Political Mechanisms
Impeachment
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A formal process by which a legislature accuses a public official of serious wrongdoing and may remove that official from office, distinct from ordinary criminal prosecution because it is a political and constitutional remedy carried out by elected representatives rather than a court. The mechanism originated in the medieval English Parliament, first used in 1376 during the Good Parliament against royal officials accused of corruption, and was carried into the United States Constitution of 1787, which gives the House of Representatives the sole power to impeach and the Senate the sole power to try the resulting charges, requiring a two-thirds vote to convict and remove. Officials impeached under the United States Constitution include federal judges, cabinet officers and three presidents, though only judges have ever actually been removed from office by conviction in the Senate.
Facts
Origin YearThe first recorded impeachment in the English Parliament, during the Good Parliament, against royal ministers accused of corruption. The mechanism's adoption into the United States Constitution came more than four centuries later, in 1787, recorded separately as a related historical connection rather than as a second origin date. Founding ContextOriginated in the medieval English Parliament as a procedure for holding the monarch's ministers to account, and was carried into the United States Constitution of 1787 as a check on the president, vice president and civil officers, requiring impeachment by the House of Representatives and trial by the Senate. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Impeachment originated in the 14th-century English Parliament, first used against William, 4th Baron Latimer, in the Good Parliament of 1376.
Sources
1. Impeachment (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaQuote
The Good Parliament of 1376 produced the first recognized cases of impeachment, the most important being that of William, 4th Baron Latimer, who had been closely associated with the government of Edward III.
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