Separation of powers under the United States Constitution information
Overview of the separation of powers under the United States Constitution
This article is about the separation of powers specifically in the
United States. For the theory of separation of powers, see separation of powers.
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The United States Capitol dome as seen from the Supreme Court BuildingU.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about separation of powers and checks and balances of the U.S. Government
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Separation of powers is a political doctrine originating in the writings of Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws, in which he argued for a constitutional government with three separate branches, each of which would have defined abilities to check the powers of the others. This philosophy heavily influenced the drafting of the United States Constitution, according to which the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of the United States government are kept distinct in order to prevent abuse of power. The American form of separation of powers is associated with a system of checks and balances.
During the Age of Enlightenment, philosophers such as Montesquieu advocated the principle in their writings, whereas others, such as Thomas Hobbes, strongly opposed it. Montesquieu was one of the foremost supporters of separating the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. His writings considerably influenced the Founding Fathers of the United States, such as Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which drafted the Constitution.
Some U.S. states did not observe a strict separation of powers in the 18th century. In New Jersey, the governor also functioned as a member of the state's highest court and as the presiding officer of one house of the New Jersey Legislature. The president of Delaware was a member of the Court of Appeals; the presiding officers of the two houses of the state legislature also served in the executive department as vice presidents. In both Delaware and Pennsylvania, members of the executive council served at the same time as judges. On the other hand, many southern states explicitly required separation of powers. Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia all kept the branches of government "separate and distinct."
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the federal government. TheConstitution's first three articles embody the doctrine oftheseparationofpowers, in which the federal government is divided...
territory. TheUnitedStates comprises 50 states: 9 ofthe Thirteen Colonies that were already part oftheUnitedStates at the time theConstitution took effect...
whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the president, and the federal courts, respectively. Thepowers and duties of these...
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Exercise Clause ofthe First Amendment to theUnitedStatesConstitution which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or...
explicitly granted in theConstitution or any federal statute. The Supreme Court oftheUnitedStates found in Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) that the president has...
TheSeparationofpowers in Singapore is governed by Constitutionofthe Republic of Singapore, which splits the power to govern the country between three...
parliament; the fundamental principles oftheconstitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, theseparationofpowers, the federal...
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