Why separation of powers seems so important to so many people ? And how they are endangered by the Trump’s administration ?
While observing the English political system, in the eighteenth century, the French magistrate Charles Louis de Secondat, baron of La Brède and Montesquieu notice in « De l’esprit des Lois » that the gentleness of the English King’s power was due to this simple fact : the power of making the laws was shared between the legislative branch (discussing and voting the laws) executive branch (puting the laws into practice) and the judiciary branch (solving the conflicts born from the laws).
And in England at this time, there were two tpes of contribution which need a plain approval by the people : blood and money. The power to make war and ask people to die for the crown and the power to tax money on their wealths to pay for war or the greatness of the crown.
The scheme of the separation of powers was the complete opposite of the French absolute monarchy which was ruling France at this time. But after 1789 in France, the constitutionalists recall the Montesquieu ‘s lesson and they elaborate text to try to reproduce the same system. This was the beginning of the democracy, the power to the people, to rule the people, by the people.
Remember that’s because the King of England forget to ask American people on a new tax on their products that the Thirteen States people rise up in Boston (dec. 16th 1773).
The same idea of separating powers emerged with the Philadelphia’s constitutionalists, during the 1776 Revolution, for the thirteen rebels and united states. The main argument of such an organization of the ruling power is quite simple : no one among all the political people has enough power to rule everything. And that’s what Donald Trump is trying to do, concentrating powers in his own hands. Any abuse of power or any absolute power is just made impossible by the separation of powers.
Or as Montesquieu said : the power stops the power.