e, governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Locke also pioneered the idea of the separation of powers, and he separated the powers into an executive and a legislature. The French political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu, another major intellectual influence on the Constitution, further developed the concept of separation of powers in his treatise The Spirit of the Laws (1748), which was highly regarded by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. Montesquieu’s basic contention was that those entrusted with power tend to abuse it; therefore, if governmental power is fragmented, each power will operate as a check on the others. In its usual operational form, one branch of government (the legislative) is entrusted with making laws, a second (the executive) with executing them, and a third (the judiciary) with resolving disputes in accordance with the law.
Based on the theory of Baron de Montesquieu and John Locke, the framers carefully spelled out the independence of the three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. At the same time, however, they provided for a system in which some powers should be shared: Congress may pass laws, but the president can veto them; the president nominates certain public officials, but Congress must approve the appointments; and laws passed by Congress as well as executive actions are subject to judicial review. Thus the separation of powers is offset by what are called checks and balances.
2. Separation of Powers among Three Governmental Branches
Separation of powers devised by the framers of the U.S. Constitution serves the goals: to prevent concentration of power and provide each branch with weapons to fight off encroachment by the other two branches. As James Madison argued in the Federalist Papers (No.51), “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” Clearly, the system of separated powers is not designed to maximize efficiency; it is designed to maximize freedom. In the Constitution of the United States, the Legislative, comp