The Evolution of the Separation of Powers

Between the Global North and the Global South

Edited by David Bilchitz, Professor, University of Johannesburg; Director, South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC); Secretary-General, International Association of Constitutional Law and David Landau, Mason Ladd Professor and Associate Dean for International Programs, Florida State University, College of Law, US

应该在多大程度上码的教义on of powers evolve in light of recent shifts in constitutional design and practice? Constitutions now often include newer forms of rights – such as socioeconomic and environmental rights – and are written with an explicitly transformative purpose. They also often reflect include new independent bodies such as human rights commissions and electoral tribunals whose position and function within the traditional structure is novel. The practice of the separation of powers has also changed, as the executive has tended to gain power and deliberative bodies like legislatures have often been thrown into a state of crisis. The chapters in this edited volume grapple with these shifts and the ways in which the doctrine of the separation of powers might respond to them. It also asks whether the shifts that are taking place are mostly a product of the constitutional systems of the global south, or instead reflect changes that run across most liberal democratic constitutional systems around the world.

‘This volume subjects a central tenet of constitutional theory – separation of powers – to a searching analysis in comparative perspective. The essays offer rigorous analysis and fresh perspectives. The volume’s attention to the constitutions of the global south is an especially welcome and important addition to the comparative constitutional scholarship.’
– Adrienne Stone, The University of Melbourne, Australia

‘The separation of powers is one of the most central and familiar concepts in constitutional law. Yet it is surprisingly under-studied from a comparative perspective: by engaging some of the world’s leading comparative constitutional scholars on the topic, this volume thus provides a highly timely and valuable contribution to the existing constitutional literature. In doing so, it also points to new and exciting possibilities about what re-imagined separation of powers understandings might look like – i.e. how in countries in the global south in particular, recent decades have seen the growth of new institutions and institutional relationships that may well redefine how we ultimately understand the pre-requisites for democracy, the rule of law and basic government accountability.’
– Rosalind Dixon, University of New South Wales, Australia