Government and politics concepts · AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP U.S. History
Checks and balances
Checks and balances: The constitutional powers each branch has to limit the actions of the other branches.
By the CollegePrepRoom editorial team · Updated · How we write and check these pages
What it means
Examples include the presidential veto, Congress's power to override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers, Senate confirmation of judges and executive officials, impeachment, judicial review, and Congress's control over funding.
Checks and balances make government slower and require cooperation, which the framers saw as a protection against abuse of power.
Example
The Senate must confirm a president's nominee to the Supreme Court, giving the legislative branch a check on the composition of the judiciary.
On the exam
Part C of concept application questions often asks how one branch could check another in a scenario.
Lessons and practice questions
Related terms
- Separation of powersThe division of government's legislative, executive and judicial functions among separate branches.
- Power of the purseCongress's constitutional power to tax and to control federal spending through appropriations.
- Judicial reviewThe power of courts to declare laws or government actions unconstitutional.
- Federalist No. 51James Madison's essay explaining how separation of powers and checks and balances protect liberty by making 'ambition counteract ambition.'