The separation of state powers

The separation of powers is an approach to governing a state. Under it, a state's

government is divided into branches, each with separate, independent powers and
responsibilities so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other
branches. The typical division is into three branches: a legislature, an executive, and a
judiciary, which is the trias politica model. It can be contrasted with the fusion of powers in
parliamentary and semi-presidential systems, where the executive and legislative branches
overlap. The intention behind a system of separated powers is to prevent the concentration of
power by providing for checks and balances.

Aristotle first mentioned the idea of a "mixed government" or hybrid government in

his work Politics, where he drew upon many of the constitutional forms in the city-states of
Ancient Greece. In the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate, Consuls and the Assemblies
showed an example of a mixed government.

John Calvin (1509–1564) favoured a system of government that divided political power
between democracy and aristocracy (mixed government). Calvin appreciated the advantages
of democracy, stating: "It is an invaluable gift if God allows a people to elect its own
government and magistrates." In order to reduce the danger of misuse of political power,
Calvin suggested setting up several political institutions that should complement and control
each other in a system of checks and balances.

Checks and balances

The principle of checks and balances is that each branch has power to limit or check
the other two, which creates a balance between the three separate branches of the state. This
principle induces one branch to prevent either of the other branches from becoming supreme,
thereby securing political liberty.

Checks and balances are designed to maintain the system of separation of powers
keeping each branch in its place. The idea is that it is not enough to separate the powers and
guarantee their independence but the branches need to have the constitutional means to
defend their own legitimate powers from the encroachments (uzurpare) of the other
branches. They guarantee that the branches have the same level of power (co-equal), that is,
are balanced, so that they can limit each other, avoiding the abuse of power.

Legislature
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political
entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments; in the
separation of powers model, they are often contrasted with the executive and judicial
branches of government. Laws enacted (promulgate) by legislatures are usually known as
primary legislation. In addition, legislatures may observe and steer ( a dirija) governing actions,
with authority to amend (a modifica) the budget involved.

The members of a legislature are called legislators. In a democracy, legislators are

most commonly popularly elected, although indirect election and appointment by the
executive are also used, particularly for bicameral legislatures.

The name used to refer to a legislative body varies by country. Common names
include:

 Assembly (from to assemble)

 Congress (from to congregate)
 Diet (from old German 'people')
 Duma (from Russian dúma 'thought')
 Estates or States (from old French 'condition' or 'status')
 Parliament (from French parler 'to speak')

Though the specific rules for each legislature differ by location, they all aim to serve
the same purpose of appointing officials to represent their citizens to determine appropriate
legislation for the country.

Democratic legislatures have six major functions: representation, deliberation,

legislation, authorizing expenditure, making governments, and oversight.

Representation. There exist five ways that representation can be achieved in a

legislature:

 Formalistically: how the rules of the legislature ensure representation of constituents;

 Symbolically: how the constituents perceive their representatives;
 Descriptively: how well the composition of the legislature matches the demographics
of the wider society;
 Substantively: how well representatives actually respond to the needs of their
constituents;
 Collectively: how well the representatives represent the interests of the society as a
whole.

Deliberation. One of the major functions of a legislature is to discuss and debate issues
of major importance to society. This can take place in two forms. In debating legislatures, like
Parliament of the United Kingdom, there is lively debate on the floor of the legislature.
Contrastingly, in committee-based legislatures like the United States Congress, the deliberation
takes place in closed committees.

Legislation. While legislatures have nominally the sole power to create laws, the
substantive extent of this power depends on details of the political system. In Westminster-
style legislatures the executive (composed of the cabinet) can essentially pass any laws it
wants, as it usually has a majority of legislators behind it, while committee-based legislatures
in continental Europe and those in presidential systems of the Americas have more
independence in drafting and amending bills.
 Authorizing expenditure. For this power to be actually effective, the legislature should
be able to amend the budget, have an effective committee system, enough time for
consideration, as well as access to relevant background information.

Making governments

The power of the legislature over the government is stronger

Oversight

There are several ways in which the legislature can hold the government accountable,
including questioning, interpellations, and votes of confidence.

Members.
Legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on
proposed laws. A legislature usually contains a fixed number of legislators; because legislatures
usually meet in a specific room filled with seats for the legislators, this is often described as the
number of "seats" it contains. For example, a legislature that has 100 "seats" has 100
members.

After election, the members may be protected by parliamentary immunity or

parliamentary privilege, either for all actions in the duration of their entire term, or for just
those related to their legislative duties.

Chambers.
A legislature may debate and vote upon bills as a single unit, or it may be composed of
multiple separate assemblies, called by various names including legislative chambers, debate
chambers, and houses, which debate and vote separately and have distinct powers. A
legislature which operates as a single unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is
bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral.

In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is usually considered the upper house, while
the other is considered the lower house. The two types are not rigidly different, but members
of upper houses tend to be indirectly elected or appointed rather than directly elected, tend to
be allocated by administrative divisions rather than by population, and tend to have longer
terms than members of the lower house. In some systems, particularly parliamentary systems,
the upper house has less power and tends to have a more advisory role, but in others,
particularly federal presidential systems, the upper house has equal or even greater power.

In federations, the upper house typically represents the federation's component

states. This is also the case with the supranational legislature of the European Union. The
upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments – as in the European
Union and in Germany and, before 1913, in the United States – or be elected according to a
formula that grants equal representation to states with smaller populations, as is the case in
Australia and the United States since 1913.
 Executive (government)
In parliamentary systems, the executive is responsible to the elected legislature
and must maintain the confidence of the legislature (or one part of it, if bicameral).
The legislature can, in certain circumstances (varying by state), express its lack of
confidence in the executive, which causes either a change in governing party or group
of parties or a general election. Parliamentary systems have a head of government
(who leads the executive, often called ministers) normally distinct from the head of
state (who continues through governmental and electoral changes). In the
Westminster type of parliamentary system, the principle of separation of powers is not
as entrenched as in some others. Members of the executive (ministers), are also
members of the legislature, and hence play an important part in both the writing and
enforcing of law.

In this context, the executive consists of a leader(s) of an office or multiple

offices. Specifically, the top leadership roles of the executive branch may include:

 head of state – often the supreme leader, the president or monarch, the chief
public representative and living symbol of national unity.
 head of government – often the prime minister, overseeing the administration
of all affairs of state.
 defence minister – overseeing the armed forces, determining military policy
and managing external safety.
 interior minister – overseeing the police forces, enforcing the law and
managing internal control.
 foreign minister – overseeing the diplomatic service, determining foreign policy
and managing foreign relations.
 finance minister – overseeing the treasury, determining fiscal policy and
managing national budget.
 justice minister – overseeing criminal prosecutions, corrections, enforcement
of court orders.

In a presidential system, the leader of the executive is both the head of state
and head of government. In a parliamentary system, a cabinet minister responsible to
the legislature is the head of government, while the head of state is usually a largely
ceremonial monarch or president.

Judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch,
judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that
adjudicates legal disputes and interprets, defends and applies law in legal cases.
 The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets, defends and applies the law
in the name of the state. The judiciary can also be thought of as the mechanism for the
resolution of disputes. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the judiciary
generally does not make statutory law (which is the responsibility of the legislature) or
enforce law (which is the responsibility of the executive), but rather interprets law,
defends and applies it to the facts of each case. However, in some countries the
judiciary does make common law.

In many jurisdictions the judicial branch has the power to change laws through
the process of judicial review. Courts with judicial review power may annul the laws
and rules of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher norm, such as
primary legislation, the provisions of the constitution, treaties or international law.
Judges constitute a critical force for interpretation and implementation of a
constitution, thus in common law countries creating the body of constitutional law.