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In politics, the principle of checks and balances underlies
many democratic governments. The term was coined by Montesquieu during
the Enlightenment. The principle is an outgrowth of the classical
idea of separation of powers. The first national system of
checks and balances was outlined by the United
States Constitution in 1789.
A government is said to have an effective system of checks and balances if no one branch of government holds total power, and
can be overridden by another.
The system of checks and balances has two components. The right to check and the means to actively balance
out imbalances. Checking requires access to information and the right to question. Balancing requires a mechanism of control to
prevent the branches from overstepping their constitutional limits of power. Difficulties arise in states where the branches can
block each other to the extent of bringing the whole government to a standstill.
In most nations with a three-branch
government, the process of checks and balances works in a manner similar to this:
- The executive branch executes the laws and policies of the
country. It constructs buildings, gives orders to the police and military, collects taxes, and basically sees that the laws of
the land are enforced. In many countries the executive, either a prime
minister or a president, can also appoint judges and cabinet members, and can pardon citizens. While against the principles of strict separation, in some
countries the executive might also approve the bills of the legislature into law, and in some nations also retains the right of
veto or suspension.
- The main task of the legislative branch is to write the
laws of the country (legislation). In democracies, commonly the legislative
branch is the branch that is voted into power. Often it also has the authority to impeach members of the executive or judicial branch from office or force elections. It also confirms or denies
executive and judicial appointees and can override vetos. In many countries, members of the executive (including the cabinet) are
also selected directly from the legislature.
- The judiciary's primary function is to check if the laws
passed by the legislative branch are actually being obeyed properly, which hopefully leads to justice. The judiciary can also throw out laws it deems illegal or unconstitutional (in some countries, this latter function is reserved for the highest courts only). In
some countries, the judiciary is consulted before a law is passed, to prevent laws from being thrown out in the first place.
Members of the judiciary are often (in principle) appointed for fixed periods or even for life, to prevent bias.
In this way the different powers of government are isolated from each other so that no branch has total power over all the
functions of government. An attack on or abuse of power by individuals of a single branch will not lead to tyranny or the fall of the entire
government.
Press
In democratic states, some amount of checking is frequently done by an independent press. Because of
its ability to research independently of government interests, bring issues to public awareness and thus influence voters'
perception, it plays an important role in the system of checks and balances. Many imbalances of power have only been addressed by
the branches of government after a "scandal" was discovered by the press. Although
the press is not a branch of power in the constitutional sense, it is sometimes referred to as the "fourth branch of power"
because of its influence on political processes.
See also: distrust, separation of powers
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