Political Mechanisms
Veto
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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 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
China is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.
France is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.
Russia is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.
The United Kingdom is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.
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.
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