Explain how the separation of powers is maintained through checks and balances.

As the Framers drafted a new Constitution that addressed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, they were well aware of the challenge they faced in attempting to establish enough order to secure the liberties of the people. James Madison, in what has become one of the most famous statements in the Federalist Papers, explained the crux of the problem:

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. (Federalist No. 51)

This need for “auxiliary precautions” became an important factor in the framing of the Constitution. The separation of powers and checks and balances are the kinds of precautions Madison had in mind. In Federalist No. 47, Madison explained why separating powers was so important in controlling the government:

The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. Were the federal Constitution, therefore, really chargeable with the accumulation of power, or with a mixture of powers, having a dangerous tendency to such an accumulation, no further arguments would be necessary to inspire a universal reprobation of the system.

Given their fear of consolidation of governmental powers at the national level, the Framers established three distinct branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. Their experience with Britain had taught them that when one individual or group of individuals could gain control or undue influence over these separate functions, there could be no guarantee that the rights and liberties of citizens would be protected.

While separating the three powers of government into distinct branches was clearly important to the Framers, they did not favor an absolute or pure separation of these powers. Some people argued that the powers of the new government would not be separate enough, but Madison referred to several state constitutions of his day to show that “pure separations” were impractical. For the separation of powers to work in practice, each branch must be able to “check and balance” the other.