Questions tagged [separation-of-powers]
Questions relating to the separation of power when it comes to governing a state. A prime example is the trias politica which divides power between a legislature, an executive and a judiciary.
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DeSantis' "US Constitution’s 'leverage points'... to exercise the 'true scope' of presidential power"; something new or based on existing theories?
CNN's May 26 2023 DeSantis is going after Trump like never before includes the following:
Now, DeSantis is making the case that he is better suited to deliver on the promises that Trump himself ...
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Was a Czech president ever successful in having a legislation proposal dropped after his veto or threat thereof?
The Czech constitution gives the President a veto power on legislation, but this can be overridden by 50% (+1 I assume) of the absolute number of parliamentarians, which may be slightly difficult in ...
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Does China have a separation of power between legislative and executive branch? What is the equivalent of a Minister in China?
Note: Please don't devote a good percentage of your answer on criticizing China and its way of governance. Try to be explanatory and not judgemental.
So far, I have only able to grasp that China is ...
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Guardrails against the German president from "going rogue"; violating norms and guidelines and unilaterally making/blocking foreign policy decisions?
I first saw the following line in Politico's April 13, 2022 Zelenskyy’s Steinmeier snub triggers backlash in Germany referring to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz:
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How do the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Armed Forces differ in their authority from the powers held by the President?
I know that France is a semi-presidential system where the head of government (Prime Minister) is separate from the head of state (President of the Republic). Now, some brief reading on wikipedia's ...
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What are the types of decisions of the Supreme Court that can be overruled by the U.S. Congress?
What are the types of decisions of the Supreme Court that can be overruled by Congress?
In some countries, when the Supreme Court makes decision on any
matter, it cannot be reversed by any lower ...
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Is the current governance of the United States Capitol Police at odds with separation of powers doctrine?
The United States Capitol Police (USCP) appears to be a law enforcement agency and has been in the news since the capitol riot of January 6th, 2021. However, in recent events, the Capitol Police ...
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Can the President personally arrest someone? [duplicate]
If all executive powers is held by the President and FBI agents can make arrests, doesn’t that mean the President can too?
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Why didn’t the Framers of the US Constitution clarify who has the power to suspend habeas corpus?
It seems awfully strange to mention a very strong power, that if used improperly could destroy American democracy, and not say who can invoke it. Why?
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How can Congress end a war over the objections of the President
The Constitution seems to indicate that Congress should control war making, since it has the sole power to declare war. However, as the Commander in Chief, the President is given very broad powers ...
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Will any state or federal laws be broken by a rich individual funding the movement and support of South Dakota National Guard troops?
Politico's Billionaire GOP donor is funding South Dakota National Guard border deployment says:
Willis Johnson doesn’t live in the state but says he backs Gov. Kristi Noem, a potential presidential ...
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How can the US President create a waiver for patent enforcement?
According to a recent statement by the US Trade Representative:
“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. The ...
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Does Congress delegate powers to the Cabinet directly or to the President who then gives it to the Cabinet member?
My question basically boils down to "does the Cabinet hold powers separate from the President?"
I'll give an example of what I mean.
The Secretary of Treasury is responsible for "...
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How far does Congressional judicial stripping extend?
Under Article III Section 2 Clause 2, Congress has the power to limit the Supreme Courts power:
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State ...
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Changing the local time of Washington, D.C
Who has the power to change the local date/time of Washington D.C., and what is the extent of this power?
Could this power be abused to extend/reduce the terms of elected officials?
Certainly the ...
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What checks and balances are there to stop the Supreme Court from grossly misinterpreting the constitution?
If the Supreme Court were to rule that they have the power to impeach and convict the president because they are supposed to make sure the constitution is not violated or ruling that the first ...
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Can the Supreme Court strike down an impeachment that wasn’t for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ or is Congress the sole judge?
If an impeachment for something clearly not a ‘high crime or misdemeanor’ were to go though for example for increasing tariffs, would the Supreme Court have the power to overturn their judgement?
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How immune are Supreme Court justices or other high ranking judicial officials from punishment for crimes committed during their official duties?
I am aware that members of Congress have some immunities and so do the President and Vice President, but what about Supreme Court justices or federal prosecutors for example?
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Where does Trump's authority to cut funding to WHO come from, if Congress controls spending?
I always thought that Congress controlled US government spending; the so called "power of the purse". However, on April 14th, Trump gave a press conference during which he signalled that he would ...
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Could the president push a bailout for industries affected by a disaster without congressional support?
There's a lot of talk lately about bailout packages being offered to airlines and other affected industries. Assuming that the president was in support of a bailout and was willing to do whatever was ...
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Do Polish citizens support law that allows judges to be disciplined for criticizing the system?
Polish President Duda has adopted on October, 2nd 2020 a divisive law that allows judges to be disciplined for criticizing the system. The legislation, which has drawn condemnation from the European ...
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How does granting immunity to an already imprisoned person fit with judicial independence?
Where I live judicial independence was a hot topic for quite a while, namely that the politics should interfere as less as possible in justice.
This article shows an interesting case when getting ...
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What executive powers does the Prime Minister have?
In a presidential republic like, say, America, there are executive powers afforded to the President; for example the power to veto legislation. In the United Kingdom, as I understand it, the powers of ...
CDJB♦
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Does any other Latin American country have a justice system in which the security forces can only be prosecuted by military courts?
According to a 2016 Amnesty article, the Chile justice system encourages brutality from the security forces because
Chile’s military courts, which deal with cases of human rights violations committed ...
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Has the UK Parliament been successfully sued for passing or doing something deemed unconstitutional?
According to some "extrajudicial" comments by justices in R (Jackson) v Attorney General
, e.g.:
Lord Hope followed on from Lord Steyn
Parliamentary sovereignty is no longer, if it ever ...
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Are there well-known democracy ranking/evaluation systems that penalize the fusion of powers (between the executive and legislative)?
Basically, I want to ask how accepted is the idea that fusion of powers between the executive and legislative, present in the Westminster-inspired systems, implies a democratic deficit of some kind. (...
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Whistleblowers and statutory protections
The Federalist is reporting that the "whistleblower" in the Ukraine affair "concealed contacts" in their submission about prior contact with Congress.
According to Fox News investigative reporter ...
user9790
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Is there any other constitutional body represented in Autonomous Communities?
In Spain,
Autonomous Communities (A.C.) Presidents hold a representation of/from the State (every power of the State, ultimately deriving from popular citizen vote) in the A.C.[reference TBMA on ...
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Is the US president the ultimate law-enforcement officer?
In the comments of another answer, Grovkin and I discussed the power of the US president. In a reply I received, it was stated that the US president is the ultimate-enforcement officer:
@JJJ it ...
JJJ♦
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Would this use of *nobile officium* be a separation of powers violation?
I've mentioned here and here that certain Brexit-pursuing actions as Prime Minister, by Theresa May and Boris Johnson, raised separation of powers concerns quite separate from the policy question of ...
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Why not just put FPTP in one house and PR in the other? [closed]
Is it possible to get benefits of the two approaches (majoritarian and proportional) in a parliamentary system by making the lower house get elected by First-Past-The-Post and the upper one by party-...
user26264
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How is justice supposed to work for the president of the United States?
I am having trouble understanding how the President of the United States should be brought to justice if one should commit a crime. This question should not be viewed as pro-vel-contra Trump, but an ...
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Can a US president have someone sent to prison?
In an interview at the White House recently, Donald Trump is quoted threatening a journalist with prison time by saying:
"You can go to prison instead,"
Is the president of the United States ...
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In American Politics, why is the Justice Department under the President?
This may sound like an easy question.
Legislators make laws, the executive executes laws and the judiciary judges laws.
Sounds simple.
I've heard that the Justice Department is under the executive ...
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Was parliamentary ratification of trade treaties necessary in the UK (before joining the EU)?
The royal prerogative seems to be the source of UK's government's power to conduct foreign affairs. But does it completely cover trade treaties, i.e. before joining the EU was parliamentary ...
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Who has the power to designate new countries for TPS (temporary protected status)?
VOA news on January 17, 2019:
Amid a deepening crisis and mass exodus from Venezuela, bipartisan legislation was unveiled Thursday to provide temporary protected status (TPS) to Venezuelan nationals ...
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What is the legal basis for the Trump administration's decision to impose and then remove tariffs?
I'm no expert on the applicable law regarding tariffs and international trade, but I do know that the most famous tariff policy in US history was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, named after two members ...
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Can the US President recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights for the USA or does that need an act of Congress?
President Trump has tweeted that the USA should "fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights" - directly contradicting United Nations Security Council Resolution 497 from 1981.
Can ...
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Aren't, in practice, the executive and legislative powers oftentimes nearly unified?
As far as I'm aware, according to the theory of separation of powers, which is considered one of the foundations of democracy, prescribes the three government powers: executive, legislative, judiciary ...
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How has the division of power worked, between govt and parliament, in modern Britain?
In the last few months, the UK has seen what might be called an "activist parliament". There have been comments on TV/radio in the context of Brexit, that MPs have been setting their own agenda, not ...
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Press conference by SC judges
Is the historic press conference by four senior-most SC judges a sign of government interference in the workings of the judiciary?
References -
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/supreme-...
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Has there ever been any government in the world where a science commission was a branch of power with constitutional level?
The typical branches of power in the world are,
- Executive power
- Legislative power
- Judicial power
Many other countries have additional branches with constitutional level power, for example
- ...
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Do US federal agencies take a position on legislation?
Are there laws which prohibit or limit the ability of United States federal agencies (eg. SAMHSA) to take a public position in favor or against bills currently under consideration of the legislature?
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Would federal agencies have enough power to run the country without the government?
Essentially all the federal agencies have control over their spending. The DOT can raise revenue by road tolls, DOE has royalties, Medicare/ss can garnish small amounts of wages that aren't worth ...
user22674
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Isn't the question of partisanship of US supreme court judges contradictory to the separation of powers?
Being German I find it rather strange to witness the discussion in the US regarding placing Kavanaugh as the 9th judge in the supreme court.
In the news it always sounds as if it is a matter of the ...
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Entire court impeached
The West Virginia House Judiciary Committee has voted to impeach the entire West Virginia Supreme Court. This vote means that it will go to the WV house floor for impeachment consideration.
Here's ...
user9790
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What are different ways of allocating investigative power?
Background - The U.S. allocation of investigative power
In the U.S. system of government, there are a variety of ways that a potential incident or public policy issue of concern can be investigated.
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How can the Judicial Branch enforce its orders?
I got to thinking on this when reading this thread What happens if administration doesn't meet the deadline to reunify families?
The answer talks about contempt and the possibility of sanctions / ...
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Is there a recent example of a constitutional court decision limiting presidential powers within Europe?
Romanian Constitutional Court has decided that the President must fire anti-corruption chief (about motivation):
Judges said that under the constitution, Iohannis cannot reject a
government ...
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Can confirmations be revoked?
In the US, the Congress has the power of Advice and Consent to the President. As such, it has the power to vote up or down the heads of the departments whom he nominates. This is on the theory that, ...
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