Checks & Balances

Quiz Retake: If you want to retake the Amendments quiz, please fill out this form and complete the review worksheet. Must be completed BEFORE next Wednesday.

Homework due Wednesday: Complete the Checks & Balances worksheet (make a copy).

Homework due Thursday: Read and answer the questions from this Annotated Brutus I 

QUIZ on FRIDAY: Constitutional Principles Quiz

CONSTITUTION TEST next Wednesday: Constitution Test Review Sheet (must pass to graduate!)

Unit 1 Identification Terms--you should be done with the first section and working on the second section (Constitution)

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Learning Objective:

PMI-1.A: Explain the constitutional principles of separation of powers and checks and balances.

PMI-1.B: Explain the implications of separation of powers and checks and balances for the U.S. political system.

PMI-1.A.1: 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.

Checks & Balances

“The Constitutional Convention of 1787 is supposed to have created a government of ‘separated powers.’ It did nothing of the sort. Rather, it created a government of separated institutions sharing powers.” -Richard Neudstadt

In addition to separation of powers, the Framers crafted a government of limited powers by creating a system of checks and balances to ensure that each branch had some control over the others and that no one branch could ever have complete control.  Here are a few websites that explain checks and balances along with a few examples.

Social Studies Help Center: How does our system of checks and balances help limit power?

US Constitution Online: Constitutional Topic--Checks & Balances

American System of Checks & Balances

Checks and Balances: Internal Constraints on Government Power

The charts and videos below help illustrate how the system works with specific checks.

Videos for Review: