HIST-UA 1 Quiz: The Judiciary Study Guide
Document Summary
In most modern democracies the executive and legislative branches hold considerable power, but most grant little policymaking power to the judicial branch. A most important exception to this general rule is the united states, whose judiciary is truly a coequal branch with as much power as the other two. And yet our government did not begin with this almost equal balance of power; the founders almost certainly saw the judiciary as an important check on the legislative and executive branches, but not as a policymaking body. The court system is a cornerstone of our democracy. According to our ideals, judges make impartial and wise decisions that elected officials find difficult to make. Members of congress, state governors, and the president must always worry about elections and popular opinion. As a result, they may lose sight of the need to preserve our values, and they sometimes set hasty or unjust policies.
