separation of powers

Examples of separation of powers in the following topics:

• Baron de Montesquieu

  • Montesquieu was a French political philosopher of the Enlightenment period, whose articulation of the theory of separation of powers is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world.
  • He took the view that the Roman Republic had powers separated so that no one could usurp complete power. 
  • In the British constitutional system, Montesquieu discerned a separation of powers among the monarch, Parliament, and the courts of law.
  • He also notes that liberty cannot be secure where there is no separation of powers, even in a republic.
  • Montesquieu is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world.

• Enlightenment Ideals

  • What have become the core ideas advocated by modern democracies, including the civil society, human and civil rights, or separation of powers, are the product of the Enlightenment.
  • The political philosopher Montesquieu introduced the idea of a separation of powers in a government, a concept which was enthusiastically adopted by the authors of the United States Constitution.
  • The fundamentals of European liberal thought, including the right of the individual, the natural equality of all men, the separation of powers, the artificial character of the political order (which led to the later distinction between civil society and the state), the view that all legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people, as well as a liberal interpretation of law, which leaves people free to do whatever the law does not explicitly forbid, were all developed by Enlightenment thinkers.
  • Enlightenment thinkers sought to curtail the political power of organized religion and thereby prevent another age of intolerant religious war.
  • The work, which began publication in 1751, was composed of thirty-five volumes and over 71 000 separate entries.

• Thomas Hobbes

  • It included a range of ideas centered on reason as the primary source of authority and legitimacy, and came to advance ideals such as liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state.
  • Any power exercised by this authority cannot be resisted because the protector's sovereign power derives from individuals' surrendering their own sovereign power for protection.
  • There is no doctrine of separation of powers in Hobbes's discussion.
  • According to Hobbes, the sovereign must control civil, military, judicial, and ecclesiastical powers.
  • He argued that the essential natural (human) right was "to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own Nature; that is to say, of his own Life (...)."

• Napoleon's Constitution

  • The Constitution of the Year VIII, adopted in 1799 and accepted by the popular vote in 1800, established the form of government known as the Consulate that presumed virtually dictatorial powers of the First Consul - Napoleon Bonaparte.
  • The constitution tailor-made the position of First Consul to give Napoleon most of the powers of a dictator.
  • The executive power was vested in three Consuls, but all actual power was held by the First Consul, Bonaparte.
  • By consolidating power, Bonaparte was able to transform the aristocratic constitution of Sieyès into a dictatorship.
  • It vested all of the real power in the hands of the First Consul, leaving only a nominal role for the other two consuls.

• The Coronation of 800 CE

  • Charlemagne reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St.
  • When Odoacer compelled the abdication of Romulus Augustulus, he did not abolish the Western Empire as a separate power, but caused it to be reunited with or sink into the Eastern, so that from that time there was a single undivided Roman Empire ...
  • Charlemagne's coronation as emperor, though intended to represent the continuation of the unbroken line of emperors from Augustus to Constantine VI, had the effect of setting up two separate (and often opposing) empires and two separate claims to imperial authority.
  • From 750, the secular power of the Byzantine Empire in central Italy had been nullified.
  • The title of Emperor remained in the Carolingian family for years to come, but divisions of territory and in-fighting over supremacy of the Frankish state weakened its power and ability to lead.

• The Abbasid Empire

  • Muhammad ibn 'Ali, a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of Muhammad, the Hashimites, in Persia during the reign of Umar II, an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 717–720 CE.
  • Simultaneously, former supporters of the Abbasids had broken away to create a separate kingdom around Khorosan in northern Persia.
  • The Shiʻa Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah of the Fatimid dynasty, who claimed descent from Muhammad's daughter, declared himself Caliph in 909 CE and created a separate line of caliphs in North Africa.
  • The political power of the Abbasids largely ended with the rise of the Buyids and the Seljuq Turks in 1258 CE.
  • The Fatimid dynasty broke from the Abbasids in 909 CE and created separate lines of caliphs in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Palestine until 1171 CE.

• The Peace of Utrecht

  • The Treaty of Utrecht, which initiated the end of the War of the Spanish succession, strengthened the balance of power in Europe by securing two major goals: Louis XIV's acknowledgement of the Protestant succession in England and safeguards to ensure that the French and Spanish thrones remained separate.
  • With Philip ruling in Spain, Louis XIV would secure great advantages for his dynasty, but some statesmen regarded a dominant House of Bourbon as a threat to European stability, jeopardizing the balance of power.
  • One of the first questions discussed was the nature of the guarantees to be given by France and Spain that their crowns would be kept separate but matters did not make much progress until July, when Philip signed a renunciation.
  • The treaty, which was in fact a series of separate treaties, secured Britain's main war aims: Louis XIV's acknowledgement of the Protestant succession in England and safeguards to ensure that the French and Spanish thrones remained separate.
  • However, the War of the Spanish Succession brought to an end a long period of major conflict in western Europe: the partition of the Spanish Monarchy had secured the balance of power, and the conditions imposed at Utrecht helped to regulate the relations between the major European powers over the coming century.

• The Balance of Power

• The Diplomatic Revolution

  • The diplomatic change was triggered by a separation of interests between Austria, Britain, and France.
  • The growth of Prussia, dangerous to Austria, was welcomed by the British, who saw it as a means of balancing French power.
  • The results of the War of Austrian Succession were clear that Britain no longer viewed Austria as powerful enough to check French power but was content to build up other states like Prussia.
  • In 1758, the Anglo-Prussian Convention between Great Britain and the Kingdom of Prussia formalized the alliance between the two powers.
  • Although the War of Austrian Succession concluded with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), nearly all major powers involved were not satisfied with its outcome.

• Kublai Khan

  • Kublai Khan came to power in 1260.
  • His greatest obstacle was the powerful Song dynasty in the south.
  • This new powerful position allowed Kublai to oversee uprisings and wars between the western khanates and assist rulers (often family members) to oversee these regions.
  • In 1271, as he continued to consolidate his power over the vast and varying Chinese subjects and outlying regions, Kublai Khan renamed his khanate the Yuan Dynasty.
  • By the time of Kublai's death in 1294, the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate empires, which were based on administrative zones Genghis had created.