Government Discussion Question ( Essay) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Government Discussion Question ( ) - Essay Example rment to overturn any unconstitutional act by the Congress and observed that the judiciary â€Å"will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution because it will be least in capacity to annoy or injure them†. His observation was on the basis that the judiciary has â€Å"no influence over either the sword or the purse† meaning the Court could not influence either the legislative or the executive. Agreeing with Hamilton’s views on the power of the Court, O’Brien in his analysis of the role of the Supreme Court in American democracy acknowledges limitations of the Court in the matter of policy making and bringing social change having by itself â€Å"no chance to resolve great issues of public policy†. However, he contradicts Hamilton’s contention that the Court is â€Å"least dangerous† and contends that it is no longer so. The Supreme Court, according to O’Brien, by getting increasingly activist has b ecome a â€Å"storm center† of national politics. Hamilton’s vision of a completely independent Court has not materialized and instead the judiciary has found itself acting under external pressures from the executive, legislature and the public opinion. Devoid of the power of â€Å"the sword or the purse†, the Court depends for the impact of its rulings and their influences on the policymaking on the political institutions of the country and the public opinion. The confrontations consequent upon the school desegregation ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education case (1954) is a pointer to the Court’s policymaking limitations. Hamilton’s observation that â€Å"there is no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers† was intended to mean that people’s democratic right would be in danger if the Court does not independently act to uphold that right. The same concern is reflected in O’Brien’s argument for the Court to be an institution of prestige freeing itself from the political