The separation of powers (henceforth SP) is conceived here as an evolutionary
device for the self-control of power, grown in England, then designed in
Usa, and forcefully returned to the attention of political philosophers and social
scientists in the last twenty years. In the evolution of constitutionalism, at
least three SPs have thus stratified and overlapped. The “old” SP, firstly adopted
by Montesquieu as a remedy for French absolutism, was re-designed
by James Madison in the context of a federal state. The “new” SP, as a remedy
for the concentration of public functions in the executive power and specifically
in its administration, was proposed as an alternative to the crisis of
both British parliamentarism and US presidentialism. Lastly, the “newest”
SP seeks to control global powers, including private ones such as Bigh Tech,
by multiplying the international courts and authorities. In short, many of the
chances of survival and further diffusion of pluralist liberal democracies rely
precisely on the synergy between these three SPs.
