The IM Writers Association. We aim to create a community of writers who share a common faith and passion for writing that advances the Life of Jesus Christ. #56: A Separation of PowersIDENTITY POLITICS | Mark Boonstra: We’ve all heard of the “separation of powers,” right? But what does it really mean?
Listen to our podcast version: Sponsored by Laurie Penner. The separation of powers within the United States is a cornerstone of its democratic governance, designed to prevent the concentration of power and ensure a system of checks and balances. This principle divides governmental authority among three distinct branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial - all required to protect its separate governing bodies while protecting religious freedom. Each branch is endowed with unique powers and responsibilities, enabling them to function independently while holding each other accountable in honoring the Constitution. -Phinney
We’ve all heard of the “separation of powers,” right?But what does it really mean? Well, Americans have a front row seat to the civics lesson playing out before their very eyes. At its core, the “separation of powers” is part and parcel of the great experiment that became the United States of America. When independence was declared in 1776, the fledgling former British colonies were still getting their sea legs. And our government was not yet structured as it is today. So, before tackling what the “separation of powers” means today, a little history is first in order.In the lead-up to independence, representatives from the 13 colonies convened in Philadelphia in what was then known as the Continental Congress. When efforts to repair the fracturing relationship with the motherland proved to be futile, the move toward independence advanced through the Congress. On June 7, 1776, it fell to Richard Henry Lee of Virginia—one of the great orators of the Congress, and an ardent and early advocate for independence—to put forth a resolution declaring the united American colonies to be “free and independent states.” John Adams (who was later elected as the second President of the United States) quickly seconded the motion. Debate ensued, and a committee was formed to draft a statement of independence. The committee was comprised of Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston and—as a compromise candidate—a young Thomas Jefferson. The committee named Jefferson as its principal drafter, and Jefferson thus became known as the author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson’s foundational words invoked the right of a free people “to assume among the powers of the earth, separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them.” “[A]ppealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions,” the Founders declared: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. And as they set out to establish a new form of government based upon the rights bestowed upon them by God, they pledged: And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. Upon Congress’ adoption of the Declaration on July 4, 1776, the war for independence was on. But the newly minted nation had no president (or executive branch of government) as we know it today. Rather, it was governed by a primarily legislative body, the Continental Congress. On November 15, 1777, the Congress approved the Articles of Confederation of Perpetual Union. An agreement among the original 13 states, the Articles established a confederacy of the states styled as “The United States of America,” and provided the initial structure of the new American government. It effectively was our first governing constitution. But in the aftermath of the abuses inflicted by the British monarchy, the Articles continued to provide for a weak central government lacking an executive. The governing authority instead was what became known as the Congress of the Confederation, officially the “United States in Congress Assembled.” The first President of the United States in Congress Assembled was Samuel Huntington of Connecticut. Congress informally abided by the terms of the Articles while awaiting its ratification by the states, and it became effective on March 1, 1781 upon its ratification by the state of Maryland (the last of the 13 states to do so). In affixing their signatures to the Articles, the delegates to the Continental Congress reaffirmed that the authority by which they did so came from God, noting that: [I]t hath pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said articles of confederation and perpetual union . . . . In 1787, the Articles of Confederation gave way to the United States Constitution, which established a more durable form of government comprised of a bicameral legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. And, thus, the separation of powers was born.The Constitution was drafted at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, was first ratified by the state of Delaware in December of that year, became effective upon ratification by the state of New Hampshire in 1788 (ratification by nine states being required), and saw ratification become unanimous among the original thirteen states in 1790, upon the assent of the state of Rhode Island. The Constitution, like the Articles of Confederation before it, set forth a governmental structure and outlined the responsibilities and authorities of its component parts. Like the Articles, the Constitution described the liberties it assured as “Blessings” from One greater than ourselves: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Proclaiming that our individual liberties and unalienable rights are “blessings” from “God,” “endowed to us by our Creator,” our Founding Fathers appealed to the “Supreme Judge of the World,” invoked the authority of the “Great Governor of the World,” and with “a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence” gave birth to a new nation unlike any that had gone before it, the United States of America. Article I of the new Constitution of the United States granted legislative power to the Congress of the United States. Article II granted executive power and provided that such power “shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” And Article III granted judicial power, providing that such power “shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” By creating this “separation of powers,” the Constitution ensured that no single authority could amass the kind of all-encompassing authority that the British monarchy had employed against its American colonies before the revolution. It fashioned a system of “checks and balances,” in which each of the three branches of government balances, and has a check over, the others. As a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals, I once had occasion to explain it this way:The genius of our Founding Fathers in establishing a system of three separate and coequal branches of government was in recognizing that it is the checks and balances of such a system that serve to preserve our liberty. As I recently observed . . . preservation of liberty “is why legislatures enact laws and why it is up to the executive to sign them (or not). And it is why the judiciary defers to the legislature on matters of public policy.” Without question, such a system creates certain inefficiencies in government. After all, it would be much easier if a benevolent dictator could simply rule by decree without having to endure the inconvenience of others’ input. But those inefficiencies are there by design; they are the natural and intended consequence of our system of checks and balances. And those inefficiencies are therefore the price we willingly pay so that we may live under the banner of freedom in the United States of America. This is why, for example, Congress enacts laws. But the President has the authority to veto them. And Congress has the authority, with a two-thirds vote, to override the President’s veto. The President appoints judges, but those appointments are subject to confirmation by the United States Senate. And the judicial branch interprets the laws and has the ultimate say over whether those laws conform to the Constitution. Fast-forward to today. The modern-day executive branch of our federal government has morphed into something our Founding Fathers could never have imagined. It has grown exponentially by the creation of agency after agency and department after department, often acting independently of the head of the executive branch—the President. Although appearing nowhere in our Constitution, it has, to a great extent, effectively become a fourth branch of government—the administrative state. Congress has to a large extent abdicated its legislative authority by delegating power to those agencies and departments to adopt rules and regulations with the force of law. And the judiciary has long held—through the Chevron deference standard—that those agencies’ legal interpretations generally control. [This trend was stanched by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Enterprises v. Raimondo.] Because of the “separation of powers” and the resulting “checks and balances,” the three branches of government are frequently at odds, vying for authority, and testing and frequently trying to extend the bounds of their respective authority. I thus in my judicial role have frequently have had occasion to address what I saw as “executive overreach,” “judicial overreach,” and the abdication of legislative authority and responsibility. Take notice, America. This is what you see playing out on the stage before us. President Trump, for example, asserting his authority through a series of executive actions, seeking greater control over the agencies, departments, and federal employees who are at least facially a part of his executive branch of government, and seeking to exert greater control over their expenditure of funds (our tax dollars). Meanwhile, certain members of Congress decry those efforts, characterize them as the actions of a fascist, and assert legislative authority to create agencies and appropriate funds to them as they see fit. Further still, lawsuit after lawsuit is now being filed in an effort to restrain these executive actions. Frequently, the proponents of these lawsuits bring them in jurisdictions where the judges, they hope, will be friendly to their positions. How all of this will turn out remains to be seen. Many of these issues will wind up before the Supreme Court. And, as mentioned, the Supreme Court has the ultimate authority to determine whether challenged actions comport with the Constitution. Representative democracy in America is a messy business. Lines are blurred. Lines get crossed. Checks and balances abound. But that’s the price we pay for freedom in America. Buckle up. Enjoy the ride. Let’s embrace the civics lesson and learn from it. America will be stronger for it.
Identity Politics, with Mark Boonstra & Dr. Stephen Phinney, is an extension of IOM America’s IM Christian Writers Association. The mission of the authors is to restore faith in God & country. -Mark | Mark’s Substack | Visit Mark’s Website
IM Writers Association is a collective group of Christian writers who support the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ while sustaining an eschatological view of the Holy Scriptures of God.
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