Separation of powers

The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually law-making, adjudication, and execution) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinguishable and articulated, thereby maintaining the integrity of each.[1] To put this model into practice, government is divided into structurally independent branches to perform various functions[2] (most often a legislature, a judiciary and an administration, sometimes known as the trias politica). When each function is allocated strictly to one branch, a government is described as having a high degree of separation; whereas, when one person or branch plays a significant part in the exercise of more than one function, this represents a fusion of powers.

  1. ^ Waldron 2013, pp. 457–458.
  2. ^ Waldron 2013, pp. 459–460.