checks and balances

noun

plural in form but sometimes singular in construction

: a system that allows each branch of a government to amend, override, or veto acts of another branch so as to prevent any one branch from exerting too much power or power beyond its authority

Things that for many decades were givens—the checks and balances on the executive, the role of the judiciary or the civil service, a media free from interference or vilification—now appear vulnerable.

—Emily Maitlis

"I do think that there is an expectation in our country that checks and balances is a good thing," [Senator John] Thune said …

—Stephen Groves

broadly : a system in which power and control is distributed and counterbalanced (as to prevent unethical or harmful actions)

Founders [of startup businesses] benefit from checks and balances. … It makes the company more trustworthy, easier to finance, and less likely to implode. For those same reasons, checks and balances help employees.

—Noam Wasserman

Examples of checks and balances in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Second, Trump has been able to subvert our system of checks and balances because so many, including congressional Republicans, fear his retribution. —Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2025

These are among the many essential checks and balances that are becoming bigger parts of the filmmaking process. —Chris C. Palmer, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2025

The Constitution, however, established the three separate branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) specifically to act as a system of checks and balances—with the courts, in particular, empowered to rule on the constitutionality of laws and presidential actions. —Chad De Guzman, TIME, 17 Feb. 2025

The operations, more broadly, point to another national security threat: shifting oversight away from lawmakers on Capitol Hill who should, in the American tradition of checks and balances, have the power of the purse. —Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1777, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for checks and balances

• counterbalances
• imbalances

Kids Definition

checks and balances

plural noun

: a system that allows each branch of a government to amend or veto acts of another branch so as to prevent any one branch from having too much power

Legal Definition

checks and balances

noun plural

checks and bal·​anc·​es

-ˈba-lən-səz

: the powers (as judicial review, the presidential veto, and the congressional override) conferred on each of the three branches of government by which each restrains the others from exerting too much power see also separation of powers