Federalist 51 - Limiting Government with Checks and Balances (4)

In working on his plan for our own 'social contract,' the Constitution, no one influenced James Madison more than the 18th century French philosopher, Montesquieu (Mon-tes-que) and his famous book, The Spirit of the Laws. Like most philosophers from the Enlightenment era, Montesquieu believed that the goal of government ought to be to protect the unalienable rights of the citizens. A government that goes beyond this would violate which enlightenment principle that we learned from John Locke?

limited government

The Legislative Branch

The branch of government which makes laws. It almost always consists of a group of people.

The Legislature

Another name for the legislative branch

To Legislate

To make laws

Legislating

making laws

Legislation (or statutes or ordinances)

laws

Congress

Our legislative branch (or you could say, our national legislature).

Parliament

England's legislative branch (and the name of many nation's legislative branches)

The Knesset

Israel's legislative branch

The State Legislature

The legislative branch of a state government (like the Congress of Michigan which makes state laws)

The Executive Branch

The branch of government which puts the laws into effect and enforces them. It almost always is headed by a single person.

To Execute

To put into effect or to do

Executing

Putting into effect or doing

Execution

The putting into effect of something

The President

The head of our executive branch

The Prime Minister

The head of the executive branch of England (and many other nations' executive branches)

The Governor

The head of the executive branch of a state government

The Mayor

The head of the executive branch of a local government

The Judicial Branch

The branch of government which interprets the laws and decides guilt or innocence. It is a nations system of courts.

Judiciary

Another name for the judicial branch.

The Supreme Court

The highest court in our judicial branch

Conseil d'État

The highest court in France's judicial branch

The State Supreme Court

The highest court of a particular state like the Michigan Supreme Court

Who is the philosopher who developed the doctrine of Separation of Powers?

Montesquieu

What was the name of this philosopher's book?

the spirit of the laws

Who was the man who added the principle of Checks and Balances?

James Madison

What was the name of his writing that explained it and why it was needed?

federalist 51

Which government branch makes the laws?

the legislative branch

Which government branch puts the laws into effect?

the executive branch

Which government branch interprets the laws?

the judicial branch

Which government branch executes the laws?

the executive branch

Which branch of government decides guilt or innocence?

the judicial branch

Which government branch enforces the laws?

the executive branch

Put an "M&M" on the line next to statements that Montesquieu and Madison would agree with. Put an "X" on the line next to statements that Montesquieu would not agree with.

n/a

____________ When people get power, they become abusive

m&m

____________ The goal of government should be to protect our individual rights

m&m

____________ Throughout history, most governments have been very gentle to their citizens.

x

____________ The surest way to protect individual rights to is give the government as much power as possible so that it can do the job

x

____________ Each branch of government will use its power to limit the other branches because it’s a nice thing to do.

x

____________ Each branch of government will use its power to limit the other branches because each of them is probably power hungry too.

m&m

Replace the incorrect italicized word with the correct word from the "Vocabulary of The Three Branches of Government."

n/a

Congress is the name of our Judicial Branch

legislative branch

Our Legislative Branch is headed by the President

congress

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the executive branch

judicial branch

The fighter pilot had a hard time legislating the maneuver

executing

Since the public demanded it, Congress created new execution to regulate sanitation in meatpacking plants.

legislation

Since President Jefferson believed that a law called the Alien and Sedition Act violated our freedom of speech, he refused to legislate it.

execute

"You're in the legislature! Execute!"

legislate

My uncle is a federal judge, a member of the national legislature

judiciary

The President did a great job executing a local curfew.

mayor

The Mayor did a great job executing the state minimum wage.

governor

We've got a President. They've got a Knesset. They're basically the same.

prime minister

We've to the Supreme Court. They've got the Federal Assembly. They're basically the same.

counseil d’Eat

We've got a Congress. They've got a Prime Minister. They're basically the same

parliment

What Constitutional principle do separation of powers and checks and balances maintain?

Limited government