What principle in government ensures that powers are divided to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful?

The principle that ensures that powers are divided to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful is known as Separation of Powers. This concept, foundational to the United States Constitution, divides government responsibilities among three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Each branch has distinct powers and responsibilities, which helps to create a system of governance that minimizes the risk of tyranny and abuse of power by ensuring that no single branch can operate independently of the others.

Checks and Balances are related to this concept, as they describe the system through which each branch of government exercises oversight and control over the other branches, enabling each one to check the power of the others. However, the phrasing of the question specifically asks for the principle that divides powers, which is the Separation of Powers.

Judicial Review refers to the ability of the judicial branch to review the actions of the legislative and executive branches and determine their constitutionality, thus acting as a check on those branches, but it does not inherently involve the division of power.

Federalism describes the division of power between the national and state governments, which is another crucial aspect of governance but does not directly pertain to the internal separation of powers among the branches of the national government itself.