Checks and Balances- The Key Constitutional Principle

The most important of the four principles of the Constitution, in my opinion, is the system of Checks and Balances. It is a popularly held belief that power corrupts. I also hold this to be true. The goal of the Constitution was to take power away from one singular ruling body by splitting the government up into several branches. This split would be pointless without Checks and Balances. Without this system, each branch would try to gain as much power as possible. But, the other branches will keep each other at bay in their own desire for the most power, keeping the power evenly distributed for the most part. Secondly, we all know that people in power tend to get carried away. It is very likely that a politician may overstep his or her bounds. As the common man cannot be expected to know the exact parameters of each politician’s position. Thus, the system of Checks and Balances is set up for the government to regulate itself, in a way. Whenever a person holding a certain office bleeds his authority into an area other than his own, the “system” will automatically correct itself. Finally, the reason that this principle far surpasses the others in importance, is that this is the principle that keeps all the others running smoothly. This is the most basal form of regulation set up in our Constitution. The system of Checks and Balances ensures that our government is strong, but only when all of its branches are working together. If any one branch were to gain more power over another, the other constitutional principles would be negligible. Therefore, I believe the most important principle of the Constitution is the system of checks and balances because it is the glue that keeps our unique government from falling apart.