The U.S. Constitution separates government powers into three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches. The writers of the Constitution wanted to make sure that the government didn't get too powerful, so they made sure the power in government was balanced. Each branch of the government can check on the others to make sure they're following the rules and not getting too powerful. Throughout the United States' history, many people have challenged the balance of the government through impeachment trials, majority rule in the Legislative branch, and trials in the Supreme Court. Readers will be encouraged to think critically about whether or not the balance of power in U.S. government is truly balanced.

The system of checks balances between the branches of the U.S. government is written into the Constitution, but it isn't always clearly understood. How does each branch keep the others from getting too powerful? The answer is waiting for readers to discover in this inside guide to an essential civics concept. Through age-appropriate text, photographs, sidebars, and fact boxes, readers explore the meaning of checks and balances and how the system works. They're also encouraged to discuss ways it's been used in the past and the benefits and disadvantages of checks and balances.

Introduction -- Realism, balance-of-power theory, and the counterbalancing constraint -- Realism, balance-of-threat theory, and the "soft balancing" constraint -- Liberalism, globalization, and constraints derived from economic interdependence -- Institutionalism and the constraint of reputation -- Constructivism and the constraint of legitimacy -- A new agenda

The balance of power is one of the most influential ideas in international relations, yet it has never been comprehensively examined in pre-modern or non-European contexts. This book redresses this imbalance. The authors present eight new case studies of balancing and balancing failure in pre-modern and non-European international systems.

The U.S. Constitution separates government powers into three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches. The writers of the Constitution wanted to make sure that the government didn't get too powerful, so they made sure the power in government was balanced. Each branch of the government can check on the others to make sure they're following the rules and not getting too powerful. Throughout the United States' history, many people have challenged the balance of the government through impeachment trials, majority rule in the Legislative branch, and trials in the Supreme Court. Readers will be encouraged to think critically about whether or not the balance of power in U.S. government is truly balanced.