The theory that government tyranny is prevented by dividing social and political power through distinct, separate branches or offices of state. The idea is that by distributing political functions among different institutions of society and government, freedom and justice are preserved and maintained. No one person or group can hold all power.

This idea of separating and spreading out power to promote justice appears in the writings of Frenchman Montesquieu, English writers Bolingbroke and Blackstone, and American founder James Madison. In Britain, the division of state into monarch, House of Lords, and House of Commons is seen as accomplishing checks and balances--each institution of government limiting, or checking, the power of the others. In the U.S. Constitution, the division of the national or federal government into executive (president), legislative (Congress), and judicial (courts) branches achieves the same purpose of widely distributing authority and protecting the people from arbitrary or dictatorial rule. Also, the U.S. separation of power between centralized and decentralized governments (national vs. state) is also seen as a check on absolutist political power.

The origin of this idea is the political thought of Aristotle and his idea that the most stable regime or state is a "mixed" form of government with the rule of one (king), the rule of a few (aristocracy), and rule of the many (democracy) is combined in one state, balancing social interests. In James Madison's U.S. constitutional thought, this derives also from his Calvinist Christian religion, which holds that all humans are selfish and sinful and will use political power to control and oppress others, so state authority must be divided to ensure social peace, justice, and stability.

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