Constitutionalism and the Separation of Powers
Arguably no political principle has been more central than the separation of powers to the evolution of constitutional governance in Western democracies. In the definitive work on the subject, M. J. C. Vile traces the history of the doctrine from its rise during the English Civil War, through its development in the eighteenth century - when it was indispensable to the founders of the American republic - through subsequent political thought and constitution-making in Britain, France, and the United States. The author concludes with an examination of criticisms of the doctrine by both behavioralists and centralizers - and with “A Model of a Theory of Constitutionalism.” The new Liberty Fund second edition includes the entirety of the original 1967 text published by Oxford, a major epilogue entitled “The Separation of Powers and the Administrative State,” and a bibliography.
Read the Liberty Classic on this title from Law & Liberty
Constitutionalism and the Separation of Powers (2nd ed.) (Indianapolis, Liberty Fund 1998).
Copyright:
The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc.
People:
- Author: M.J.C. Vile
Formats:
| Format | Description | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Facsimile PDF | This is a facsimile or image-based PDF made from scans of the original book. | 21.7 MB |
| Facsimile PDF small | This is a compressed facsimile or image-based PDF made from scans of the original book. | 4.48 MB |
| HTML | This version has been converted from the original text. Every effort has been taken to translate the unique features of the printed book into the HTML medium. | 1.37 MB |
Table of Contents
- CONTENTS
- PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
- The Doctrine of the Separation of Powers and Institutional Theory
- The Foundation of the Doctrine
- The Theory of the Balanced Constitution
- Montesquieu
- The Matchless Constitution and Its Enemies
- The Doctrine in America
- The Doctrine in France
- The Rise and Fall of Parliamentary Government
- From the Third Republic to the Fifth
- Progressivism and Political Science in America
- Political Theory, Constitutionalism, and the Behavioural Approach
- A Model of a Theory of Constitutionalism
- Epilogue: The Separation of Powers and the Administrative State
- The Separation of Powers and Political Theory
- The Problem of Government: The United States
- Government by Party in Britain
- The Administrative State
- Judicial Review and the Administrative State
- The Theory of Constitutionalism
- The Control of the Administrative State
- Conclusion
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- 1. General Works
- 2. The Precursors
- 3. Seventeenth-Century England: The Birth of the Doctrine
- 4. The Balanced Constitution of the Eighteenth Century and Its Critics
- 5. Montesquieu
- 6. The Colonial Period in America
- 7. The American Revolution and the State Constitutions
- 8. The Federal Constitution and Its Critics
- 9. The French Revolution
- 10. Post-Revolutionary France
- 11. The Nineteenth-Century British Constitution
- 12. The United States: 1850–1945
- 13. The Twentieth-Century British Political System
- 14. From the Third Republic to the Fifth
- 15. Modern American Constitutional Law and Theory
- 16. General References
- 17. Political Theory and the Separation of Powers