Checks and balances
The factual accuracy of this article is disputed.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 unconstitutional (in some countries, this 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 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" or "fourth estate" because of its influence on political processes.
See also: separation of powersPress