Each of the two houses of Congress has the power of absolute veto over legislation favored by the other house. The consent of a majority in each chamber is required for passage of a legislative bill by Congress. This makes the system of checks and balances a system in which four major governmental entities check and restrain one another. In the U.S. national government, there are four principal governmental organs, or institutions – the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Presidency, and the federal courts – checking and restraining each other.
Operation of the principles of checks and balances and strict legislative bicameralism result in a fundamental political situation where four different and largely independent governmental entities are interdependent. The four principal organs of the national government are mutually dependent, i.e., dependent upon one another. Each of these major institutions of the central government, for effectiveness and success in the performance of its primary functions, is dependent upon the consent, cooperation, and support of the other governmental institutions.
6. Balanced Government:
Balanced government is the consequence of combining separation of powers, checks and balances, and strict legislative bicameralism. One very important way in which the U.S. Constitution limits the authority of the national government is by dividing and distributing its powers among several separate and largely independent governmental organs. These governmental institutions reflect varying and competing interests and therefore have strong incentives to counteract and check one another. In counteracting and checking each other, the principal organs of government maintain an equilibrium, or balance, of power in the government and prevent any single faction or interest from dominating the entire government and all of its parts.
