As with any form of parliamentary government, there is no complete separation between the legislative and executive branches, but a continuum between them because of the relationship of trust. The balance between these two branches is protected by the Constitution[33] and between them and the judiciary, which is truly independent. Separation of powers is an approach to state governance. According to this, the government of a state is divided into branches, each with distinct and independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typical division is divided into three branches: a legislative, an executive and a judicial, which corresponds to the trias politica model. It can be compared to the merging of powers in parliamentary and semi-presidential systems where executive and legislative powers overlap. A multi-party system, which must form either a minority executive or a coalition executive, functions as a perfectly good system of checks and balances, even if the introduction of a multi-party system was never a stated goal. The multi-party system emerged in response to a public outcry over insufficient number of parties and a general sense of lack of representation. For this reason, there is very little in Norwegian political science work today on the subject of separation of powers or separation of powers. Here are notable examples of post-Montesquieu states that had more than three powers: The best-known example of separation of powers is the tripartite system in the United States and the United Kingdom, in which there are three distinct branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. Each has different powers, although some U.S.

states use the two-tier system that assigns powers to two distinct groups. If the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body of judges, there can be no freedom; Because fears may arise that the same monarch or senate will enact tyrannical laws to enforce them tyrannically. This page provides legislators and staff with resources that can be used to address separation of powers issues. It organizes them into broad categories and links to various resources to illustrate how the doctrine is applied to specific topics in each category. Resources include introductory articles on law, court cases and legislative reports. Although the separation of powers is more closely linked to politics, this type of system can also be used in other organizations. For example, there are good reasons to separate the positions of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President in order to increase controls and give real integrity to corporate governance. Since the primary role of the board is to oversee management on behalf of shareholders, the CEOs in both roles effectively monitor each other, resulting in potential abuse of authority and reduced transparency and accountability.

Belgium is currently a federal state that has applied the trias politica at different levels of government. The Constitution of 1831, considered one of the most liberal of its time to limit the powers of its monarch and impose a strict system of separation of powers, is based on three principles (presented in the Schematic Overview of Belgian Institutions). As there was no election of the executive, the king governed extremely independently in the selection of members of the Council of State, until the 1880s no formal political party was formed. A conflict between the executive and legislative branches began to develop in the 1870s and culminated in the indictment of the entire Council of State by the legislature in 1884 (see Statsrådssaken [Norwegian Wikipedia page]). This was accompanied by a shift to a parliamentary system of government. Although the whole process has lasted decades, it has led to a system of parliamentary sovereignty in which the rising idea of separation of powers is technically dead, although all three branches remain important institutions. The separation of powers was first enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, in which the Founding Fathers incorporated the features of many new concepts, including hard-learned historical lessons about the separation of powers.