A veto is the power held by an executive, an upper chamber, or, in some international bodies, a single member state, to unilaterally block or reject a decision a legislative body has already approved, without needing to defeat it by ordinary vote. Its forms vary: an outright veto that a legislative supermajority can sometimes override, a pocket veto exercised through inaction, and a legislative veto by which a legislature reserves the power to disapprove an executive action after the fact. The mechanism dates at least to the Roman tribunes' power to block acts of the Senate, and survives today in institutions from national presidencies to the United Nations Security Council's permanent members.
Facts
Origin YearSourced to the subject's own accountThe Roman tribunate was created around 494 BC after the First Secession of the Plebs; its veto power (ius intercessionis) was acquired by 449 BC and matured further when plebiscites gained full legislative force in 287 BC. Founding ContextSourced to the subject's own accountTraces to the Roman tribunes of the plebs, whose office was created in 494 BC to give plebeians direct representation; the tribunes' power of intercessio (veto) over the acts of Roman magistrates was well established by 449 BC. 1 Connections
Associated With
China is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.
Source UNRV Roman History: Tribunes of the Plebs
France is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.
Source UNRV Roman History: Tribunes of the Plebs
Russia is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.
Source UNRV Roman History: Tribunes of the Plebs
The United Kingdom is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.
Source UNRV Roman History: Tribunes of the Plebs
The veto power held by the UN Security Council's five permanent members is the mechanism's best-known present-day international example.
The veto held by the Security Council's five permanent members is the paradigm modern instance of this mechanism.
Source United Nations (Wikipedia)
Practiced By
Sources
1. UNRV Roman History: Tribunes of the Plebs
UNRV Roman HistoryTribunes of the Plebs
By 449 BC, the powerful right of intercession was acquired (ius intercessionis, or to veto any act or proposal of any magistrate).
main body, second paragraph
By 449 BC, the powerful right of intercession was acquired (ius intercessionis...)
View the Source Veto (Britannica)
United Nations (Wikipedia)
Veto (Wikipedia)
Practiced By: Brazil, Article text
Brazil: The President of the Republic is entitled to veto, entirely or partially, any bill which passes both houses of the National Congress, exceptions made to constitutional amendments and congressional decrees.
In Group: Constitutional Checks on Executive and Legislative Power, Lead paragraph
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action.
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