Separation of Powers: A Critical Evaluation
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Separation of Powers: A Critical Evaluation
Since 1789, when the First Congress convened, the executive branch has
tended to grow in power, even during the administration of Presidents
who professed to respect the legislative branch.
The judiciary, ever since John Marshall became Chief Justice in 1801,
has tended to be much more assertive of its powers than the Framers had
expected. (Alexander Hamilton, writing in The Federalist, assured his readers that the Supreme Court, ‘‘the weakest of the three branches,’’ could
take ‘‘no active resolution whatever.’’) Today, Federal courts examine and
review Congressional enactments and presidential orders far more frequently than the Framers imagined.
Congress,