The origin of Separation of Power

Separation of power or “trias politica” is a political principle that stemmed from the writing of 18^th century French  political philosopher Charles de Montesquieu. Under his principals, Montesquieu theorizes a political system that was divided into three branches. He divided the government system into the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch. He believed that dividing the government’s responsibilities into three distinctive branches was the most effective way to promote liberty. In his book The spirit of the Laws 1748, Montesquieu writes that “political liberty does not consist in an unlimited freedom, however liberty can consist only in the power of doing what we ought to will, and in not being constrained to do what we ought not to will” (Montesquieu 1748). In his model, Montesquieu aimed for total political liberty. However, he stresses that political liberty is only possible where there no abuse of power.

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. Were the federal Constitution, therefore, really chargeable with the accumulation of power, or with a mixture of powers, having a dangerous tendency to such an accumulation, no further arguments would be necessary to inspire a universal reprobation of the system” (James Madison, Federalist No 47).

The founding fathers sought Montesquieu’s model when writing the constitution. The concept of separation of power and checks and balance keen from the mistreatment of the English monarchy toward the colonies. Thus, the constitution framers thought it was necessary to restrain power from being concentrated in one branch of the government; this was partly due to their fear of a centralized government. The founding fathers required a balance that would keep each branch from exceeding the other. Originally, the issue of separation of power was not relevant in the articles because power was mostly  held in state government. Though, with the separation of power and checks and balance system, power could be limited.

Separation of power and checks and balance defines the American government system. In ensuring the effectiveness of separation of power, the legislative, the executive and Judicial branch were created. Each branch having its own responsibility, while the other two can encroach on how much it can and cannot do. Article 1 of the constitution states that the legislative branch should consist of a Senate and House of Representative. Article II grants the executive power to the president and lastly, Article III the judicial power is bestowed in the Supreme Court.

The framers did not produce a pure separation of power as suggested by Montesquieu. The articles go into great details in describing the role of each the branch. However, one of the criticism that the framers face is the absent of an explicit assertion that powers would purely be separated. In Fact, there is nowhere in the constitution that states the three branches would act exclusively on their own.

The separation of power system has worked efficiently since the founding of this nation. In later post, I will examine the doctrine of separation of power in American history. Through case studies, I will demonstrate how government’s responsibility has over lapped to come to a mutual understanding. Furthermore, I will examine the efficiency of this system in regards to the problem America faces today domestically and internationally.