A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto powers are also found at other levels of government, such as in state, provincial or local government, and in international bodies.
In many cases, the veto power can only be used to prevent changes to the status quo. But some veto powers also include the ability to make or propose changes. For example, the Indian president can use an amendatory veto to propose amendments to vetoed bills.
The executive power to veto legislation is one of the main tools that the executive has in the legislative process, along with the proposal power.[2] It is most commonly found in presidential and semi-presidential systems.[3] In parliamentary systems, the head of state often has either a weak veto power or none at all.[4] But while some political systems do not contain a formal veto power, all political systems contain veto players, people or groups who can use social and political power to prevent policy change.[5]
The word "veto" comes from the Latin for "I forbid". The concept of a veto originated with the Roman offices of consul and tribune of the plebs. There were two consuls every year; either consul could block military or civil action by the other. The tribunes had the power to unilaterally block any action by a Roman magistrate or the decrees passed by the Roman Senate.[6]
History
Roman veto
Tiberius Gracchus, Roman tribune
The institution of the veto, known to the Romans as the intercessio, was adopted by the Roman Republic in the 6th century BC to enable the tribunes to protect the mandamus interests of the plebeians (common citizenry) from the encroachments of the patricians, who dominated the Senate. A tribune's veto did not prevent the senate from passing a bill but meant that it was denied the force of law. The tribunes could also use the veto to prevent a bill from being brought before the plebeian assembly. The consuls also had the power of veto, as decision-making generally required the assent of both consuls. If they disagreed, either could invoke the intercessio to block the action of the other. The veto was an essential component of the Roman conception of power being wielded not only to manage state affairs but to moderate and restrict the power of the state's high officials and institutions.[6]
A notable use of the Roman veto occurred in the Gracchan land reform, which was initially spearheaded by the tribune Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BC. When Gracchus' fellow tribune Marcus Octavius vetoed the reform, the Assembly voted to remove him on the theory that a tribune must represent the interests of the plebeians. Later, senators outraged by the reform murdered Gracchus and several supporters, setting off a period of internal political violence in Rome.[7]
Liberum veto
In the constitution of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th and 18th centuries, all bills had to pass the Sejm or "Seimas" (parliament) by unanimous consent, and if any legislator invoked the liberum veto, this not only vetoed that bill but also all previous legislation passed during the session, and dissolved the legislative session itself. The concept originated in the idea of "Polish democracy" as any Pole of noble extraction was considered as good as any other, no matter how low or high his material condition might be. The more and more frequent use of this veto power paralyzed the power of the legislature and, combined with a string of weak figurehead kings, led ultimately to the partitioning and the dissolution of the Polish state in the late 18th century.
The modern executive veto derives from the European institution of royal assent, in which the monarch's consent was required for bills to become law. This in turn had evolved from earlier royal systems in which laws were simply issued by the monarch, as was the case for example in England until the reign of Edward III in the 14th century.[8] In England itself, the power of the monarch to deny royal assent was not used after 1708, but it was used extensively in the British colonies. The heavy use of this power was mentioned in the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776.[9]
Following the French Revolution in 1789, the royal veto was hotly debated, and hundreds of proposals were put forward for different versions of the royal veto, as either absolute, suspensive, or nonexistent.[10] With the adoption of the French Constitution of 1791, King Louis XVI lost his absolute veto and acquired the power to issue a suspensive veto that could be overridden by a majority vote in two successive sessions of the Legislative Assembly, which would take four to six years.[11] With the abolition of the monarchy in 1792, the question of the French royal veto became moot.[11]
New Zealand: Under the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, the Government has a financial veto, under which it can block bills, amendments and motions that would have more than a minor impact on the Government's fiscal aggregates.[137] Bills can be subjected to a financial veto only on third reading, when they have been finalized, but before they have been passed.[138] The financial veto system was introduced in 1996.[138]
Tonga: The constitution empowers the King to withhold royal assent from bills adopted by the Legislative Assembly.[139] In November 2011, the assembly adopted a bill that reduced the possible criminal sentences for the illicit possession of firearms, an offence for which two members of the assembly had recently been charged. Members of the opposition denounced the bill and asked the King to veto it, and he did so in December 2011.[140]
Veto theories
In political science, the broader power of people and groups to prevent change is sometimes analyzed through the frameworks of veto points and veto players. Veto players are actors who can potentially exercise some sort of veto over a change in government policy.[5] Veto points are the institutional opportunities that give these actors the ability to veto.[5] The theory of veto points was first developed by Ellen M. Immergut in 1990, in a comparative case study of healthcare reform in different political systems.[141] Breaking with earlier scholarship, Immergut argued that "we have veto points within political systems and not veto groups within societies."[142]
Köker, Philipp (2015). Veto et Peto: Patterns of Presidential Activism in Central and Eastern Europe (PDF) (PhD thesis). University College London . 2022年6月14日取得。
1234567"4. System of government". Constitutions in OECD Countries: A Comparative Study: Background Report in the Context of Chile's Constitutional Process. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
12Spitzer, Robert J. (2000). The presidential veto: touchstone of the American presidency. SUNY Press. pp.1–2. ISBN978-0-88706-802-7.
↑Capogrossi Colognesi, Luigi (2014). "Tiberius Gracchus and the distribution of the ager publicus". Law and Power in the Making of the Roman Commonwealth. Cambridge University Press. ISBN9781316061923.
↑Blackman, Robert (2004). "What was "Absolute" about the "Absolute veto"? Ideas of National Sovereignty and Royal Power in September 1789". Journal of the Western Society for French History. 32. hdl:2027/spo.0642292.0032.008.
12Jones, Colin (2014). The Longman Companion to the French Revolution. Routledge. p.67. ISBN9781317870807.
↑"Separation of Powers: Legislative Oversight". National Conference of State Legislatures. Archived from the original on 10 May 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
↑Ghai, Yash; Cottrell, Jill (2007). "A tale of three constitutions: Ethnicity and politics in Fiji". International Journal of Constitutional Law. 5 (4): 639–669. doi:10.1093/icon/mom030.
↑Tobin, Greg (2009). Selecting the Pope: Uncovering the Mysteries of Papal Elections. Sterling Publishing Company. p.35. ISBN9781402729546.
↑Leung, Christy (14 July 2021). "Hong Kong electoral changes: powerful vetting committee that will review hopefuls in coming polls holds first meeting". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
↑"Charter of the United Nations: Chapter V – The Security Council: Article 27". Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs. United Nations. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
12"Voting System". United Nations Security Council. Retrieved 15 June 2022. All five permanent members have exercised the right of veto at one time or another. If a permanent member does not fully agree with a proposed resolution but does not wish to cast a veto, it may choose to abstain, thus allowing the resolution to be adopted if it obtains the required number of nine favourable votes.
↑"Twenty-Third Meeting". United Nations. 16 February 1946. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
↑Krassen Nikolov (9 June 2022). "Bulgaria sets 3 conditions for lifting North Macedonia veto". EURACTIV.com. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
↑Slapin, Jonathan B. (2011). "Exit Threats, Veto Rights, and Integration". Veto Power: Institutional Design in the European Union. University of Michigan Press. p.123. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1qv5nfq. ISBN9780472117932. JSTORj.ctt1qv5nfq.
↑Schütze, Robert (September 2011). "'Delegated' Legislation in the (new) European Union: A Constitutional Analysis". The Modern Law Review. 74 (5): 661–693. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2230.2011.00866.x. JSTOR41302774. S2CID219376667.
12Kaeding, Michael K.; Stack, Kevin M. (25 October 2016). "A dearth of legislative vetoes: Why the Council and Parliament have been reluctant to veto Commission legislation". Retrieved 15 June 2022.
12Constitutional Court of Benin (4 December 2008). "DCC08-171"(PDF) (in French). Archived from the original(PDF) on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
↑"KADAGA: Income Tax Amendment Bill is now law". The Independent. Uganda. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
↑Titriku, Agnes. "Interaction Between MPs and Civil Society Is Needed". In R. Stapenhurst; etal. (eds.). Anti-Corruption Evidence, Studies in Public Choice 34. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-14140-0_5. S2CID198750839.
↑Jackson, Michael. "Bastedo, Frank Lindsay (1886–1973)". Encyclopedia of Saskatachewan. Archived 24 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina.
↑ Raunio, Taupio; Sedelius, Thomas (2020). Semi-Presidential Policy-Making in Europe . p. 57. doi : 10.1007/978-3-030-16431-7 . ISBN978-3030164331. S2CID 198743002 .
↑Koff, Stephen P. (1982). "The Italian Presidency: Constitutional Role and Political Practice". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 12 (3): 341. JSTOR27547832.
↑The Local Italy (29 May 2018). "Here's how Italy's president explains his controversial veto". TheLocal.it. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
↑Fernandes, Jorge M.; Jalali, Carlos (2016). "A Resurgent Presidency? Portuguese Semi-Presidentialism and the 2016 Elections". South European Society and Politics. 22: 121–138. doi:10.1080/13608746.2016.1198094. S2CID156761976.
↑Santos Botelho, Catarina (2020). "COVID-19 and stress on fundamental rights in Portugal: An intermezzo between the state of exception and constitutional normality". Revista Catalana de Dret Públic (Número Especial): 188. doi:10.2436/rcdp.i0.2020.3553.
↑Lagassé, Philippe (April 2017). "Parliament and the War Prerogative in the United Kingdom and Canada: Explaining Variations in Institutional Change and Legislative Control". Parliamentary Affairs. 70 (2): 280–300. doi:10.1093/pa/gsw029.
↑Tsebelis, George; Ha, Eunyoung (2014). "Coalition theory: A veto players' approach". European Political Science Review. 6 (3): 331–357. doi:10.1017/S1755773913000106.
12McGann, Anthony J.; Latner, Michael (2013). "The Calculus of Consensus Democracy". Comparative Political Studies. 46 (7): 823–850. doi:10.1177/0010414012463883.