US politics.The constitutional system of checks and balances does not work in practice. Discuss.

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The constitutional system of checks and balances does not work in practice. Discuss.

The US constitution is expressed in a single codified document which is not very long but should at least in theory cover a variety of issues to do with the lives, rights and liberties of citizen's everyday. Written constitutions have been known to be rigid and inflexible, therefore, US society is still influenced by the principles that led to its establishment over 200 years ago. It is therefore questionable as to whether a system which was devised over such a long a period of time should still without any major amendments work the political system today by the beliefs and attitudes present at the time in history.

The framers took inspiration from the French philosopher Baron De Montesquieu who stressed the importance of the separation of powers. He believed that the three different parts of government and their powers should be separate but could only be able to check and balance the power of others. They intended to achieve by this limited government. The intentions were clear to achieve a limited government and give the citizens fundamental rights and freedoms. For example when