separation of powers

American  

[sep-uh-rey-shuhn uhv pou-erz] / ˈsɛp əˌreɪ ʃən əv ˈpaʊ ərz /

noun

1. the principle or system of vesting in separate branches the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of a government.

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separation of powers Cultural  

1. A fundamental principle of the United States government, whereby powers and responsibilities are divided among the legislative branch, executive branch, and judicial branch. The officials of each branch are selected by different procedures and serve different terms of office; each branch may choose to block action of the other branches through the system of checks and balances. The framers of the Constitution designed this system to ensure that no one branch would accumulate too much power and that issues of public policy and welfare would be given comprehensive consideration before any action was taken.

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Compare meaning

How does separation-of-powers compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• separation of powers vs. checks and balances

Example Sentences

“From the birth of our nation, our founders were obsessed with preventing tyranny and the emergence of another king, another despot. They created checks and balances, separation of powers, an independent judiciary. They understood that the greatest threat to liberty wasn’t foreign invasion, it was the concentration of power in the hands of one person or faction,” Schiff said on the floor of the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

The court’s decision strengthens the separation of powers.

From MarketWatch

It’s an effort to encourage Congress to reclaim its proper authority under the Constitution’s separation of powers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ilya Somin, a constitutional scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute, called the decision “a major victory for the constitutional separation of powers, for free trade, and for the millions of American consumers and businesses enduring the higher taxes and higher prices as a result of these tariffs.”

From Los Angeles Times

Levitt, who worked in the administrations of presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, said this was partly because of the huge size of the United States but also a "separation of powers" and an "anti-corruption measure."

From Barron's