Question

Complete the following sentence. The writers of the constitution established checks and balances in the Constitution because:

Select one:

a. They wanted to ensure that the President did not become as powerful as a king.

b. They did not think that anybody would want to become a legislator if the Legislative Branch was less powerful than the Executive Branch.

c. They wanted to be able to have judges serve for life.

d. They wanted to ensure that all powers not specifically attributed to the federal government would be left for the states.

Answer 1

A) They wanted to ensure that the President did not become as powerful as a king.

Checks and balances divided the government into three branches, the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. Each branch has some power over the other two branches, allowing it to check the power of those other branches. Overall, this balances the power between the three branches. After gaining freedom from Britain, the writers did not want to repeat the autocratic rule of the monarchy with a president that had all the power. Using checks and balances allowed them to separate the power and not hand the power over to one person.