checks and balances

English

Noun

checks and balances pl (plural only)

1. (politics) A system for multiple branches of government wherein each has some control over the actions of each of the others.
   • 1971, Lyndon Johnson, “Bite the Bullet”, in The Vantage Point‎^[1], Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 438:

     The Constitution deliberately makes the President and the Congress competitors as well as partners. The Founding Fathers created an elaborate system of checks and balances to keep each partner self-reliant while still assuring their interdependence. No brief account can fully capture the complexity of this relationship, in which each partner contributes his own share of stubbornness, pride, hostility, warmth, suspicion, skill, and affection.

2. (figurative) Somebody or something that ensures a system remains safe, honest, etc.

Translations

system for balancing the powers between branches of government

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 政府機關彼此之間的相互制衡／政府机关彼此之间的相互制衡 (zhèngfǔ jīguān bǐcǐ zhījiān de xiānghù zhìhéng), 權力制衡／权力制衡 (quánlì zhìhéng), 制衡原則／制衡原则 (zhìhéng yuánzé)

• Finnish: vallan tasapainotus
• French: poids et contrepoids m pl
• Galician: pesos e contrapesos m pl
• Georgian: კონტროლისა და ბალანსის მექანიზმი (ḳonṭrolisa da balansis mekanizmi), დემოკრატიული კონტროლი და ბალანსი (demoḳraṭiuli ḳonṭroli da balansi), კონტროლი და ბალანსი (ḳonṭroli da balansi)
• German: gegenseitige Kontrolle f, Gewaltenteilung (de) f, Gewaltentrennung (de) f (Switzerland, Austria)
• Indonesian: periksa dan timbang
• Lithuanian: stabdžių ir atsvarų sistema, stabdžių ir atsvarų mechanizmas
• Polish: mechanizm kontroli i równowagi m
• Russian: систе́ма сде́ржек и противове́сов (ru) f (sistéma sdéržek i protivovésov)
• Ukrainian: система стримувань і противаг (systema strymuvanʹ i protyvah)

Verb

checks and balances

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of check and balance