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Politics & Government vocabulary · Constitution, Courts and Rights

Checks and balances

Meaning in politics & government, with examples

phraseCommon term

In politics & government, checks and balances means: A system in which each branch of government can limit the powers of the others, so that no single person or institution can control everything.

In Turkish: denge ve denetim mekanizmaları, fren ve denge sistemi

How it is used

Used in constitutional law and political analysis, closely linked to the separation of powers. Examples include a president's veto, parliament's power to approve the budget and the courts' power to review laws. Commentators discuss whether checks and balances are strong, weak or working.

Example sentences

  1. Checks and balances prevent any one branch of government from becoming too powerful.

  2. The essay asks you to evaluate the checks and balances in a presidential system.

Common collocations

  • a system of checks and balances
  • strong checks and balances
  • constitutional checks and balances
  • separation of powersThe principle that the legislative, executive and judicial powers of the state should be held by separate bodies, so that no single body becomes too powerful.
  • vetoThe official right of a person or body to reject a law or decision; also the act of using this right to stop it.
  • judiciaryThe branch of the state made up of judges and courts, which interprets the law, settles disputes and decides whether laws and government actions are legal.
  • constitutional courtA high court whose main job is to decide whether laws and government actions are in line with the constitution, and to cancel those that are not.
  • accountabilityThe duty of people in power to explain their decisions and actions, accept responsibility for them and face consequences if they act wrongly.

More terms: Constitution, Courts and Rights

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