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Preferred term

checks and balances  

Definition

  • James Madison famously wrote in Federalist No. 10 that there are two ways to ward against the “dangerous vice” of political faction: “the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.” The first of these options would require either destroying the liberty that allows factions to grow, an outcome Madison said is worse than the factions themselves, or requiring all citizens to have the same opinions and interests, a virtual impossibility. [Source: The Encyclopedia of Political Science; Checks and Balances]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/checks_and_balances

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