checks and balances as the following table illustrates:

Institution Power Personnel Control

Congress Power to make

laws

Elected representatives Presidential veto; Supreme Court

review of validity

President Executive power Elected. Cannot be a

Member of Congress

Senate ratification necessary for

cabinet and diplomatic

appointments, and treaties; Judicial

review; Impeachment by removal by

Congress.

Supreme

Court

Judicial power

including

judicial review of

legislative and

executive activity

Appointed by President

with Senate ratification

Impeachment by

Congress

The Westminster system effects only a partial separation of powers:

Institution Power Personnel Control

Parliament Make laws Representatives elected

to lower House. Elected

or appointed to upper

House.

(Royal Assent) Supervision and/or

expulsion by the House

Executive

Council

(Cabinet)

Executive power Ministers appointed by

the Crown with the

support of the lower

House.

Must be Members of

the Parliament

Maintain support of the lower House.

Parliamentary and

Judicial Review.

The Courts Judicial power Judges appointed by the

Executive

Superior Court justices removal by

the Crown an address from both

Houses on certain on grounds.

Information Paper on Parliament and Government in Queensland

Parliamentary Education & Training Services, Queensland Parliament

Central to the modern development of separation of powers as a theory of government is Baron de

Montesquieu (1689- 1755). Montesquieu is synonymous with the doctrine of separation of powers which

was first formulated in his magnum opus, De L'Esprit des Loix (The Spirit of the Laws), published in Paris in

1748, which had such a profound influence on the drafters of the United States Constitution and the

evolution of the French republic.

Who was Montesquieu? He was a native of Bordeaux, of an aristocratic family, who after receiving the

traditional classical education studied law and inherited the title and office as President a Mortier of his

uncle who died in 1716. He became bored with his office and so in 1726 sold it and travelled extensively in

Europe before visiting England in 1729 to study their political institutions. In 1731, he was elected a Member

of the Royal Society. He later returned to live in his chateau la Bréde near Bordeaux and wrote several

works, his most famous being De L'Esprit des Loix.

De L'Esprit des Loix is regarded as the first general treatise on politics which, instead of considering who

wielded power, examined how power was wielded. The title of his work reflects this different approach, for

as Vile puts it, Montesquieu looked to "the informing principle or spirit, the tone or mood, the habits or

values ... which made [the law] work ill or well".

His support for the doctrine of separation of powers is found in Book XI Chapter 6 entitled "Of the

Constitution of England" which he based on the writings of John Locke ("Two Treatises of Government" and

"The Second Treatise of Civil Government") and of Bolingbroke. He identified as a key element in the

successful protection of liberty in England, the separation of powers effected by the English Constitution

does not correlate exactly with the position at that time and according to Vile, was not intended to. It is

rather an imaginary account to illustrate the ideal of separation of powers. Nevertheless, there was at that

time at least a partial separation of powers in England between the King, the Lords, and the Commons. In

this respect, the English Constitutional system in the eighteenth century was a model for balanced and

limited government, albeit in still the early stages of its evolution to the modern Westminster system.

While there has been debate about whether Montesquieu advocated only a strict and complete separation

of powers, the better view is that he did accept that in practice only a partial separation of powers would be

workable, complemented by further controls. The development of this partial separation of powers in

England provided the model for Montesquieu's discussion which was so influential in the further

implementation of the doctrine in the United States and France. Montesquieu is attributed with being the

first to use "executive" in juxtaposition with legislative and judicial. Also, he emphasised the importance of

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