Question

Explain the term ‘Balance of Power’.

Answer 1

Concept:

• The term appears in the source as the result of dividing power horizontally among the organs of government.
• Explaining it means saying both what is balanced and what that balance prevents.

Step 1: Identify what is being balanced.
Power is shared among the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, which are three organs placed at the same level, each exercising different powers.

Step 2: Identify what the balance achieves.
The source states that such a separation ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power, because each organ checks the others.

Step 3: State the meaning in one sentence.
Balance of power therefore means a situation in which no single organ of government is stronger than the others, since each is able to restrain the rest.

Final Answer: Balance of power means the arrangement in which the legislature, the executive and the judiciary each hold different powers and check one another, so that no single organ of government can exercise unlimited power.

Answer 2

Concept:

• An independent judiciary is one that can decide a case without being controlled by the government whose actions it may have to judge.
• The source makes this point by contrasting how judges are appointed with what they are able to do afterwards.

Step 1: Note the apparent difficulty.
Judges are appointed by the executive. At first sight this might suggest that they would be reluctant to rule against the government that appointed them.

Step 2: Note what the source says they can still do.
Although judges are appointed by the executive, they can check the functioning of the executive or of laws made by the legislatures. Their power to decide is not limited by who appointed them.

Step 3: State why this makes them independent.
Once appointed, judges decide cases on the basis of the Constitution and the law alone. They cannot be removed easily, and their decisions are binding on the government itself.

Final Answer: The judiciary is considered independent because, even though judges are appointed by the executive, they can examine and strike down the actions of the executive and the laws passed by the legislature, deciding cases on the law alone and not on the wishes of whoever appointed them.

Answer 3

Concept:

• This is the form of power sharing that the source calls horizontal distribution of power, because it operates among organs placed at the same level.
• The sharing has two parts, a separation of functions and a mutual check.

Step 1: Power is divided among three organs.
It is shared among the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Each of these exercises different powers, and none of them is placed above the others.

Step 2: This is called horizontal distribution.
The source calls it horizontal because the organs sit at the same level rather than one above another, and each carries out a separate function of government.

Step 3: Each organ checks the other two.
Ministers and government officials exercise power but are responsible to the Parliament or the State Assemblies. Judges are appointed by the executive, yet they can check the functioning of the executive or the laws made by the legislatures.

Step 4: The purpose and the name of the arrangement.
Such a separation ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power, and the result is a balance of power among the various institutions. This arrangement is called a system of checks and balances.

Final Answer: Power is shared horizontally among the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, each with different powers at the same level. Ministers answer to the legislature and judges can review the acts of both, so no organ holds unlimited power. This is the system of checks and balances.