Abstract

BONILLA-MALDONADO, Daniel Eduardo. THE CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE OF THE SEPARATION OF POWER PRINCIPLE. Vniversitas [online]. 2015, n.131, pp.231-276. ISSN 0041-9060.  https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.vj131.acps.

The article describes and analyses the conceptual structure of the principle of separation of powers. As a consequence, it describes and analyzes the premises from which the principle departs, the basic concepts it constructs, the particular type of subject it creates, and the notions of time and space it forms. The article is divided into four parts. The first part presents the key components of the current dominant interpretation of the principle separation of powers. The second part explores the concept of subject constructed by the principle of separation of powers. It constructs a collective subject, the State, which is anthropomorphized and presented as a victimizer and an individual subject, an abstract individual that is articulated as a victim of the collective subject. The third part of the paper, studies the notion of time constructed by the principle of separation of powers. The concept of time has two dimensions. The first is the circular and infinite notion of time in which the principle operates. The second is the notion of time that intersects with the idea of social change that overlaps with the principle of separation of powers. The fourth and last section of the article examines the concept of space constructed by the principle of separation of powers. The conceptual geography elaborated by the principle has multiple levels. The primary one is that of the nation-State. Nevertheless, the space of the principle also has dimensions that are internal and external to this way of thinking about the organization of a political community.

Keywords : separation of powers; cultural analysis of law; liberal state; absolute state.

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