The term "trias politica" or "separation of powers" was coined by Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, an 18th century French social and political philosopher. His publication, Spirit of the Laws, is considered one of the great works in the history of political theory and jurisprudence, and it
inspired the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Constitution of the United States. Under his model, the political authority of the state is divided into legislative, executive and judicial powers. He asserted that, to most effectively promote liberty, these three powers must be separate and acting independently.
Separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from
exercising the core functions of another. The intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances.
The traditional characterizations of the powers of the branches of American government are:
The legislative branch is responsible for enacting the laws of the state and appropriating the money necessary to operate the government.
The executive branch is responsible for implementing and administering the public policy
enacted and funded by the legislative branch.
The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the constitution and laws and applying their interpretations to controversies brought before it.
Forty state constitutions specify that government be divided into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. California illustrates this approach; "The powers of state government are legislative, executive, and judicial. Persons charged with the exercise of
one power may not exercise either of the others except as permitted by this Constitution."
While separation of powers is key to the workings of American government, no democratic system exists with an absolute separation of powers or an absolute lack of separation of powers. Governmental powers and responsibilities intentionally overlap; they are too complex and interrelated to be neatly compartmentalized. As a result, there is an inherent measure of competition and
conflict among the branches of government. Throughout American history, there also has been an ebb and flow of preeminence among the governmental branches. Such experiences suggest that where power resides is part of an evolutionary process.
This page provides resources for legislators and staff to use in addressing separation of powers issues. It organizes them into broad categories and links to a diverse set of resources to illustrate how the doctrine applies to
specific issues under each category. The resources include law review articles, court cases and legislative reports.
Resources
Alaska: Alaska Legislature, Separation of Powers
Iowa: Iowa Legislative Services Agency, Legislative Guide to Separation of Powers, 2005
Minnesota:
Minnesota House Research, Separation of Powers: When Statutes and Court Rules Conflict, 2005
Receiving Information or Recommending Additions
If you have any questions, please contact Brenda Erickson. Also, please contact Brenda if you would like to recommend legislative resources or case law that may enhance the Separation of Powers
website.
Learning Objectives
Define the separation of powers and explain how this system works.
Describe federalism, including how it functions within our constitutional system and how it affects our lives.
Identify where we see the separation of powers in the Constitution and why the Founding generation valued it as
an important feature of their new system of government.
Identify where federalism is in the Constitution and why the Founding generation valued it as an important feature of their new system of government.
6.1 Activity: Separation of Powers and Federalism: Whose job (or check), is it?
Student Instructions
Teacher Notes
Purpose When
crafting a new Constitution, the framers were concerned about the threats posed by a powerful new national government. To guard against potential abuses of power, the Founding generation divided power.
In this activity, you will explore the separation of powers and federalism.
Process Complete the Activity
Guide: Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and Federalism Reflection worksheet. Discuss with your group your understanding of the separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism.
After your discussion, your teacher will lead you through an activity to determine your understanding of separation of powers and checks and balances, in particular.
Launch
Open the discussion by asking students what they know about separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. Then, ask them whether there's anything they wonder about those key principles.
Activity Synthesis After students complete their group discussions, lead them through the Activity Guide: Separation
of Powers and Federalism: Whose job (or check), is it? document. You may distribute the document or use it to lead class discussion.
Now that students have a better understanding of the separation of powers, ask students to identify examples of when a branch has the sole power to work alone and when a branch must work with another branch to take action.
Ask the students these follow-up questions:
Which jobs are standalone jobs of one of the branches of
government?
Which jobs are overlapping?
Why did the founders separate power between the branches and included connections and overlap between jobs (checks and balances)?
As part of the discussion, connect the principles of the separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism to the broader theory of our republic: the need to both check abuses of power and create a government that creates policy that serves the common good (by slowing
politics down, blocking bad ideas, curbing abuse, promoting deliberation, valuing principled compromise, etc.).
Students should see not only the value of checking government abuse, but also the constructive parts of our complicated system—how it might promote good policy—and also reflect on whether they think that the founders struck the right balance.
To frame this part of the discussion, ask students to reflect on the following questions:
How does this system of
separating power act as a tool to ensure better outcomes?
How does the entire system work together to slow down politics, limit abuses, promote deliberation and compromise, and force us to work together to achieve common purposes (but only when the ideas are consistent with the Constitution and attract broad support)?
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
6.2 Activity: Key Terms
Student Instructions
Teacher Notes
Launch Information Review with all
students the key principles and the definitions. Give examples of each of the criteria in the worksheet: Definition (pre-written), Characteristic (define), Example (define), and Non-example (define) before asking students to start their group work. Break students into groups and allow them time to explore, discuss, and begin to complete the worksheet.
Activity Synthesis At the end of the activity, remind students that they will be exploring this tool throughout the
entire module and will use it as a worksheet for the video lesson. Have students share a few ideas and questions from each group.
Activity Extension (optional) Now that students have a better understanding of these key principles, ask them to find current examples of separation of powers, checks and balances, or federalism in news articles.
Constitution 101 Resources
6.3 Video Activity: Separation of Powers
Student Instructions
Teacher Notes
Purpose Your guide, Professor Jeffrey Rosen, will explore the separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism.
Process Watch the following video about the separation of powers.
Then, complete the Video Reflection: Separation of Powers worksheet.
Identify any areas that are unclear to you or where you would like further explanation. Be prepared to discuss your answers in a group and to ask your teacher any remaining questions.
Launch Give students time to watch the video and answer the questions.
Activity Synthesis Have students
share their responses in small groups and then discuss as a class.
Activity Extension (optional) Now that students have a better understanding of the separation of powers, you could provide a Word Cloud to support students’ word building skills (virtue, power, checks, reserved).
Constitution 101 Resources
6.4 Activity: Branch Exploration
Student Instructions
Teacher
Notes
Purpose Separation of powers refers to the Constitution’s system of distributing political power between three branches of government: a legislative branch (Congress), an executive branch (led by a single president), and a judicial branch (headed by a single Supreme Court). In this activity, you will explore each branch in more
detail.
Description Review the summary document for each article:
Info Brief: Article I - Congress
Info Brief: Article II - The Presidency
Info Brief: Article III - The Judiciary
Complete the Activity Guide: Branch Exploration worksheet to further explore your branch. Students should also be encouraged to look at the Constitution’s text
itself when completing the activity sheet.
Final Assignment: Work with your group to build a dossier on your assigned branch and present your findings to the class. Examples of what goes into the dossier:
Title: What is the name of the branch?
Role: What
is the primary role and/or responsibility of the branch in our constitutional system?
Structure: How is the branch structured? Where do we find the branch’s structure set out in the Constitution?
Power: What part of the Constitution defines the powers of the branch?
Background: Write a short paragraph on the historical origins of the branch. What did the Founding generation have in mind?
Key
moments: List the major turning points and/or Supreme Court cases about the branch.
Other information: Share any other vital information about the branch and how it works.
Launch Review each branch of government with the students briefly before splitting them up into three groups.
The legislative branch—Congress—makes the
laws. (We find this branch in Article I).
The executive branch—led by a single president—enforces the laws. (We find this branch in Article II).
The judicial branch—headed by a single Supreme Court—interprets the laws. (We find this branch in
Article III).
Activity Synthesis Ask students to complete the Activity Guide: Building a Branch Dossier about their branch and present it to their class. Ask students what branch sounds most
interesting to them and why. Ask students to examine whether these answers come from their knowledge about the role as spelled out by the Constitution or how the role plays out every day in our government.
Activity Extension (optional) Create a spider web map (ecosystem map) of the three branches of government. Students can mark a check on a branch and another color for when branches work together. Refer to the spider web map example.
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
6.5 Activity: Philosophical Thinking on Separation of Powers
Student Instructions
Teacher Notes
Launch Ask students to read and mark
up (one or all of) the primary sources. They should then individually answer the questions. Break students into three groups to review their assigned reading(s) and their answers to the questions.
As a class, discuss the connection between Montesquieu’s ideas of separation of powers, Adams’s views, and Madison’s views.
Activity Synthesis Have students write an answer to the following questions:
How do the ideas of separation of powers and
checks and balances prevent one group from gaining too much power?
What are the benefits of these key principles? (Answer: Prevent tyranny/abuse of power. Slow down politics and promote deliberation/compromise.)
Are there any drawbacks? (Answer: The system is slow. Can’t respond to problems as quickly. Sometimes the government can’t take action. Get them thinking about this now.)
Activity Extension (optional) Now that students
have a better understanding of the separation of powers and checks and balances, ask students to write a response to one of the authors either agreeing or disagreeing with their argument.
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
6.6 Activity: Federalism, It’s in There
Student Instructions
Teacher Notes
Purpose Federalism is the word used to describe the Constitution’s system of dividing political power between the national government and the states. When we look for federalism in the Constitution, where can we find it? The Constitution itself doesn’t say the word “federalism” anywhere. But it’s in there. It’s everywhere.
In this activity,
you will find examples of federalism in the Constitution.
Process Read the Info Brief: Federalism and then build out the Activity Guide - Federalism in the Constitution chart to
explore the concept of federalism as a key principle in the Constitution.
Launch Review the concept of federalism. Review the definition and big ideas from activity one and the video. Give students time to use the chart to identify examples of federalism in the Constitution.
Activity Synthesis Ask students to explain why we have a
system of federalism. As a group discussion, ask students again, why did the framers embed these ideas of separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism into the structure of the Constitution?
Activity Extension (optional) Now that students have a better understanding of federalism, ask them to find current examples of federalism in news articles. Or explore how women won the vote through federalism and the 19th Amendment by exploring The Awakening interactive map. Students can explore this map to discover how women’s suffrage at the state level paved the way for the 19th Amendment.
Constitution 101 Resources
Constitution 101 Resources
6.7 Test Your Knowledge
Student Instructions
Teacher Notes
Purpose
Congratulations for completing the activities in this module! Now it’s time to apply what you have learned about the basic ideas and concepts covered.
Process
Complete the questions in the following quiz to test your knowledge.
Launch
This activity will help students determine their overall understanding of module concepts. It is recommended that questions are completed electronically so immediate feedback is provided, but
a downloadable copy of the questions (with answer key) is also available.
Knowledge Check
Constitution 101 Resources
What is the constitutional principle of separation of powers?
Separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another. The intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances.
How does the Constitution and its amendment reflect the principle of separation of power?
Separation of Powers in the Central Government. One important principle embodied in the U.S. Constitution is separation of powers. To prevent concentration of power, the U.S. Constitution divides the central government into three branches and creates a system of checks and balances.
