The United States of America is one of the nations that have made great strides in ensuring that democracy and civil rights are protected and promoted. The Constitution provides a direction on how the three branches of government balance and separate their powers to avoid conflicts of interest. Additionally, the distribution of power among the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary ensures that neither of them has disproportionate power over the others. This provision is crucial as it allows each of the three branches of government to offer checks and balances to one another, which in turn favors the citizens (National Archives, n.d). However, it is not automatic that there will be a balance of power especially if the president, Congress, or the judiciary wants to drive personal agendum. Such a scenario would interfere with the most basic civilian rights including voting rights, which is considered the most effective legislation in the US. An analysis of the republican form of government will help to establish how the balance of power works in the US.
Balance of Power as Demonstrated in Voting Rights
The Constitution is clear on the issue of voting rights as enshrined in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act provided leeway for all American citizens no matter their gender, race, political affiliation or other distinguishing factors to elect their favorite candidates. However, for this act to be effective, the three branches of government must act as a united front with no branch demonstrating a conflict of interest (National Archives, n.d). In the last ten years, the Republicans have been the majority in the Congress and have used this time to rewrite voting laws. According to Wines (2019), the Republicans are responsible for enacting laws that make it harder for citizens to register as voters or to vote. Over the years, the Republicans imposed laws on ID requirement before registering to vote thus curbing voter registration (National Archives, n.d). On the other hand, the Democrats who are gaining ground against the Republicans are keen on moving in the opposite direction. The recent attempt by Democrats to overhaul the Republican's decision was to enact a series of laws aimed at expanding the citizen’s access to the ballot box.
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Looking at the scenario one can establish that there is a conflict of interest in the issue of voting which in turn tampers with the balance of power. Congress seems to wield disproportionate power considering it has the numbers to pass legislation and even veto the Executives directives (National Archives, n.d). The mechanisms that have been designed to ensure that there is a balance of power between the three branches continue to be weakened by individuals and institutions. The same can be said about the executive branch and which is headed by a Republican presidency. The news is awash with instances where the presidency has become seen as the ultimate and the most dominant branch of the government.
Whether the Mechanisms Designed To Balance The Power Of Government Between Institutions And Individuals Continue To Work
The presidency has undermined Congress in numerous cases by making decisions that contravene the constitutional provisions. A case in point is when he insisted on the need of voters to have IDs to prevent voting fraud in spite of there being evidence of such fraud. According to Clarke and Rosenberg (2018), the Voting Rights Acts that is considered a major enactment of all a time is on life support thanks to President Trump who is suppressing minority voters. The President is fixated with the myth that there are voting frauds, which led to the creation of the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity, which has only helped in creating suppressive voting laws. Looking at this aspect, one can conclude that the mechanisms for ensuring that there is a balance of power are prone to manipulation by either branch for selfish motives.
Whether One Center of Power has Grown too Powerful
The Executive branch of government has grown too powerful and it can do anything it pleases without consulting the Legislature or the judiciary even in matters of national importance. Instead of the judiciary to put a stop to the extremities that the executive is going to, it seems to support and affirm its decisions. This proposition is true especially if one considers its role in redefining the Voting Rights Act of 1965 over the years. In particular, in 2013 the Supreme Court overturned section five of the Voting Rights Acts that would discriminate minority voters (Clarke & Rosenberg, 2018). This section makes it illegal for some jurisdictions to implement changes voting without the approval of the U.S. District Court for D.C. or the U.S. the worst part of this decision is the fact that seven years before the Senate and the House of Representatives had voted to re-authorize section five of the Voting Rights Act.
Whether Individual Rights being Protected during these Disputes
Whenever the three branches of government get into power struggle over crucial matters such as the right to vote, it is obvious, that individual rights are not protected. The overturning of crucial section that protects voters from being discriminated against due to their racial affiliation worsens this scenario. Instead of the three branches working together to protect individual rights as required by the Constitution and the federalist papers 10, 47 and 51, they engage in a war of supremacy (National Archives, n.d). Federalist Paper number 10 establishes that it is important to reconcile citizens or institutions with contrary interests to the rights of other citizens. This view is affirmed by Federalist Paper 47, which states that the three branches of government should not be separated, but rather work in unison (Founders Online, n.da).
Only when the three branches work in unison with the rights of the citizens will be affirmed and protected. Federalist paper 51 seals this assumption as it focuses on the importance of separating each of the branches so that it can offer checks and balances to the other two (Founders Online, n.db). Each of the branches is supposed to be dependent on people who are considered the source of their legitimate authority. If the three branches of government were to adhere to these provisions in the Federal Papers, then the rights of voters would be protected.
References
Clarke, K., & Rosenberg, E. (2018, August 6). Trump administration has the Voting Rights Act on life support. CNN. Retrieved on 10 October 2019 from https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/06/opinions/voting-rights-act-anniversary-long-way-to-go-clarke-rosenberg-opinion/index.html
Founders Online. (n.da). The Federalist Number 47 . Retrieved on 10 October 2019 from https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-10-02-0266
Founders Online. (n.db). The Federalist Number 51 by James Madison or Alexander Hamilton . Retrieved on 10 October 2019 from https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-04-02-0199
National Archives. (n.d). The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription. Retrieved on 10 October 2019 from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
Wines, M. (2019, February 1). Republicans rewrote voting laws for 8 years. Now Democrats say it’s their turn. The New York Times. Retrieved on 10 October 2019 from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/us/voting-rights-laws-elections.html
