A system designed to protect individual rights against possible violation by government; part of the theory of balanced government in which powers are separated, a theory that can be traced back to ancient times.
The theory of checks and balances rests on a system of separation of powers or balanced government. Historians can trace government consisting of a separation of powers back to the ancient Greeks. Aristotle prescribed a system of “mixed government” composed of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The system of the ancient Romans relied on a “balance of interests” among the monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic parts of the government.
The American system achieves a balance of powers or functions among the three branches of government: the executive (the president), the legislative (the two houses of Congress), and the judicial (the Supreme Court). This system predates independence from England. It operated in several of the colonial provincial governments, including those of Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. During the period of the Articles of Confederation, Thomas Jefferson advocated a system of balanced government to avoid corruption, tyranny, and despotism.
The Americans, when drafting the U.S. Constitution, adopted these ideas from the eighteenth-century French philosopher Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), who wrote The Spirit of the Laws (1748). Montesquieu bequeathed to the American founding fathers the principle of separation of powers necessary for the system of checks and balances to function.
The founding fathers believed that to maintain a government that is free from tyranny and corruption, the government must have more than simple separation of powers. Thus, they prescribed a system of checks (each government branch watches the other two to restrain them from usurping power) and balances (power remains equally divided among the three government branches). The U.S. Constitution specifically delineates these checks and balances: The two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, legislate separately but require at least minimal cooperation of the other. Congress can pass a bill into law, but the president can veto it. The Congress and president can agree on passing a law, but the judiciary can declare it unconstitutional. The president is in charge of foreign and military policy, but the Senate must ratify the president’s treaties if they are to become law. Congress must agree to raise the funds to support the military. Under this system, each branch of government has its own authority to make decisions on specific issues; however, it often requires the consent of the other two branches.
The American system of a federal government further ensures the working of a system of checks and balances. State governments share power with the federal government; thus, neither has supreme power. The fact that the people directly elect politicians is another check on power.
