What is the main purpose of the separation of powers?

Answer 1

To keep one branch of goverment from dominating the agenda and politics of the country.

The King and the Royal Family of dominated the agenda and politics of England, and that's what the Founding Fathers did NOT want to happen in this country.

Answer 2

The most important reason for separation of powers is to protect a country from unilateral actions that might be taken by individuals or groups that are not in the best interest of the Country. The separation of powers in the USA was supposed to be accomplished by dividing the government into the executive branch (i.e the president or the president's administration), legislative branch (i.e Congress- The House of Representatives and the Senate) or the judicial branch (Judges or Courts).

The War Powers Resolution is an example of such protections. It was a "joint resolution to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and insure that the collective judgement of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations." -Public Law 93-148 93rd Congress, H. J. Res. 542, November 7, 1973

While the United States was still in shock and mourning the losses of September 11, 2001, Public Law No: 107-40 was put in place to circumvent the Separation of Powers protections of the War Powers Resolution. Due to the extensive coverage of the 9/11 tragedy by the media the "S.J. Resolution 23 - Authorization for Use of Military Force ; September 18, 2001" was passed without notice. This law essentially was Congress giving the President a "blank check" and it pre-authorized any act of war initiated by the President. It states, "That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons."

Unfortunately this authorization was abused and used to initiate a war against a country that was not involved in 9/11, terrorism or threats against the United States in any way.

Answer 3

Government-wise, the concept of seperation of powers was designed to prevent anyone or any party from gaining too much power and overthrowing the government. Imagine the executive branch of the US having too much power or congress having too much power. The potential that one has with too much power puts a country at risk of a tyranny arising from a group or entity that exploits the power they have. That's why seperation of power minimizes the risk of one group ever becoming too powerful and then the concept of checks and balances further reduces the likelihood of the already seperated powers going rogue.

Answer 4

I bet everybody is going to say that it is so one party or branch can't get too strong because that is what is going on right now.
And it is so they can keep an eye on each other so they do not become corrupt. But it is also a logical division of the functions of government.