Separation of Powers

Article I of the Constitution outlines in detail the powers and limitations of the legislative branch, which is divided into two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Of the three branches of government, the framers of the Constitution were most familiar with the legislature, and its importance is reflected in the attention given it. Almost half of the Constitution is devoted to the operation and powers of Congress. The framers viewed Congress as the “first branch” of the government because they believed strongly in the need for a representative body to formulate national policy.

Article II outlines the powers of the executive branch, headed by the president. The organization and powers of the presidency are not described in nearly as much detail as those of the legislature. The ambiguities have helped give the modern president great latitude in running the executive branch, particularly in foreign affairs.

The authors of the Constitution had serious reservations about establishing a strong executive. At the same time, they realized that the lack of a strong national executive under the Articles of Confederation was the primary reason that the nation's first experiment in representative government had failed. Under the Confederation there was no independent presidency; the legislature controlled and directed executive functions. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the delegates gradually were won over to the necessity of a stronger chief executive, though the extent of the president's powers remained a matter of dispute until the final days of the Convention.

[Page p412]Article III describes the powers and organization of the national judiciary, including the Supreme Court. Constitutional scholars have noted that the judiciary article is even less detailed than the article for the executive branch.

The other articles of the Constitution confer additional powers on the legislative and executive branches and spell out various government procedures and guarantees.

The American system is based on separation of powers, but those powers are not neatly divided. In many instances executive, legislative, and judicial powers overlap. Mixing the various powers of government among the three branches was another way of checking arbitrary rule. Thus the framers saw a network of checks and balances as an essential corollary to the separation of powers.

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