Separation of Powers means that the three branches of government are separated.

The three branches are

the Legislative- the part that makes laws

the Executive - the part that carries out (executes) the laws, and

the Judicial Branch - the courts that decide if the law has been broken.

Separation of Powers helps to make sure people are safe. The executive branch carries out the laws but
cannot make laws to make themselves powerful. Also the judiciary is responsible for making sure that
criminals are punished so that members of the government or legislature cannot ignore the law as the
judiciary can check on them.

Separation of powers is also called a system of checks and balances because the branches can check up
on each other and if any of the branches get too strong, that branch will be balanced by the others.

In the United States the three branches of government are completely separate except for the Vice
President who is President of the Senate. In the United Kingdom the three branches of Government are
mixed but the checks and balances are provided by history and custom (the rule that says something
should happen because that is how it has been done for a long time). The Queen is Head of State (the
executive), but is also part of Parliament (the legislative branch) and is the Fountain of Justice (the head
of the judicial branch). But by convention she does not do anything without the advice of Ministers and
never refuses to pass an Act of Parliament. The Queen has a lot of power but the power is controlled
and balanced by the need to act in certain ways or only use the power at certain times.

In some countries the leaders of the executive branch are members of the legislature. This system is
called responsible government. The first to talk about separation of powers in the modern age was
Charles-Louis Montesquieu. Montesquieu published his book De l'esprit des lois (The Spirit of Laws) in
1748.

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