ABA Family Legal Guide

How the Legal System Works

The Structure of the Court System

Separation of Powers

What does it mean that we have a system of separation of powers?

Besides applying the law in individual cases, courts have an important role in the structure of American government. Just about any eighth grader can tell you that we have a system of separation of powers. But what does that mean exactly?

The framers of the Constitution created a federal government of divided power. There's an executive branch (the president and most government agencies), a legislative branch (Congress), and a judicial branch (the courts.) The same three branches exist in every state government.

We have this structure because the framers were deeply suspicious of unchecked executive power. They had just emerged from a revolution against a powerful king, and they wanted to ensure that the American people would never have to face a homegrown dictatorship.

Setting up three interdependent yet separate branches of government meant that there would be a balance of powers (each branch keeps an eye on the others) and a separation of powers (none can unduly influence the others, because there are some things only one branch is authorized to do.) Think of it as a three-legged stool. No one leg can stand on its own.