameral and bicameral systems. At that time, some people indeed advocated the adoption of a unicameral system to truly implement the idea of ????people's sovereignty. However, many people pointed out that the unicameral system is easily eroded by ambition or bribery. Once emotions are impulsive or controlled by gang members, it will often lead to harmful or excessive decisions. , causing irreparable harm to society and people. The bicameral system just makes up for the shortcomings of the unicameral system and can prevent us from overstepping power or betraying the position of office. Two different agencies in legislation use mutual "agree" or "disagree" as a restraining force to play a check and balance function.

Secondly, based on the understanding of human nature. Many thinkers believe that human nature is very imperfect: narrow-minded and selfish, with a certain degree of bad nature. Moreover, the public is often affected by emotional fluctuations and often lacks fairness and authenticity in expressing will. Therefore, there is an urgent need to There is a certain level of distrust and suspicion. In 1776, John Adams advocated the establishment of a mixed government, especially the establishment of a bicameral legislature. Only this option can avoid "the outbreaks of temper, the impulse of emotion, and the unbridled enthusiasm of enthusiasm... hasty conclusions and absurd judgments." Moreover, legislation Institutions are easily swayed by various public factors, partisan disputes and the influence of individual influential individuals.

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