Separation of Powers
In the United States, there is an extremely effective way to prevent tyranny. It is called the separation of powers in which government is divided into the three following branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. This separation act alone helps prevent tyranny and lets each branch have their own job, unlike our government in which everything is controlled solely by the King. Each branch is equal in power. No one branch has the power to overcome any other.
If we had this, it would not only prevent the king from having too much power--if, in the end, we still decide to keep him--but it would also limit the aristocrats' and the two higher Estates from gaining power over us as well!
If we had this, it would not only prevent the king from having too much power--if, in the end, we still decide to keep him--but it would also limit the aristocrats' and the two higher Estates from gaining power over us as well!
Checks and Balances
By examining this deeper, we can see that each branch has its own duties, and the duties to restrict the other two if it comes to it. The system of checks and balances ties in greatly with the separation of powers and is simply a system in which the aforementioned three branches of government "check" and regulate one another. By examining this deeper, we can see that each branch has its own duties, and the duties to restrict the other two if it comes to it. Simply put, any one branch of government has the power to regulate the other two. Essentially, none of the three branches can gain too much power. As seen above, the executive branch has the powers to appoint judges and pardon power for the judicial branch as well as veto bills or laws for the legislative branch. However, the legislative branch has the power to impeach the president of the executive branch and override vetoes if its house of representatives has, at the very least, a 2/3 vote. The judicial branch can declare the president's (executive branch) acts unconstitutional and declare that laws are unconstitutional (legislative), and in turn, only the legislative branch can approve the federal judges that the Court (judicial) has.