From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishchecks and balanceschecks and balancesa system that makes it possible for some people or parts of an organization to control the others, so that no particular person or part has too much power or influence → check
Examples from the Corpus
checks and balances• Checks and balances required an alert and informed populace.• A triangle is an efficient system of emotional checks and balances, allowing chil-dren to work out complicated feelings without volatile outbursts.• Rugby has evolved as a game of checks and balances.• If the new telecommunications age brings unmediated democracy, what will happen to our carefully contrived constitutional system of checks and balances?• The presidential system offers checks and balances but does not ensure consistency between legislation and execution.• Swings and roundabouts, checks and balances: who'd be a research engineer?• The exchange's rules are subject to the general statutory checks and balances associated with commercial contracts.• They saw their first glimpse of the earth as a complex system with checks and balances, inputs and outputs. 