Separation of Powers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Separation of Powers - Essay Example the courts of law, according to the recognized and established laws. The separation of powers of the varied aspects of the state that are the legislature, executive and the judiciary is the strongest possible safeguard against the concentration of power and authority in any one single pillar of the British democracy. The separation of powers is also the best possible protection against the possibility of misuse or manipulation of power by specific individuals, groups or institutions for achieving vested interests and gains, to the detriment of the will of the citizens.2 However, realistically speaking, the separation of the powers in Britain is at the best partial and the British state suffers from a blatant overlapping of powers in between the executive, legislature and the judiciary. Much needs to be done before the UK has a satisfactory separation of powers. Separation of Powers: The Concept In a specifically democratic context, the primary role of the varied instruments of state is to protect the rights of the citizens. However, history is replete with examples and instances when the governments went despotic, when the legislature became all powerful and when the judiciary turned corrupt. So, since the dawn of the Western civilization, the political thinkers and philosophers have tried their best to come out with measures and instruments aimed at preventing the pillars of the state power going awry. The concept of separation of powers is actually a model of state governance, in which the authority of the state is segmented into varied branches, with each branch being allocated disparate areas of responsibility and the associated and requisite powers, with no branch enjoying a power greater than any other branch.3 Here, the independence of one branch from other comes with multiple meanings.4 Either it may mean that the selection of each and every branch is independent of other branches or that no branch is dependent on any other branch for its existence. Tra ditionally speaking, the UK being a parliamentary democracy has been more prone to the fusion of powers. This tendency makes the United Kingdom vulnerable to interference by one aspect of the state into the area of authority of the other. A rather more intimidating possibility is collusion between varied aspects of the state. Separation of Powers: Philosophical Background Separation of powers is a concept that has attracted the attention of academicians, philosophers, architects of constitutions, political thinkers and scientists since ages. In a UK specific context, the debate on the separation of powers has mostly hovered around the possibility as to whether the UK’s un-codified constitution is based on the doctrine of separation of powers, in theory and in practice? It is next to impossible to pinpoint the exact genesis of the doctrine of separation of powers. An analysis of the writings of Greek thinkers, say Aristotle, point towards a preliminary version of the doctrine of the separation of powers. In Politics, Aristotle classifies the elements of the state authority, that are deliberative, which meditate and ponder on the issues of common importance, the officials, which practically run the affairs of the state and the judicial, responsible for dispensing