What constitutional principle distributes power by dividing government roles among legislative, executive, and judicial branches?

What constitutional principle distributes power by dividing government roles among legislative, executive, and judicial branches?

• A. Confederalism
• B. Unitarianism
• C. Separation of powers
• D. Federalism

Answer: (C)

Separating government powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches means organizing the government so that each branch has its own distinct job and can limit the others. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive enforces them, and the judiciary interprets them. This arrangement helps prevent the concentration of power and creates checks and balances: one branch can restrict or review the actions of the others. The other terms describe how power is distributed geographically or across levels of government rather than how it is distributed among the branches. Confederalism centers power in subnational units, unitarianism concentrates authority in a central government, and federalism splits power between national and regional governments, not among three branches.

Separating government powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches means organizing the government so that each branch has its own distinct job and can limit the others. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive enforces them, and the judiciary interprets them. This arrangement helps prevent the concentration of power and creates checks and balances: one branch can restrict or review the actions of the others. The other terms describe how power is distributed geographically or across levels of government rather than how it is distributed among the branches. Confederalism centers power in subnational units, unitarianism concentrates authority in a central government, and federalism splits power between national and regional governments, not among three branches.