The Flexible Separation of Power in the Parliamentary Regime
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Parliamentary regime, flexible separation of power, Montesquieu, French Republic, executive power, legislative power, judicial power, democracy
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Abstract
This document explores the concept of a flexible separation of power in the parliamentary regime, as advocated by Montesquieu. It delves into the history of the French Republic, from the First to the Fifth Republic, and examines the role of the executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The document also discusses the idea of a parliamentary regime and its implications for democracy.
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[...] The principle of the separation of powers is also essential to maintain the stability and security of the state. It allows to ensure that institutions are independent and that decisions are made in a transparent and responsible manner. In summary, the principle of the separation of powers is a fundamental principle of democracy that allows to ensure the freedom, justice and security of citizens. . The Old Republics and Empires: a rigid separation During the fall of the Monarchy in 1791, and the early stages of the establishment of the First French Republic through the Constitution of 1791, we establish a transition, the King who held full powers no longer holds more than the executive power. [...]
[...] How has the separation of powers in France been concretized and how has it evolved? According to Article 19 of the Constitution of the Second Republic dating from 1848, "The separation of powers is the first condition of a free government." That is why it is essential to establish and concretize an equal separation of powers and to ensure the independence of each of them. This in order to protect individual freedoms as well as the interests of the people and to organize a stable balance without abuse of power. [...]
[...] We can note that the executive power, as at the beginning of the First Republic, is held by the King, whereas the legislative power is held by the Chambers, but also by the King; there is a bicameralism, the legislative power is led by two chambers, the Chamber of Peers and the Chamber of Deputies. The King thus exercises authority both from an executive point of view and from a legislative point of view. The King therefore always retains important powers, particularly in the context of the nomination of ministers or concerning the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies. [...]
[...] The first legislates, it creates the law, modifies it or abrogates it, the second executes and ensures the good application of the law, it also manages in parallel the diplomacy and the country's politics, and finally, the third judges, it is based on the texts of the law and gives the decisions of justice in case of infraction. To be interested in the separation of powers, its implementation or its organization offers us the possibility of better understanding the functioning of democracy itself and, as a result, the functioning of the Fifth Republic in which we are, its institutions and the major importance they have in the role of French democracy. We can therefore ask ourselves how the separation of powers has been concretized and how it has evolved in France. [...]
[...] Thus, the government can, for example, like in the case of the Fifth Republic, be censured by the Parliament in the same way that the Parliament can be dissolved by the Government. In a flexible separation of powers, the executive is linked to the legislative, one can say among other things that the executive is the commissary of the legislative, either by verticality, if one estimates that the legislative dominates the executive, it creates the law and the other is there. [...]
