Checks and balances

The fact that for decades it was impossible to point to a Brussels government of the EU had an important but hitherto neglected consequence: no organized opposition could take shape. Oppositional forces could not be directed to an obvious forum, and so they found expression through other, uncontrollable sites.

For a governing party, the absence of a recognizable opposition – people who make your life a misery, sabotage your plans and aim to get you out of office as soon as possible – may sound attractive, but for a political system as a whole it is catastrophic. Political opposition fulfils vital functions. Here are four of them:

• 1. Balance. The presence of an opposition strengthens a political system’s “checks and balances”. It puts a brake on abuse of power by governments and civil servants, thereby enhancing the quality of governance and the rule of law. This works best when the opposition has a base in parliament, since from there it can make the executive aware of its potential supremacy. It is the existence of an opposition that gives Montesquieu’s separation of powers its full protective and dynamic effect.