Montesquieu's Idea Of The Separation Of Power

Society suffered for centuries from tyranny of the king, who took power over nations and ruled over all; the people, and the government itself. However, throughout several years of suffering through this tyranny and monarchy, a solution to this issue was created in the late 1700’s by the Enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu. The term ‘trias politica’, also known as the separation of powers, greatly impacted its time, and remains to be just as important, if not more, today. Montesquieu created this idea of separation of powers after studying many years of successful government systems and finally came to the conclusion that government flourished when separated into varied branches. This sprouted the idea of the Separation of Powers, in

which the government was split into three individual branches. These branches, which were later named as the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, have power equally distributed between them with widely varied responsibilities for each. While superiority issues still ensue, the separation of powers remains to be a vital part in running our government smoothly.
As created in the time of our Founders, the Separation of Powers became a large step in created the change of having a ‘non-monarchy’ government in the time it was created. Enlightenment thinkers slowly began to influence governments, resolving the issue of absolute monarchy within society. This solution to overthrow tyrants was the idea of separating the government into three branches, in which all would serve as a “check and balance” for each other. The legislative (Congress) has the ability to override presidential veto impeachment (executive) and create laws, but is also limited by the Courts (judicial) in which they decide whether or not the created laws are unconstitutional. The executive branch has the ability to veto bills and appoint representatives and judges within the Courts, but is limited in which the judicial and legislative branches can declare any orders made unconstitutional. This simple cycle of checks and balances brought an epiphany towards the Founders as they discovered how this new development provided a simple way to almost completely discard of monarchy an tyranny, which society has suffered through for many years.
The Separation of Powers, while created long ago, remains to be an active part of our government today.

The old idea of the separation of branches has proven to be able to solve modern day issues. However, recent issues have also proven to disregard the system, in which selfish needs over power and manipulate its uses. One example of this would be the over-empowerment of a singular branch within the government. A recent IRS scandal brought up the question as to whether or not the Presidential (executive) branch used the IRS to intimidate the opposite party, in which skepticism arose towards the “equality” of the separated branches. Another example of questionable equality of the balance of branches would be the passing of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (Obamacare) within 2008-10, which was a law passed without the consent of the other branches besides the executive. These are clear examples of how modern day issues can twist and ruin this ‘flawless’ system. These examples, however, show the greater need for the separation of powers in today’s government. As society has grown and evolved, the government’s people, their job being the voice of the people of the country, has turned into a way to achieve selfish wants for our representatives, creating an even more significant need for the separation of powers.
As a whole, the separation of powers remains to be a vital part in our government system today. As society has grown and developed throughout the years, the government system has grown with it and adjusted to today’s issues and problems. The government, while it serves as a superior leader for our country, remains to be a service to the people, and has creates a voice for all people to have. It allows everyone to be acknowledged and equal, no matter the

cause.