Citizendia

Not to be confused with Balance of power.

Separation of powers, a term coined by French political Enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu,[1][2] is a model for the governance of democratic states. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century Charles-Louis de Secondat baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (Eng Governance relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system The model is also known as Trias Politica.

The model was first developed by the ancient Greeks in the constitutions that governed their city-states; however, it first came into widespread use by the Roman Republic. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the It was outlined in the Constitution of the Roman Republic. The Constitution of the Roman Republic or Mos maiorum (Latin for "customs of the ancestors" was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles

Under this model, the state is divided into branches or estates, and each estate of the state has separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility. A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. The normal division of estates is into the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial. In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State

Proponents of separation of boo! powers believe that it protects democracy and forestalls tyranny. In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. Opponents of separation of powers question whether it accomplishes this end, and point out the success of mingling powers in parliamentary democracies. A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which Furthermore critics have pointed out that, regardless of whether it accomplishes the end of forestalling tyranny, it may slow down the process of governing, promote executive dictatorship and unaccountability, and tend to marginalize the legislature. [3]

No democratic system exists with an absolute separation of powers or an absolute lack of separation of powers. Nonetheless, some systems are clearly founded on the principle of separation of powers, while others are clearly based on a mingling of powers.

Contents

Origins in the Constitution of the Roman Republic

The government of the Roman Republic divided power into three independent branches: the senate, the Legislative Branch, and the Executive Branch. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the The Roman Senate was a political institution in Ancient Rome. The Roman Assemblies were institutions in Ancient Rome. They functioned as the machinery of the Roman legislative branch and thus (theoretically at least passed all legislation The Roman Magistrates were elected officials in Ancient Rome. The Senate made military and foreign policy, and directed domestic policy. It also issued orders to executive branch officials, which were usually obeyed. The Senate was not a legislative body, and it did not pass laws. The Legislative Branch had two primary functions. First, it elected all executive officials. The Roman Magistrates were elected officials in Ancient Rome. Election to such office usually meant automatic membership in the senate (senate terms were for life). The second major function of the legislative branch was to pass domestic laws. These legislative assemblies were not bodies of elected representatives. Rather, they were bodies of citizens, participating in a direct-democracy legislative system. The laws (Latin: lex) passed by these assemblies were called plebiscites, the modern equivalent of popular referendums. A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita Members of the Executive Branch commanded the military, enforced the laws, and acted as high judges. A network of checks and balances existed between the three branches. This system of checks and balances was designed to prevent the accumulation of too much power into the hands of an individual.

Montesquieu's tripartite system

Montesquieu described division of political power among an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary. Charles-Louis de Secondat baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (Eng Political power ( Imperium in Latin is a type of power held by a group in a Society which allows administration of some or all of In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State He based this model on the British constitutional system, in which he perceived a separation of powers among the monarch, Parliament, and the courts of law. Subsequent writers have noted that this was misleading, since Great Britain had a very closely connected legislature and executive, with further links to the judiciary (though combined with judicial independence). Judicial independence is the doctrine that decisions of the Judiciary should be impartial and not subject to influence from the other branches of government or from private or But in Montesquieu's time, the political connection between Britain's Parliament and the monarch's Ministry was not as close as it would later become.

The Delegates were also very sharply divided. The Delegates also agreed with Montesquieu. Montesquieu did specify that "the independence of the judiciary has to be real, and not apparent merely". [4] "The judiciary was generally seen as the most important of powers, independent and unchecked", and also considered the least dangerous. [4] Some politicians decry judicial action against them as a "criminalization" of their behavior, but such "criminalization" may be seen as a response to corruption, collusion, or abuse of power by these politicians. Collusion is an agreement usually secretive which occurs between two or more persons to deceive mislead or defraud others of their legal rights or to obtain an objective forbidden [5]

Separation of powers vs. fusion of powers

In democratic systems of governance, a continuum exists between "Presidential government" and "Parliamentary government". Governance relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. Continuum theories or models explain variation as involving a gradual quantitative transition without abrupt changes or discontinuities A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which "Separation of powers" is a feature more inherent to presidential systems, whereas "fusion of powers" is characteristic of parliamentary ones. Fusion of powers is a feature of parliamentary democracies, wherein the executive and legislative branches are intermingled "Mixed systems" fall somewhere in between, usually near the midpoint; the most notable example of a mixed system is France's (current) Fifth Republic. See also Government of France The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, which was introduced on

In fusion of powers, one estate (invariably the elected legislature) is supreme, and the other estates are subservient to it. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation In separation of powers, each estate is largely (although not necessarily entirely) independent of the others. Independent in this context means either that selection of each estate happens independently of the other estates or at least that each estate is not beholden to any of the others for its continued existence.

Accordingly, in a fusion of powers system such as that of the United Kingdom, first described as such by Walter Bagehot, the people elect the legislature, which in turn "creates" the executive. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. As Professor Cheryl Saunders writes, ". . . the intermixture of institutions [in the UK] is such that it is almost impossible to describe it as a separation of powers. "[6] In a separation of powers, the national legislature does not select the person or persons[7] of the executive; instead, the executive is chosen by other means (direct popular election, electoral college selection, etc. An electoral college is a set of many electors who are empowered to elect a candidate to a particular Office. ) In a parliamentary system, when the term of the legislature ends, so too may the tenure of the executive selected by that legislature. Although in a presidential system the executive's term may or may not coincide with the legislature's, their selection is technically independent of the legislature. However, when the executive's party controls the legislature, the executive often reaps the benefits of what is, in effect, a "fusion of powers". Such situations may thwart the constitutional goal or normal popular perception that the legislature is the more democratic branch or the one "closer to the people", reducing it to a virtual "consultative assembly", politically or procedurally unable—or unwilling—to hold the executive accountable in the event of blatant, even boldly admitted, "high crimes and misdemeanors. "

Other branches

Auditory

With the title Comptroller General, Auditor General or Comptroller and Auditor General, the European Union's Court of Auditors and Taiwan's Control Yuan are individual or bodies of independent ombudsmen. Comptroller and Auditor General is the abbreviated title of a government official in a number of States, including the United Kingdom, the Republic The European Court of Auditors is the fifth institution of the European Union (EU The Control Yuan (監察院 Pinyin: Jiānchá Yùan one of five branches of the Republic of China government in Taipei, is a watchdog agency that monitors An ombudsman ( English plural conventionally ombudsmen) is an official usually (but not always appointed by the government or by parliament who is charged with They are often independent of the other branches of government.

Their purpose is to audit government expenditure and general activity.

Civil examination

Sun Yat Sen proposed a branch of government based on the Imperial examination system used in China. Sun Yat-sen ( November 12, 1866 &ndash March 12, 1925) was a Chinese Revolutionary and political leader often The Imperial examinations ( in Imperial China determined who among the population would be permitted to enter the state's Bureaucracy. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The "Examination Yuan" (Traditional Chinese: 考試院; pinyin: Kǎoshì Yuàn), as it is called in Taiwan, is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants. The Examination Yuan ( is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants in the Republic of China. Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. This structure has been implemented in the Republic of China. REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES

Data

In Germany there is a notion of protecting personal information called Datenschutz. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. It is represented by its own commissioners. Additionally there is the BStU dealing with the Stasi-Archives and the German Federal Archives, each providing access to data only in accordance with special laws. The BStU (Bundesbeauftragte für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik - Office of the Federal Commissioner Preserving For the regular police in East Germany see Volkspolizei. The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit ( Ministry for State Security The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv ( BArch) are the National Archives of Germany

Electoral

Costa Rica's Supreme Elections Tribunal is a branch of government that manages elections. Similar independent institutions exist in many other democratic countries, however they are not seen as a branch of government. In many countries, these are known as Electoral Commissions.

The people

Many philosophers and political scientists believe that democratic governments are created and constitutions exist to serve the people. The people have their own system of checks and balances by electing the legislative and executive branches. The government also draws its power directly from the people. Without the people, there is no government, just as without the legislative branch, there can be no judicial branch.

In the Constitution of Venezuela, the "citizen's power" is a formal branch of government, though it acts like auditors' branches in other jurisdictions. |||}The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the current Constitution of Venezuela.

See also:

Independent executive agencies

The federal executive of the United States is a very large bureaucracy, and due to civil service rules, most middle- and low-level government workers do not change when a new President is elected. Direct Democracy is a movement within the British Conservative Party dedicated to localism and Constitutional reform as a means of reviving public In Political science, the initiative (also known as popular or citizen's initiative) provides a means by which a Petition signed by a certain A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government See also Bureaucrat The term civil service has two distinct meanings Branch of governmental service in which individuals are hired on the basis (New high-level officials are usually appointed and must be confirmed by the Senate. ) Moreover, semi-independent agencies (such as the Federal Reserve or the Federal Communications Commission) may be created within the executive by the legislature. These agencies exercise legally defined regulatory powers. High-level regulators are appointed by the President and confirmed by the legislature; they must follow the law and certain lawful executive orders. But they often sit for long, fixed terms and enjoy reasonable independence from other policy makers. Because of its importance to modern governance, the regulatory bureaucracy of the executive is sometimes referred to as a "fourth" branch of government.

This separation is even more pronounced in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The separation was a prominent element of the Yes Minister comedy television series. Yes Minister is a multi-award winning satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted

External links

The press

The press has been described as a "fourth power" because of its considerable influence over public opinion (which in turn affects the outcome of elections), as well as its indirect influence in the branches of government by, for example, its support or criticism of pending legislation or policy changes. "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" It has never, however, been a formal branch of government; nor have political philosophers suggested that it become one.

The press is also sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate, a term of French origin, which is not related to the modern three-branch system of government. The term Fourth Estate refers to the press, both in its explicit capacity of advocacy and in its implicit ability to frame political issues

Originally, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution explicitly guaranteed freedom of the press only against interference by the federal government. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Later this right was extended by the United States Supreme Court in the Incorporation Cases to cover state and local governments. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Incorporation (of the Bill of Rights is the American legal doctrine by which portions of the Bill of Rights are applied to the states through the

Traditionally, the press has been the "voice of the people", keeping government somewhat in check. Examples of this were the Watergate scandal, where two Washington Post reporters exposed corruption and coverup at the highest levels of government, or the Adscam (Sponsorship scandal) which was uncovered by the press in Canada. The Watergate scandals were a series of Political scandals during the presidency of Richard Nixon that resulted in the Indictment of several of Nixon's The Washington Post is the largest and most circulated Newspaper in Washington D Political corruption is the use of governmental powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain A cover-up is an attempt whether successful or not to conceal evidence of wrong-doing error Incompetence, or other embarrassing information The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a Scandal that came as a result of a Canadian Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page This exposure caused the resignation, firing, or prosecution of many officials.

There exist situations where the press can affect public opinion in ways that are contrary to the spirit of separation of powers. One of the most compelling of these situations is when the state controls the content and distribution of the information disseminated by the press. However, even if the press is immune to censorship and compulsion from the government, the controlling entity of a press association or media outlet must almost always edit, and may editorialize, providing opportunities to affect public opinion in ways that may contradict public interest. Editing Language, Images or Sound through correction condensation organization and other modifications in various media An editorial, leader (UK or leading article (UK is an article in a Newspaper or Magazine that expresses the opinion of the Editor In all cases, the "voice of the people" (as perceived by some) is modified by the opinions of those producing the stories.

The press around the world

Main articles: Freedom of the press and public broadcasting

Freedom of the reporting media is generally considered to be essential for the perpetuation of democratic governments, and it is found in all strong democracies, regardless of the organizational principle of the "branches" of government. Freedom Constitutional or statutory protections pertaining to freedom of the press Public broadcasting refers to radio television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public

Many governments financially support public broadcasting in some way, but in strong democracies these media outlets can enjoy wide editorial latitude.

An independent press acts as a powerful check on all forms of government by providing information about governmental activities to the public. There are weighty arguments to suggest that the press is the external 4th branch which continuously scrutinises a government's operations, with David Blunkett's two resignations as both Home Secretary(2004) and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2005) as particular examples. David Blunkett (born 6 June 1947 is a British Labour Party Politician and has been Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a position in the UK cabinet responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions.

Various models around the world

Constitutions with a high degree of separation of powers are found worldwide. A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity The UK system is distinguished by a particular entwining of powers. The Westminster system is a democratic Parliamentary system of Government modelled after the British government (the Parliament of the United India's democratic system also offers a clear separation of power under Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament), Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament), and the President of India, who overlooks independent governing branches such as the Election commission and the Judiciary. Under the Indian constitution, just as in the British system, the Prime Minister is a head of the governing party and functions through a selected group of ministers. In Italy the powers are completely separated, even if Council of Ministers need the vote of confidence from both chambers of Parliament, that's however formed by a wide number of members (almost 1,000). Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest A Motion of Confidence is a motion of support proposed by a government in a Parliament or other assembly of elected representatives to give members of parliament (or

Countries with little separation of power include New Zealand and Canada. The politics of New Zealand takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic Monarchy. The politics of Canada function within a framework of Constitutional monarchy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic Canada makes limited use of separation of powers in practice, although in theory it distinguishes between branches of government.

Complete separation-of-powers systems are almost always presidential, although theoretically this need not be the case. President is a Title leaders of Organizations companies, Trade unions universities, and countries. There are a few historical exceptions, such as the Directoire system of revolutionary France. The Executive Directory ( Directoire exécutif) was a body of 5 single-male Directors that held executive power in France following Switzerland offers an example of non-Presidential separation of powers today: It is run by a seven-man executive branch, the Federal Council. Politics of Switzerland takes place in the framework of a multi-party federal parliamentary democratic Republic, whereby the The Swiss Federal Council (Schweizerischer Bundesrat Conseil fédéral suisse Consiglio federale svizzero Cussegl federal However, some might argue that Switzerland does not have a strong separation of powers system, as the Federal Council is appointed by parliament (but not dependent on parliament), and the judiciary has no power of review.

Australia: three branches

Main article: Separation of powers in Australia

People's Republic of China

Main article: Government of the People's Republic of China

Costa Rica: five branches

After eight years of social conflict, the question of who would lead Costa Rica and which transformationist model the State would use was decided by who killed the president. The doctrine of Separation of powers refers to the separation of the Legislature, the executive and the Judiciary. Power within the Government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies the Communist Party of China, the state and the People's A constituent assembly followed and drew up a new constitution, approved in 1949. This document was an edit of the constitution of 1871, as the constituent assembly rejected more radical corporatist ideas proposed by the ruling junta. A military junta is a government ruled by a committee of military leaders Nonetheless, the new constitution increased centralization of power at the expense of municipalities and eliminated provincial government altogether.

It established the three supreme powers as the legislature, executive, and judicial branches, but also created two other autonomous state organs that have equivalent power but not equivalent rank. The first is the Supreme Elections Tribunal (electoral branch) which controls elections and makes unique, unappealable decisions on their outcomes.

The second is the office of the Comptroller General (auditory branch), an autonomous and independent organ nominally subordinate to the unicameral legislative assembly. All budgets of ministries and municipalities must pass through this agency, including the execution of budget items such as contracting for routine operations. The Comptroller also provides financial vigilance over government offices and office holders, and routinely brings actions to remove mayors for malfeasance, firmly establishing this organization as the fifth branch of the Republic.

European Union: four branches

The five institutions (in four branches) of the European Union are:

France

Main article: Government of France

Germany: six branches

The six main bodies enshrined in the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany are:

There is also a judicial branch made up of five supreme courts, state (Länder / Bundesländer) based courts beneath them, and a rarely used senate of the supreme courts. The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. The European Parliament ( Europarl or EP) is the only directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU The Council of the European Union is the principal decision making institution in the European Union (EU This article refers to the European Union court not the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe The Court of Justice The European Court of Auditors is the fifth institution of the European Union (EU The government of France is a Semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic, in which the nation declares The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland is the Constitution of Germany. The President of Germany (deutscher Bundespräsident is Germany 's Head of state. The Cabinet of Germany ( German: Bundeskabinett or Bundesregierung) is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany The Bundestag ("Federal Diet " or "Lower House of German Parliament" is the Parliament of Germany. The Bundesrat ("federal council" or "upper house of German parliament" is the representation of the 16 Federal States ( Bundesländer) of The Federal Assembly (aka Federal Convention Bundesversammlung is a special body in the institutional system of Germany, convened solely for the purpose of electing The Federal Constitutional Court (in German: Bundesverfassungsgericht BVerfG) is a special Court established by the Basic Law for the Federal Republic

Italy

Main article: Government of Italy

Japan

Main article: Government of Japan

Taiwan: five branches

Some countries take the doctrine further than the three-branch system. The politics of Italy take place in a framework of a parliamentary, democratic Republic, and of a Multi-party system. Japan no longer officially has the traditional Federal system, and its 47 prefectures, and prefectural and municipal assembly members are popularly elected for The politics of Taiwan, for example, has five branches: the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Control Yuan (auditory branch), and Examination Yuan. The Executive Yuan ( literally "Executive court" is the Executive branch of the Government of the Republic of China. The Legislative Yuan ( is the Legislative body of the Republic of China (ROC which administers Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and The Judicial Yuan (司法院 is one of five branches of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan in Taipei and serves as the highest judicial organ in The Control Yuan (監察院 Pinyin: Jiānchá Yùan one of five branches of the Republic of China government in Taipei, is a watchdog agency that monitors The Examination Yuan ( is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants in the Republic of China.

Due in part to the Republic's youth, the relationship between its executive and legislative branches are poorly defined. An example of the problems this causes is the near complete political paralysis that results when the president, who has neither the power to veto nor the ability to dissolve the legislature and call new elections, cannot negotiate with the legislature when his party is in the minority. [2]

United Kingdom

Although the principle of separation of power plays a role in the United Kingdom's constitutional doctrine, the UK constitution is often described as having "a weak separation of powers". For example, in the United Kingdom, the executive forms a subset of the legislature, as does—to a lesser extent—the judiciary. The Prime Minister, the chief executive, must by convention be a Member of the House of Commons and can effectively be removed from office by a simple majority vote. The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords Furthermore, while the courts in Britain are undoubtedly amongst the most independent in the world, the Law Lords, who are the final arbiters of judicial disputes in the UK, sit simultaneously in the House of Lords, the upper house of the legislature, although this arrangement will cease in 2009 when the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom comes into existence. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, or Law Lords, are appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the House of Lords of the The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was established in law by Part III of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Furthermore, because of the existence of Parliamentary sovereignty, while the theory of separation of powers may be studied in Britain, a system such as that of the UK is more accurately described as a "fusion of powers. Fusion of powers is a feature of parliamentary democracies, wherein the executive and legislative branches are intermingled "

The development of the British constitution, which is not written down in one document, is based on this fusion in the person of the Monarch, who has a formal role to play in the legislature (Parliament, which is where legal and political sovereignty lies, is the Crown-in-Parliament, and is summoned and dissolved by the Queen who must give her Royal Assent to all Bills so that they become Acts), the executive (the Queen appoints all ministers of Her Majesty's Government, who govern in the name of the Crown) and the judiciary (the Queen, as the fount of justice, appoints all senior judges, and all public prosecutions are brought in her name).

The British legal system is based on common law traditions which requires:

United Nations: five branches

The United Nations has five principle organs [3]. Fishing expedition is a colloquial, informal legal term often encountered in the United States and other similar legal systems (and especially prevalent The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the Common law Adversarial system, or the civil law An attorney at law (or attorney-at-law) in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute A defendant or defender ( Δ in Legal shorthand) is any party who is required to answer the Complaint of a Plaintiff A defendant or defender ( Δ in Legal shorthand) is any party who is required to answer the Complaint of a Plaintiff In Law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision Court of Appeal, Court of Appeals, and Appellate Division redirect here for a list of specific courts using those titles see Court of Appeal These are:

The members of the councils are either or both elected by the General Assembly and determined by the UN Charter. The Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC) of the United Nations assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social cooperation See also International Commission of Jurists The International Court of Justice (known colloquially as the World Court or ICJ; Cour The United Nations Secretariat is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and it is headed by the United Nations Secretary-General, assisted by a staff The United Nations Charter is the Treaty that forms and establishes the International organization called the United Nations.

United States: three branches

Main article: Separation of powers under the United States Constitution

Each branch is able to place specified restraints on the powers exerted by the other branches. This article refers to the separation of powers specifically in the United States [8] The federal government refers to the branches as "branches of government", while some systems use "government" to describe the executive. The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution.

Checks and balances

To prevent one branch from becoming supreme, and to induce the branches to cooperate, governance systems employing a separation of powers typically are created with a system of "checks and balances", a term which, like separation of powers itself, is specifically credited to Montesquieu. Charles-Louis de Secondat baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (Eng Checks and balances refers to the various procedural rules that allow one branch to limit another, such as the authority of the president to veto legislation passed by Congress, or the power of Congress to alter the composition and jurisdiction of the federal courts.

Legislative
Executive
Judicial
  • Writes and enacts laws
  • Enacts taxes, authorizes borrowing, and sets the budget
  • Has sole power to declare war
  • May start investigations, especially against the executive branch
  • Often appoints the heads of the executive branch
  • Sometimes appoints judges
  • Ratifies treaties
  • May veto laws
  • May refuse to spend money allocated for certain purposes
  • Wages war (has operational command of the military)
  • Makes decrees or declarations (for example, declaring a state of emergency) and promulgates lawful regulations and executive orders
  • Often appoints judges
  • Has power to grant pardons to convicted criminals
  • Determines which laws apply to any given case
  • Determines whether a law is unconstitutional
  • Has sole power to interpret the law and to apply it to particular disputes
  • May nullify laws that conflict with a more important law or constitution
  • Determines the disposition of prisoners
  • Has power to compel testimony and the production of evidence
  • Enforces uniform policies in a top-down fashion via the appeals process, but gives discretion in individual cases to low-level judges. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity (The amount of discretion depends upon the standard of review, determined by the type of case in question. )
  • Polices its own members
  • Is frequently immune to arbitrary dismissal by other branches

Maintaining balance

The theoretical independence of the executive and legislative branches is partly maintained by the fact that they are separately elected and are held directly accountable to the public. There are also judicial prohibitions against certain types of interference in each others' affairs. (See "separation of powers" cases in the List of United States Supreme Court cases. This is an index of chronological lists of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. ) Judicial independence is maintained by life appointments of judges, with voluntary retirement, and a high threshold for removal by the legislature. In recent years, there have been accusations that the power to interpret the law is being misused (judicial activism) by some judges in the US. Judicial activism is a pejorative term for the misuse of judicial power and is a neologism for the older classical term " board judicial review. In the checks and balances system, the judicial branch has the right to say that something is unconstitutional, like a law or a bill (Credited to an opinion piece by Chief Justice John Marshall presiding over the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). Marbury v Madison, is a Landmark case in United States law. It formed the basis for the exercise of Judicial review in the United States under )

The legal mechanisms constraining the powers of the three branches depend a great deal on the sentiment of the people. A common perception is that popular support establishes legitimacy and makes possible the actual implementation of legal authority. National crises (such as the Civil War, the Great Depression, pre-Pearl Harbor World War II, the Vietnam War) have been the times at which the principle of separation of powers has been most endangered, either through official "misbehavior" or through the willingness of the public to sacrifice such principles if more pressing problems are solved. The system of checks and balances is also self-reinforcing. Potential abuse of power may be deterred, and the legitimacy and sustainability of any power grab is hindered by the ability of the other two branches to take corrective action; though they still must actually do so, therefore accountability is not automatic. This is intended to reduce opportunities for tyranny sometimes.

However, as James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 51 regarding the ability of each branch to defend itself from actions by the others, "But it is not possible to give to each department an equal power of self-defense. James Madison Jr (March 16 1751 – June 28 1836 was an American Politician, the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817 and one of the Founding Federalist No 51 is an essay by James Madison, the fifty-first of the Federalist Papers. In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. " Bicameralism was, in part, intended to reduce the relative power of the legislature by turning it against itself, by having "different modes of election and different principles of action. " (This is one of the arguments against the popular election of Senators, which was instituted by the Seventeenth Amendment. The Seventeenth Amendment ( Amendment XVII) of the United States Constitution was passed by the Senate on June 12 1911 and by the House on May 13 1912 ) But when the legislature is unified, it can obtain dominance over the other branches.

State and local governments

The American states mirror the executive/legislative/judicial division of the federal government. Major cities tend to do so as well, but the arrangements of local and regional governments vary widely. Because the judicial branch is often a part of a state or county government, the geographic jurisdiction of local judges is often not coterminous with municipal boundaries.

In many American states and local governments, executive authority and law enforcement authority are separated by allowing citizens to directly elect public prosecutors (district attorneys and state attorneys-general). In some states, judges are also directly elected.

Many localities also separate special powers from their executive and legislative branches through the direct election of sheriffs, school boards, transit agency boards, park commissioners, etc.

Juries (groups of randomly selected citizens) also have an important role in the checks-and-balances system. They have the sole authority to not only determine the facts in most criminal and civil cases, but to judge the law, acting as a powerful buffer against arbitrary enforcement by the executive and judicial branches. In many jurisdictions they are also used to determine whether or not a trial is warranted, and in some places Grand Juries have independent investigative powers with regard to government operations.

Venezuela: five branches

Main article: Constitution of Venezuela

Under reforms to the constitution promoted by President Hugo Chávez and accepted in a referendum, the government of Venezuela has five branches: the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, an electoral branch, and a citizen's branch that acts as an auditor. |||}The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the current Constitution of Venezuela. |||}The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the current Constitution of Venezuela. ||-||} Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->The President of Venezuela (Presidente Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (ˈuɰo rafaˈel ˈtʃaβ̞es ˈfɾias (born July 28 1954 is the current President of Venezuela.

However, the representatives of this new "Citizen power" are not elected, but put by organized human groups. (Proposed Constitutional reform by Hugo Chavez, Art 136). There's no clear wording into how this representatives will be "put" in their jobs, but the reform is very clear in saying that won't be by elections. Since those organized human groups won't be able to vote for representatives, the assumption is that these representatives will be put by some bureaucrat from the socialist party and their credibility as unbiased auditors is very low.

Criticisms


It can be argued that there is no natural distinction between executive and legislative forms of government: legislation that is passed must always be executed, and much executive action requires new laws. As such, the division can be said to be an artificial one. This is borne out by the fact that there is currently no constitutional system which has a complete separation of powers where there is a distribution of the three functions among three independent organs with no overlapping or cross-coordination. Some of the early American States and the French Constitution of 1791 tried to enforce this doctrine strictly, but they failed. The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written Constitution of France. Instead, most constitutions give slightly overlapping powers to each branch, such as the US president's ability to veto legislation, or the power of judicial appointment.

Some observers believe that no obvious case exists in which such instability was prevented by the separation of powers. In parliamentary systems such as the United Kingdom the three "powers" are not separated (although the judiciary is independent). However, this has not threatened British stability, because the strong tradition of parliamentary sovereignty serves the purpose of limiting executive power.

In contrast, many countries which have adopted separation of powers (especially in Latin America) have suffered from instability (coups d'etat, military dictatorships, civil war and unrest, etc). If the separated executive is granted strong powers, it may well encourage instability, because it is less consensus-oriented than a parliamentary system, and because it inures the population and political elite to a the influence of a dominant leader. In times of instability, competing political groups can become obsessed with controlling the executive office, and it is often the loss of a presidential election which triggers greater instability. In a presidential system, there can only be one winning party, and all others fail entirely to gain power. In contrast, a parliamentary system can allow all political groups to have some share in control of the executive by participating in a coalition.

Alternatively, if the executive branch is granted few powers, there is the danger of political gridlock. In politics gridlock refers to difficulty of passing party agenda items in a Legislature that is close to being evenly divided When the executive cannot control or cannot operate alongside the legislature, then government action to solve society's problems can be limited.

Political scientists have also noted the tendency for separation-of-power systems, especially those with strong executives, to develop into two-party systems. As the executive is as a "winner-take-all" position, voters and lobby groups tend to adopt a strategy of supporting their preferred choice from the two leading candidates, the perception being that a vote or donation to a third-party candidate is a waste. As the executive is usually considered the most important position in government, members of the legislature will coalesce into groups supporting the two dominant executive candidates.

The categories of the functions and corresponding powers of government are inclined to become blurred when it is attempted to apply them to the details of a particular constitution. Some hold that the true distinction lies not in the nature of the powers themselves, but rather in the procedure by which they are exercised.

Sometimes systems with clearly defined separation of powers are difficult for the average person to understand, resulting in a nebulous political process and leading to a lack of engagement. Proponents of parliamentary systems claim that they make it easier to understand how "politics is done" by providing a clearer view of who does what, who is responsible for what, and who is to blame. This is important when it comes to engaging the people in political debate and increasing citizens' interest and participation in politics. However, for a parliamentary system to work effectively, institutional arrangements such as fair electoral laws, freedom of the press, independent courts, due process, and the independence of the Houses of Parliament must be so designed as to prevent executive supremacy over the legislative and judicial branches while also encouraging a culture of public debate, open government, accountable office holders, and policy contestability and compromise, rather than a culture of "winner takes all" political domination. Due process (more fully due process of law) is the principle that a person has a right to receive notice and be heard in an orderly proceeding in order to protect his or her

Related restraint-of-power concepts

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  2. ^ K-Zone law - Separation of powers: the reality
  3. ^ The Review of Politics, Vol. The Constitution of the Roman Republic or Mos maiorum (Latin for "customs of the ancestors" was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles An autocracy is a Form of government in which the Political power is held by a single self-appointed ruler Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI ordering the countries of the world according to "the degree Judicial activism is a pejorative term for the misuse of judicial power and is a neologism for the older classical term " board judicial review. A signing statement is a written pronouncement issued by the President of the United States upon the signing of a bill into Law. In American political and legal discourse the unitary executive theory is a theory or doctrine of Constitutional interpretation that holds it The fifth power is a term apparently created by Ignacio Ramonet, that intends a continuation of the series of three classic branches of Baron de Montesquieu's 53, No. 2 (Spring, 1991), pp. 391-396
  4. ^ a b Przeworski 2003, p. 26, p. 13, p. 223-4
  5. ^ Przeworski 2003, p. 14 [1]
  6. ^ Cheryl Saunders. Separation of Powers and the Judicial Branch (doc).
  7. ^ Two examples of executives of more than one person are a triumvirate (three rulers) and a constitutional monarchy (two rulers). The term triumvirate (from Latin, "of three men" is commonly used to describe a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals A constitutional monarchy, or a limited monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary Monarch is
  8. ^ Madison, James. (8 February 1788) "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments" The Federalist Papers No. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1788 ( MDCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap 51

References

External links

Dictionary

separation of powers

-noun

  1. A theoretical model for governance, common in democratic states, which features the division of sovereign power into at least three (but sometimes up to six) organs of state in order to forestall tyranny, by preventing the acquisition of a monopoly of power by a monarch or oligarchy; also, such an arrangement.
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