In this workshop, Frank Vibert (associate of the Centre for the Analysis of Risk and Regulation (CARR), London School of Economics) will summarise the main points of his study on ‘Rethinking the Separation of Powers’ (commissioned in a series of ‘rethinking’ titles, currently in draft) and share the comments he has received so far from other academics.
The book characterises the Separation of Powers as an architecture for learning where the Founding Fathers emphasised the newness of the structure, the need to learn from mistakes and to be able to adapt to an unknown future. It was deliberately open ended in its objectives. The book suggests that we should look at the modern separation of powers as involving two forms of tripartism: the traditional division between legislature, executive and judiciary together with the new, the electoral branch, the expert branch and the judiciary.
The book draws comparisons with the alternative architectures of consociationalism and the EU’s rights based ‘directional’ architecture. It examines the EU’s reliance on qualitative judgments (proportionality etc.) and rights treated as ‘mandates to act’ as steering mechanisms and the difference this creates with consociationalism and the separation of powers. The final comparison is made in terms of the ‘resilience’ of the different architectures. The comparison draws on the organisational distinctions proposed by Simon, & March and Olsen that differentiate between the organisational logic of consequences and the logic of appropriateness. The conclusion draws attention to the continuing need to look at democratic architectures through a learning lens.
The purpose of the discussion is to ask for comments on its main themes. The final version will incorporate revisions in light of the comments received at the workshop. The finished manuscript will be submitted to Elgars in early 2024 for publication later in the year. The contribution of the workshop will be recognised in the Acknowledgements.
All are welcome to attend. Please register indicating if you will participate online or in presence (on a first come, first serve basis).