... the Senate and the White House). The vertical separation of powers is where power is divided between the central government and the national government. Political constitutions are incomplete contracts and therefore leave scope for abuse of power. In democracies, elections are the primary mechanism for disciplining public officials, but they are not sufficient. Separation of powers between executive and legislative bodies also helps to prevent the abuse of power, but only with appropriate checks and balances. Checks and balances work by creating a conflict of interests between the executive and the legislature, yet requiring both bodies to agree on public policy. In this way, the two bodies discipline each other at the voter's advantage. Under appropriate checks and balances, separation of powers also helps voters to elicit information. In the UK system, as in many jurisdictions, this corresponds to a separation between the executive (Prime Minister and other ministers of the Crown), ...

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