Maldonado, Daniel Bonilla --- "The conceptual architecture of the principle of separation of powers" [2018] ELECD 374; in Bilchitz, David; Landau, David (eds), "The Evolution of the Separation of Powers" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 145

Book Title: The Evolution of the Separation of Powers

Editor(s): Bilchitz, David; Landau, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781785369766

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: The conceptual architecture of the principle of separation of powers

Author(s): Maldonado, Daniel Bonilla

Number of pages: 30

Abstract/Description:

The chapter describes and analyses the conceptual structure of the principle of separation of powers. As a consequence, it describes and analyzes its premises, the basic concepts it constructs, the particular type of subject it creates, and the notions of time and space it forms. The chapter is divided into four sections. The first section presents the key components of the current dominant interpretation of the principle separation of powers. The second section explores the concept of subject constructed by the principle of separation of powers. It constructs a collective subject, the State, which is anthropomorphized and presented as a victimizer and an individual subject, an abstract individual that is articulated as a victim of the collective subject. The third section of the chapter, studies the notion of time constructed by the principle of separation of powers. The concept of time has two dimensions. The first is the circular and infinite notion of time in which the principle operates. The second is the notion of time that intersects with the idea of social change that overlaps with the principle of separation of powers. The fourth and last section of the chapter examines the concept of space constructed by the principle of separation of powers. The conceptual geography elaborated by the principle has multiple levels. The primary one is that of the nation-state. Nevertheless, the space of the principle also has dimensions that are internal and external to this way of thinking about the organization of a political community.