What principle holds that the main powers of government should be divided among branches so that no one person or group can gain too much control?

• A. Checks and Balances
• B. Separation of Powers
• C. Federalism
• D. Popular Sovereignty

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is Separation of Powers: distributing the main functions of government into distinct branches—typically legislative, executive, and judicial—so that no single person or group can accumulate too much authority. By assigning different powers to separate branches, government operations require cooperation and prevent tyranny, since each branch can limit or check the others. This framework is reinforced by checks and balances, where each branch has tools to restrain the others, but the core principle is about dividing power itself. The other terms describe related ideas but different arrangements: federalism concerns power sharing between national and state governments, and popular sovereignty holds that political authority ultimately rests with the people.