What is the purpose of the system of checks and balances?

Checks and balances, principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power. Checks and balances are applied primarily in constitutional governments.

Explanation:

In government, the preceding system assures that no one branch of government becomes more powerful than the others.

Explanation:

The three branches of government include the executive, judiciary and legislative. The executive branch includes the president, the judiciary includes the Supreme Court and the legislative includes Congress. Power is limited in many ways, but an example of checks and balances with regard to the legislative branch includes the president's ability to veto a law that is passed by Congress. Similarly, the judicial branch, or the Supreme Court, may deem a law that is passed by Congress to be unconstitutional. While the president appoints members to the Supreme Court, the appointments have to be approved by Congress.

There are many roles of each branch of government, but every function of each role is designed so that it is checked over by another branch of government. For example, while the judiciary branch can proclaim interpretations of laws by Congress, they cannot change them.