APGov Name___________________________
Unit 1, Lesson 5 SR Date__________________ Per.______
CHECKS, BALANCES, & THE SEPARATION OF POWERS
SWKT: The powers allocated to Congress, the president, and the courts demonstrate the separation of
powers and checks and balances features of the U.S. Constitution.
After their experiences with King George III, the Framers of the U.S. Constitution created a system of checks
and balances to limit the power of the federal government. The system of checks and balances was designed so
that no branch of the federal government—legislative, executive, or judicial—is totally independent from the
other two. Each branch has the power to "check" or curb the other branches' powers. This keeps the
government in "balance."
The concept of checks and balances dates back to the Greeks. Aristotle favored a "mixed" government made up
of the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the people. The purpose was to ensure that government power would not
be used in an abusive manner.
Another way to look at checks and balances is to think of the federal government's powers being separated into
three sections. The French philosopher Baron de Montesquieu advocated the separation of powers in the mid-
18th century. He believed that distributing government power to many different branches and layers of
government helped to prevent tyranny. Montesquieu's
The Spirit of Laws
(1748) served as the blueprint for the
three-part system of executive, legislative, and judicial powers adopted by the Framers in 1787.
The Framers of the U.S. Constitution didn't trust government and were determined to limit the power of the
new national government. They didn't want to create a government in the United States that could behave like
the monarchy they had just broken from. The first way to check the national government's powers was to give
powers to states. The Framers then separated the national government into three branches: the legislative
branch, responsible for making the law; the executive branch, responsible for carrying out the law; and the
judicial branch, comprised of the courts.
The Legislative Branch
The legislative branch, composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate, has enormous power over
the executive branch. One of Congress's key powers is the power of the purse: Congress oversees all matters
related to spending and revenue. Because the federal budget must originate in the House of Representatives
and be passed by both the House and the Senate, any programs that the president wishes to enact must be
backed by Congress.
In addition, while the president is commander in chief of the U.S. military, it is Congress that must declare war.
This is meant to limit the president's power to engage in military actions.
Congress can also refuse to approve an international treaty that the president has worked out with a foreign
nation and refuse to approve a president's nomination to the federal courts. Such was the case in 1987, when
President Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork for the U.S. Supreme Court. Bork's nomination was rejected by
the Senate because of his conservative positions.
If the president vetoes a bill, the legislative branch has the power to overrule the veto with a two-thirds vote
from both chambers. This legislative power was repeatedly exercised during the administration of Andrew
Johnson. Johnson sought a lenient attitude toward the South after the Civil War, so he vetoed 29 bills. Johnson
was overruled 15 times by a Congress that favored a more aggressive approach toward the South.
Congress also has power over the judicial branch. The legislative branch establishes the lower courts, and it has
the authority to nullify judicial decisions by proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution. For example, after
the Supreme Court overturned a tax on personal and corporate income in
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
(1895), Congress approved the Sixteenth Amendment, allowing the federal government to levy unapportioned
