ABSTRACT
The doctrine of the separation of powers, in contrast, belongs to a tradition which conceives the constitution as a form of government. The separation of powers, however, suffers from a number of notorious and related problems, of which two are particularly important. First, there is the conceptual and practical difficulty of distinguishing the different functions. The locus classicus of the separation of powers is of Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws. Montesquieu's initial description of the separation of powers followed the Lockean distinction between legislative and executive, the latter being further subdivided into internal and external affairs. This fusion of the separation of powers and mixed government produced a socially and politically balanced and mutually checking constitution. The Federalist Papers rework the doctrine of the separation of powers in terms suited to a democratic society. This redefinition involved adding a territorial and a representative dimension to the social and functional separation found in Montesquieu's mixed government version of the doctrine.
