
When comes to the division of powers within government, I think it is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic. Under this model, the state is divided into branches, each with separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility so that no one branch has more power than the other branches.
The concept of separation of governmental powers, advocated vociferously by 18th century political philosopher Montesquieu and inscribed in the opening articles of the United States Constitution, is an essential principle to our democracy. The three branches created in the Constitution -- the Legislature, Executive, and Judicial -- each have distinct functions and fine lines separating them. The powers of each can also be limited by the other two branches, therefore ruling out the possibility of authoritarian dictatorship. It is important that the lines between these branches not be blurred or crossed in order for democracy to continue functioning effectively.
the concept of Separation of Powers ensures the constitutional inability of any of the three arms of government to be supreme. Examples of countries that abide by the concept of Separation of Powers are United States of America, Federal Republic of Nigeria etc. The concept of Separation of Powers is not totally complete in a Parliamentary democracy (Parliamentary system of government). This is because there exists a fusion of powers, where the members of the executive are at the same time the members of the legislature, leaving only the judicial arm of government independent. In this situation, it could not be certainly said that there is a clear practice of Separation of Powers. For this practice to be totally complete, all the three arms of government should be clearly separate and independent of others, as can be seen in a Presidential system of government.
Executive:
Some of the following functions are the responsibilities of the executives; execution or implementation of the law made by the legislature, implementation of the directives of the legislature, implementation of expenditures approved by the legislature, executive can veto laws which must be approved by the 2/3 majority of the legislature, declaration of state of emergency, appointment of the judges with the approval of the legislature, President and his vice can be removed from office through impeachment by the legislature, ability to grant amnesty for crimes.
Legislature:
Some of the following functions are the responsibilities of the legislature; Legislature makes laws that govern the state, takes charge or controls all the expenditures by the executive, sets budgets, can declare war, makes rules that should govern the government and its office holders, ratification of treaties, sources of cases of impeachment, approval of federal judges, approval of the heads of the executives organ.
Judiciary:
Some of the following functions are the responsibilities of the judiciary; Judiciary stipulates classification of any case brought before it (interpretation of the law), stipulates the disposition of people in prison, stipulates when a law is constitutional or unconstitutional, can provide evidences and enforces testimony according to law, can be impeached by the legislature on the grounds of corruption, administration of members of the judicial arm of government.
It can be well exemplified and illustrated by the case of American government. The separation of powers and the system of checks and balances is the single most useful aspect of the American democracy despite the fact it paradoxically seems to place limits upon the powers in charge. The necessity for placing limits on the three branches of government can be attributed expressly to the crucible in which the Constitution was drafted. The danger of not just executive tyranny, but also legislative and even judicious tyranny was ever present in the minds of those who had captured their freedom through the shedding of blood. The very concept of conferring authority upon a national government in which the legislative, executive, and judicial branches were connected and working dependently upon the other would mean too much concentrated power in too few hands. The writers of the Constitution instead looked to exploit the advantages of a fragmentary system of governance in which the three branches of the federal government work independently of each other, while at the same time being unable to act entirely on their own.
The brilliance of the division of power within the federal government is that each branch has been given just enough power to make a difference, but not so much power as to be allowed to successfully give into the temptation of tyranny. Even today, in the atmosphere of an imperial President and lack of a strong legislative body, the idea that the President or Congress would actually engage in tyrannical methods seems far-fetched, but the framers of the Constitution who saw firsthand how absolute power could corrupt, it was truly a revolutionary leap forward.
And the concept of Separation of Powers is no doubt beneficial for an increase of democracy, since democracy is the government of the people, for the people and by the people, according to Abraham Lincoln, and not the government of one man or one branch of government. Hence, this concept creates the opportunity for the masses or the electorates to visualize the dividends of democracy, as well as feel secured and protected by the law, believing that there is no room for tyranny on the part of the government.
To sum up, the importance of division of powers can never be over emphasized, and this is the reason why a democratic system of government should be encouraged. There are many forms of government but among all the forms of government, democratic form of government is the only one that ensures clear participation of the people or the masses in the governance of a state and ensures and maintains their fundamental rights. However, there exist different forms of democratic system of government, but it is only presidential system of government that clearly maintains the concept of Separation of Powers. Nevertheless, this concept should be encouraged since it is quite beneficial to an increase of democracy.
