While elites cooperate with each other, transacting in the political marketplace for their mutual benefit, they also compete with each other in other ways. They often have different policy agendas, but more significantly, they compete with each other for power. Those lower on the hierarchy of power work to displace those above them, and a division of power within government leads them to try to increase their scope of power, often by infringing on the power of other members of the elite. A system of checks and balances helps control the abuse of power by those who have it. The masses have little power, and the powerless cannot constrain the powerful even if the powerless far outnumber the powerful. The most effective way to constrain the abuse of power by the ruling class is to maintain institutions that facilitate competition among elites.