What Is the Principle of Separation of Power?
Separation of power (or powers) describes the distribution of the executive, judicial and legislative responsibilities of a government among separate and distinct branches. The framers of the U.S. Constitution believed that a separation of power would prevent the abuse of power by an individual or governmental body.
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Origins
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Aristotle argued in "Politics" (350 B.C.) that a combination of governmental types---monarchy, oligarchy and democracy---should comprise a government to prevent extremism.
Locke
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The English philosopher John Locke wrote in the "Second Treatise of Government" (1690) that the executive and legislative powers should not reside in the same person or governmental body; corruption and tyranny would result otherwise.
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Montesquieu
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Baron de Montesquieu, a French philosopher, expanded on these nascent ideas regarding separation of power in "The Spirit of Laws" (1748), contending that a government's executive, judicial and legislative functions should be administered by separate branches.
U.S. Constitution
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The framers of the U.S. Constitution implicitly incorporated separation of powers by granting specific powers to each branch of government; the U.S. Constitution was a corrective to the U.S.'s prior constitution, the Articles of Confederation, which had given supremacy to the legislative branch.
Federalist Papers
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James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution, explicitly referred to the principle of separation of powers in "The Federalist Papers." Madison asserted that separation of power will prevent tyranny and protect liberty.
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The theory of separation power was born out of the need to prevent any government of any given nation or a country from becoming too powerful to the extend of oppressing the citizens without any body having the effrontery to challenge the government. SEE THE REASON GIVEN BY ARISTOTLE, JOHN LOCKE AND BARON DE MONTESQUIEU.
