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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Political Theory (Legislation): Volume 2 Session 31: An Examination and Criticism of the Theory of Separation of Powers Historical trend leading to the theory of separation of powers The government has acquired the image of a pyramid since the beginning. Aristotle portrayed government as having three ‘sides’. One side of government was allotted to the elite group of society.

This section which is presently called “legislative power” was composed of those who used to ratify necessary ordinances for the political system by using their intellect. The other ‘sides’ were equivalents of executive and judicial powers called : (1) the governors and administrators of society and (2) those who rendered justice.

In the past, Western political philosophers had also subscribed to the triple dimensions of government, and finally, Montesquieu identified the three branches of government, viz. legislative, judiciary and executive. For this purpose, he wrote the book The Spirit of the Laws [^1] (1748; trans. 1750) in which he elaborately discussed the structure and framework of each of these powers.

His intellectual effort and new ideas popularized the theory of separation of power so much so that some have identified him as the founder of the theory. Nowadays, the constitutions of most countries, including ours, are codified based on the theory of separation of powers, considering the independence of three powers from one another as one of the principles of democracy.

Internationally, a country is considered democratic if its legislative, judicial and executive powers are independent and no single power dominates the other two. Reasons behind the separation of powers The functions and responsibilities of government are complex and multiple and their performance requires awareness, knowledge, experience, and expertise which is beyond the capability of one person, and necessitates division of labor and separation of powers.

As such, all the functions performed by the government are classified into three. Of course, most of them belong to the executive branch. For example, taking command of war and defense affairs, attending to deprived members of society, administering training, education, health and medical affairs pertain to executive power. In fact, judiciary engages only in rendering justice and the legislature in lawmaking. Attending to the needs of society are among the responsibilities of the executive.