The powerful part of the government
According to the Enlightenment philosopher Montesquieu, a liberal government is borne when the legislative, judicial and executive powers are vested separately. Any branch or an individual manifesting all the three powers such as the French monarch Louis XIV becomes too powerful, leading to despotism. Life, as described by Thomas, is nasty, brutish, and short, and John Locke agreed with the earlier philosopher that society requires a social contract for peace to ensue. The social contract is drawn from the implied agreement principle of the English contract law depicting an agreement among the people on the legitimacy of a government.
According to Locke, however, this agreement is not only among the people but also between them and the sovereign. He argued that individual’s natural rights to liberty, property and life limit any government’s power; violation of these rights provides the people with leeway to revolt and form a new government that does not break the social contract. To protect these rights, Locke preferred a representative form of government with the legislature being the most powerful branch.
Among the natural rights, he highlights the right to property as the most important. Therefore, having a branch of the government made of property owners would supersede the other branches. Moreover, he justifies the legislature’s being the most powerful because of its law-making responsibilities. Except under special occasions, this legislative power is unchallenged, and neither can individuals make or pass their laws.
I agree with Locke that the legislature should be the most powerful branch of the government but with the judiciary and the executive present to check how it exercises this prerogative authority. It is the branch of the government that represents the will of the people. country with a government for the people and by the people, these elected law-makers are bestowed with the power of the majority. As such, the legislature plays the most important role in our country; preservation of the society.
However, the check and balance system created by the Framers inhibits the legislative branch from being too powerful. The framers of the constitution developed a system whereby there are controls and limits to Congress. For instance, the president has veto powers over bills passed by Congress. As such, even after a bill passing through the Congress with a majority rule, the head of state can render it null and void.