What Are Checks and Balances?

Checks and balances are various procedures set in place to reduce mistakes, prevent improper behavior, or decrease the risk of centralization of power. Checks and balances usually ensure that no one person or department has absolute control over decisions, clearly define the assigned duties, and force cooperation in completing tasks. The term is most commonly used in the context of government but also refers to limiting power in businesses and organizations.

How Checks and Balances Work

The U.S. government exercises checks and balances through its three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. It operates as a constitutionally limited government and is bound to the principles and actions that are authorized by the federal—and corresponding state—constitution.

Checks and balances are important in businesses and other organizations where one individual can make decisions that affect operations. Checks and balances can cost more money and decrease efficiency but can be critical in helping to identify internal and external theft.

By separating the duties of various employees into clearly defined roles, businesses and organizations are better able to ensure that rogue employees or executives cannot harm a business without the intervention of other employees. Having these types of internal controls in a business can help improve operational efficiency in some situations. While it may seem that adding these checks on power can hurt efficiency, it is possible that they boost efficiency. For example, if one executive has too much power and is taking on too much responsibilities, forcing delegation can make things run smoother and quicker.

Internal control systems of publicly listed businesses in the U.S. use checks and balances. This is a requirement of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. The directors of such businesses have a legal obligation to ensure a proper system of internal control that includes checks and balances.

Checks and Balances in the United Nations

The United Nations has six internal institutions: the International Court of Justice, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the UN Secretariat, and the Security Council.

Each of these institutions has different responsibilities, such as maintaining international peace, policy review and recommendations on economic, social, and environmental issues, and an international court.

The individuals working in these bodies and the bodies themselves cannot influence each other. Given that the UN has a wide global influence, impacting most nations around the world, it's critical that different directives are handled by different groups so as to avoid a concentration of power.

Example of Checks and Balances

The U.S. Constitution provides checks and balances for the U.S. government through the separation of powers between its three branches: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. The Constitution gives specific abilities to each one of these three branches to ensure that no one section of the government could obtain excessive unchecked power.

Checks and balances are practiced by the U.S. government in the following ways. First, the legislative branch is the part of the government that makes laws, but the executive branch gives veto power to the president, allowing the president to keep the legislative branch in check. In addition, the judicial branch, the part of the government that interprets the laws put into effect by the legislative branch, can deem certain laws unconstitutional making them void.

Moreover, while the president has veto power, the legislative branch can overturn a president's veto with a two-thirds "supermajority" vote by both houses of Congress. This ensures that the president cannot use his power for personal gain. The executive branch can also issue executive orders, ordering how certain laws should be enforced or ordering that the government take certain actions, but the judicial branch can deem these orders to be unconstitutional.

Executive Orders

Executive orders are issued to help govern the country, implement policy, enforce laws, and run the government. Historically, only a small minority have been deemed unconstitutional as the president is not likely to issue one that is obviously unconstitutional. However, there have been some significant instances of unconstitutional executive orders in America's history. They are enacted solely by the president as head of the executive branch of government.

Still, executive orders can be reversed by subsequent administrations. For example, when President Joe Biden first took office in January of 2021, he signed one of his first executive orders, #13986 entitled, Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census. This order effectively reversed policies set forth by a prior executive order enacted by President Donald Trump that would have excluded non-citizens from the U.S. Census count.

The Bottom Line

Without checks and balances, one branch of government can grow too powerful and problematic. In the U.S., three branches of the federal government effectively have a set of checks and balances: the legislative branch as Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate), the Supreme Court and lower courts as the judicial branch, and the president, his cabinet, and all federal departments and agencies as the executive branch. Other world governments and international bodies like the United Nations also have checks and balances in place.