Part I: The Checks and Balances, Separation of Powers and Self Government Matrix
Figure 1: Adapted from Patterson (2012, p. 40). The separation of powers derives from the need to limit the government’s power by creating separate institutions that share power with no single power being able to exercise decisive power without the approval or support by the rest of the institutions.
The people of the United States have the power of self-government, expressed in the constitution ensured through the provision for individual liberties. The people have the original power including the power to change the constitution, which subsequently gives and governs the exercise of power. However, in order to ...
