In order to create a strong government which doesn’t abuse its influence on its people, the systems of ‘Separation of Powers’ and Checks and Balances’ were created. The purpose of these system, as stated in the blog The American Political System, “2/20 The Constitution and the Federalist” Pt.1, These two principles were designed above all else to prevent tyranny, even at the expense of effective government." To clarify, the goal of these two systems were to keep a sole power from controlling a country. And although the systems do have their downfalls, like gridlocks, it is the price required to avoid tyranny.

The separation of power divides a government's responsibilities into three branches, which keeps all powers from being under one person or party. Although this undeniably denies the complete tyranny of a country, without Check and Balances it would fail. Checks and Balances allows each branch to hold some power over the other, preventing one branch from overshadowing the other two. With both systems a party cannot take full control of the country because they will always have opposition with the power to ‘check’ them.

Nonetheless the system isn’t perfect. With branches being able to check each other it can also halt effective decision making. One example the article uses is the republicans opposition of the Obama administration. The republicans have attempted to stall or destroy most of President Obama’s plans, like the Affordable Care Act. Regardless of whether one supports or opposes Obama’s act isn’t the problem. The issue is that no action was being taken because there were too much of the legislative branch using its power over the executive branch. The systems aren’t perfect but they do succeed in impeding tyranny.