The purpose of this paper is to show how the separation of powers helps to make the U.S. Constitution work. One of the key principles of the U.S. Constitution that has helped it to endure for two hundred years is the separation of powers of the three branches of government - executive, legislative, and judiciary. The first section of Article I vests "all legislative powers" in Congress, while Articles II and III vest executive and judicial powers in the President and the courts, respectively. Each branch of the federal government has its own area of responsibility and is restrained from encroaching on the power of the other two branches. By separating the functions of executive, judiciary, and legislative branches, the Framers of the Constitution hoped to reduce the abuses of official power and restrain the government from infringing on the rights of the people.
The three branches are separated not only by function - making the law, administering the law, and enforcing the law - but also by the procedures by which their offices are filled. The President and members of Congress are elected by separate electoral processes for terms specified in the Constitution. Thus a President, annoyed at a member of Congress, cannot have that person removed from office or change the term that he or she is to serve. Congress cannot, except by a difficult impeachment process, remove the President from office. The judiciary, while appointed by the President and approved by Congress, has tenure for life and cannot be removed by either branch. Thus the concept of separation of powers depends both on distinct functions vested in each branch and on a rigorously preserved political independence, which the Framers of the Constitution were careful to ensure.
The Constitution does not call for a strict separation of powers, but rather for a system of checks and balances designed to prevent any one branch of government from becoming too powerful...