(a) What is separation of power?. (b) How does it operate under the (i) Presidential System of government? (ii) Cabinet System of government?

Answer Details

(a) Meaning of separation of powers. Separation of powers is the constitutional principle, associated with the French writer Baron de Montesquieu, which holds that the three powers of government, namely the legislative, the executive and the judicial, should be exercised by three separate and distinct organs, and that the same persons should not control more than one of them. Its aim is to prevent the concentration of power in one hand and so protect the liberty of the citizen. It is usually accompanied by a system of checks and balances.

(b)(i) Operation under the Presidential System.

1. The three arms are largely separate. The President and his ministers head the executive, the legislature makes the laws, and the judiciary interprets them.
2. Membership is separate: a person cannot be a member of the executive and the legislature at the same time. The President is not a member of the legislature.
3. The President is separately elected and holds office for a fixed term; he is not removable by an ordinary vote of the legislature except through impeachment.
4. The arms check one another: the legislature confirms appointments and can impeach the President; the President can veto bills; the judiciary can declare acts unconstitutional. Nigeria and the United States use this system.

(b)(ii) Operation under the Cabinet (Parliamentary) System.

1. There is a fusion rather than a strict separation of the executive and the legislature. Ministers are drawn from and remain members of the legislature.
2. The Prime Minister and cabinet are part of parliament and are collectively responsible to it; parliament can remove them through a vote of no confidence.
3. The head of state (monarch or ceremonial president) is separate from the head of government (Prime Minister), and executive power in practice lies with the cabinet.
4. Only the judiciary remains clearly separate and independent; the separation between the executive and the legislature is therefore weak.