It should not be surprising that British political systems influenced American ones, especially in the early part of the country's history when founders of the United States were figuring out how to run a country.

At the very beginning of the United States, most of the founders had only experienced the English version of government. That is, a monarchy with the king at its head and a parliament to help guide and manage the king's actions. The English Parliament had, in the past, taken action to stop or even depose an unsuitable king. However, technically the king was still the political leader of the country.

When designing the three branches of American government, the founders must have had this idea already in mind. Thus, it made sense to them that the three branches of government would inform and control one another. The Executive Branch (the president and his cabinet) enforces laws, which are made by the Legislative Branch (Congress and the House of Representatives), and in turn those laws are interpreted by the Judicial Branch (Supreme Court) to ensure that they are legal.

This system of checks and balances, in which each branch has only part of the power, was a result of the bad experiences early Americans had with the British monarchy government. Also, having a written Constitution, which did not exist in England, was an important part of claiming their independence and separation from the English system of government.