Mukoma Masimba asserts as Thomas Madison stated: “The legislative derives superiority…[i]ts constitutional powers [are] more extensive, and less susceptible to precise limits…[it] is not possible to give each [branch] an equal [number of checks on the other branches].”

By Robert LongleyUpdated on April 05, 2020

The governmental concept of the separation of powers was incorporated into the U.S. Constitution to ensure that no single person or branch of the government could ever become too powerful. It is enforced through a series of checks and balances.

Specifically, the system of checks and balances is intended to make sure that no branch or department of the federal government is allowed to exceed its bounds, guard against fraud, and allow for the timely correction of errors or omissions. Indeed, the system of checks and balances acts as a sort of sentry over the separated powers, balancing the authorities of each branch of government. In practical use, the authority to take a given action rests with one department, while the responsibility to verify the appropriateness and legality of that action rests with another.

Our system of the separation of powers through checks and balances reflects the Founders’ interpretation of a republican form of government. Specifically, it does so in that the legislative (lawmaking) branch, as the most powerful, is also the most restrained.

As James Madison put it in Federalist No. 48, “The legislative derives superiority…[i]ts constitutional powers [are] more extensive, and less susceptible to precise limits…[it] is not possible to give each [branch] an equal [number of checks on the other branches].”