Listen Carefully

Read Aloud

The Constitution separates/ the government’s power/ into three branches/ to prevent/ one person/ or group/ from having too much power./ The separation/ of government/ into three branches creates/ a system/ of checks and balances./ This means that/ each branch can block,/ or threaten to block,/ the actions of the other branches./ Here are/ some examples:/ the Senate (part of the legislative branch) can block/ a treaty signed/ by the president (the executive branch)./ In this example,/ the legislative branch is “checking/” the executive./ The U.S. Supreme Court (the judicial branch) can reject/ a law passed by Congress (the legislative branch)./

In this example,/ the judicial branch is “checking/” the legislative branch./ This separation/ of powers limits/ the power of the government/ and prevents/ the government/ from violating the rights of the people./

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What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
Why does the Constitution separate the government’s power into three branches?
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* The reading text above is partially referred by USCIS Quick Civics Lessons “Learn About the United States” and only used for educational purposes.

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