Hamilton: America's system of checks and balances needs attention Lee Hamilton

Columnist

Checks and balances are essential to our representative democracy. Under our system of government, the legislative, executive and judicial branches provide balance and prevent each other from growing too powerful. The American people have supported this arrangement.

My concern is that the checks and balances have eroded. The system is under strain, and this feature of our government requires more attention than it gets.

The battle is not lost, we still have three branches of government. Congress and the courts sometimes rise to the occasion and limit what the executive branch can do. But the growing power of the presidency has become a real problem. It’s time to raise an alarm flag about the direction in which our country is going.

America’s founders were learned men who thou