The United States Of America

The Constitution And Democracy

Veto
Veto, ve'to, a term derived from the Latin veto, "I forbid," and referring to the power of one member of an electoral or decision-making group, or of an outside agency, to prevent action by such a group. In the first of these two senses, the veto implies that the group can act only if its members are unanimous, as in many clubs where a single "black ball" vetoes the election of a new member. Such a liberum veto (free veto) existed in the Polish constitution from the 17th century to 1791, based on the claim to absolute political equality of all Polish gentlemen represented in the Sejm, or legislative body. This procedure made legislation difficult and subject to the influence of foreign diplomats who could often bribe one member, thus weakening the state.

Diplomatic conferences have customarily required unanimity of the delegates for the passage of resolutions, and such unanimity was required for organs of the League of Nations in the absence of express exception (Convenant, Art. 5). A number of other international organizations have departed from the unanimity rule, as does the United Nations, which permits resolutions by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly, by a majority of the Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council, and by 9 out of the 15 members of the Security Council. In the last case, however, each of the five permanent members has a veto on substantive matters unless it is a party to a dispute before the council. It has been held in practice that failure of a permanent member to concur because of abstention or absence does not constitute a veto. In the course of the "cold war," the Soviet Union frequently exercised a veto, and other permanent members occasionally did so; for example, Great Britain and France vetoed the resolution calling upon Israel to withdraw its forces from Egyptian territory in 1956. The United States cast its first Security Council veto in 1970. Frequent use of the veto has seriously impaired the capacity of the Security Council to function in the way anticipated by the charter.

In confederations such as those of the United States from 1781 to 1789 and of Germany from 1815 to 1866, the member states usually have had a limited veto, especially on constitutional amendments. Even in federations such a veto has been claimed, as in the doctrine of "nullification," elaborated in the United States by John C. CALHOUN --a doctrine that led to the American Civil War.

Veto by an outside agency is illustrated by the right of the Holy Roman emperor in the early Middle Ages to veto the election of a pope. In the 16th century the claim of certain Catholic states to veto consideration of a candidate for the papacy in a conclave of the College of Cardinals was accepted by custom, and frequently exercised by Austria. This right was abolished by Pope Pius X in 1804.
In two-chambered legislatures, each chamber usually has the power to veto action by the other, though in parliamentary governments the veto of the upper house has tended to be qualified. In the United States and some other countries, the courts can declare acts of legislative bodies unconstitutional, thus exercising what has been called a "judicial veto."

Veto Power of the Executive 
The most common instance of a veto right is that of the executive over the legislature. Such a veto by the sovereign of Great Britain is in theory absolute. In law, Parliament is merely advisory to the sovereign who has supreme legislative authority, and whose signature is therefore necessary for completion of any legislation. In practice, however, this royal veto has not been exercised since 1708. With the rise of responsible government, it has been recognized that the British sovereign must accept the advice of the prime minister on all political matters. This advice will normally require the sovereign to sign all bills approved by Parliament, but if the bill is opposed by the prime minister, the latter may advise the sovereign to dissolve Parliament and call an election, thus vetoing the bill, unless the election results in a majority in the House of Commons favoring a new prime minister who approves the bill. The same practice exists in other states with a parliamentary form of government, including most of the states of western Europe.

The power of the executive to dissolve the legislature is sometimes qualified, as it was in France during the Third and Fourth Republics, with the result that governments were immediately responsible to parliamentary majorities and consequently, in view of the multiparty system, were short lived. Under the Fifth Republic, established in 1958, the president, after consultation with the premier and presidents of the National Assembly and Senate, could dissolve Parliament or, in certain cases, the president might submit bills to a national referendum. There was thus a qualified veto.

The executive veto is a characteristic feature of the presidential form of government that exists in most of the Latin American countries and in the United States. During the colonial period, royal governors exercised a veto over acts of the colonial legislatures in America. Because of opposition to this practice, expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the state constitutions, with the exception of that of Massachusetts, at first gave no veto to the governor. Over time, however, governors gained veto powers, in some cases extending to particular items in appropriation bills.

Under the Articles of Confederation there was no veto because there was no executive, but the United States Constitution provides for a presidential veto of congressional acts, which can, however, be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress. In such circumstances the act becomes law without the president's signature, as it does if the President does not sign the act and does not return it to Congress with his veto within 10 days, excluding Sundays. If, however, Congress adjourns during this 10-day period, failure of the president to act kills the bill by the so-called "pocket veto."

The early presidents exercised the veto sparingly, and only on the grounds of unconstitutionality. President Andrew JACKSON  first used it for political purposes, vetoing 12 bills, including that rechartering the Second United States Bank and that distributing to the states proceeds of the sales of public lands. The use of the veto has tended to increase. President Ulysses S. GRANT  vetoed 92 bills and President Grover CLEVELAND  584, mostly private pension bills. President Franklin D. ROOSEVELT  vetoed 63 bills, and President Harry S. TRUMAN , 250. President Dwight D. EISENHOWER  vetoed 181 bills, especially those authorizing public housing or other welfare legislation he felt would endanger balancing of the budget.

A presidential veto was overridden for the first time in President John TYLER </presidents/ea/bios/10ptyler.html>'s administration in the case of a tariff bill. Such action has become more common as the use of the veto has increased. Four bills were passed over vetoes by President Grant, 15 over vetoes by President Andrew JOHNSON , 9 over vetoes by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and 12 over vetoes by President Truman. Only 2 were passed over vetoes by President Eisenhower. President FORD , though in office less than three years, vetoed 65 bills and seldom was overridden. President George Bush encountered only 1 override out of a total of 44 vetoes. 

In 1996 the U.S. Congress enacted legislation permitting the president to exercise line-item veto authority in considering certain federal spending and tax bills. The president, under this law, could strike out individual items of a bill while signing the rest of it into law. In 1998, however, the Supreme Court invalidated the legislation, stating that it allowed the president to write a "different law" from that authorized by Congress and, as such, went against the Constitution's strictures regarding legislative procedures. 

The objective of the veto is to maintain a constitutional order by enabling each important organ to protect its own authority, thus preventing over centralization, and constitutional violation. The veto, however, may be abused. Normally, however, it is a feature distinguishing constitutional government, in which all authority is limited by law, from dictatorship based on the principle of maximum centralization of authority.

Quincy Wright 
University of Virginia