checks and balances

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, 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.

checks and balances

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