VIDEOS

These Videos will help clarify and give examples of issues surrounding checks and balances.

1. "Habeas Corpus"



This movie explains Habeas Corpus, its historical roots and how it has been suspended in the past in American politics and a look at it today. It leaves the viewer with the question, will President Bush's actions be accepted later in history?"

This video gives a simple and easy to understand introduction to Habeas Corpus and its importance to history. Habeas Corpus is usually used as an example of overstepping the boundaries of power, especially in the case of the executive branch. This video gives examples of when and why it happened and simple views of the actions of those men. Its a introduction one of the major issues regarding the separation of powers.

2. "Alberto Gonzalez: No Constitutional Right to Habeas Corpus"


Alberto Gonzalez, former Attorney General of the United States, must justify to the Senate Judicary Committee the right of the president to suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus. Gonzalez goes so far as to say the Constitution doesn't give the right to Habeas Corpus in the first place. This is an example of the justification of the growing power of the executive branch. They are still discussing whether or not President Bush had the right to suspend Habeas Corpus.

This is a excellent view of how a branch of government has overstepped the separation of powers. Here the Senate attempts to check the power given to the president after the fact, but its important to realize that Senate allowed the President to suspend Habeas Corpus in the first place. This gives a view of how the checking of a power is not all that effective if the power is already given.

3. "Checks and Balances?"



This video maps out the actions taken by the executive branch that give it the most power, destroying the separation of powers. It looks at the laws passed on a horizontal federal level (ie taking power from Congress), and from a vertical federal level (id taking power from state governors). Its an easy map to follow and gives specific information regarding the new powers of the executive branch.

This is important to see because it not only shows the president taking power from the other branches, but from the states as well. The president is gaining so much power, it is as if eventually no one will be able to check it. If the president continues to gain powers like those described in the video, the checks and balances system will fail. This gives the viewer an education as to why it is important to have the separation of powers.