The Constitution’s separation of powers implies the existence of three distinct and separate branches.
Separation of Powers
I wish to acknowledge a general debt of inspiration to Mark Tushnet’s studies of political controls on emergency powers, although my views differ from Tushnet’s. See generally, for example, Mark Tushnet, The Political Constitution of Emergency Powers: Some Lessons from Hamdan, 91 Minn L Rev 1451 (2007); Mark Tushnet, The Political Constitution of Emergency Powers: Parliamentary and Separation-of-Powers Regulation, 3 Intl J L in Context 275 (2008). For helpful comments, thanks to Jack Goldsmith, Eric Posner, Philip Rumney, Matthew Stephenson, Cass Sunstein, Mark Tushnet, workshop participants at Harvard Law School, and participants at a conference held at Harvard Law School to discuss Cass R. Sunstein, Worst-case Scenarios (Harvard 2007). Thanks to Elisabeth Theodore and Jennifer Shkabatur for helpful research assistance.
We are grateful to Bruce Ackerman, Rachel Brewster, Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, Bob Cooter, Rosalind Dixon, John Ferejohn, David Fontana, Heather Gerken, Tom Ginsburg, Dan Ho, Cheng-Yi Huang, Alison LaCroix, Daryl Levinson, John Matsusaka, Richard McAdams, Drew Navikas, Anne O’Connell, Eric Posner, Adam Samaha, Lior Strahilevitz, Madhavi Sunder, Cass Sunstein, Matthew Stephenson, and Adrian Vermeule for helpful comments and conversations. Johanna Chan, Monica Groat, Stacey Nathan, and Peter Wilson provided excellent research assistance. Financial support was provided by the John M. Olin Foundation and the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
Thanks to Greg Alexander, Akhil Amar, Will Baude, Aaron Bruhl, Michael Dorf, Joey Fishkin, Marin Levy, Bernadette Meyler, David Pozen, Catherine Roach, and Steve Sachs for helpful and thought-provoking comments on earlier drafts, and to Kevin Jackson for excellent research assistance. Any remaining errors or infelicities are, of course, my own.
Thanks to Daniel Abebe, Bernard Harcourt, Rick Hills, Trevor Morrison, Eric Posner, and Adrian Vermeule for their insightful and helpful comments, and to Eileen Ho for excellent research assistance. I am especially grateful to Professor Posner for graciously suggesting that I look closely at one of his books. I am pleased to acknowledge the support of the Frank Cicero, Jr Faculty Fund. All errors herein are mine alone.
For comments, I am grateful to Kristen Boon, Curt Bradley, Stephen Burbank, Cary Coglianese, Bill Ewald, Oona Hathaway, Sophia Lee, Zach Price, Beth Simmons, the editors of the University of Chicago Law Review, and participants at the 2016 Yale-Duke Foreign Relations Law Roundtable, the University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty retreat, and the Seton Hall University School of Law faculty workshop. For assistance with sources, I thank Gabriela Femenia of the Penn Law Library.
In his farewell address, George Washington urged that “[t]he great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is . . . to have with them as little political connection as possible.”
Volumes
- Volume 93.1January2026
- Volume 92.8December2025
- Volume 92.7November2025
- Volume 92.6October2025
- Volume 92.5September2025
- Volume 92.4June2025
- Volume 92.3May2025
- Volume 92.2March2025
- Volume 92.1January2025
- Volume 91.8December2024
- Volume 91.7November2024
- Volume 91.6October2024
- Volume 91.5September2024
- Volume 91.4June2024
- Volume 91.3May2024
- Volume 91.2March2024
- Volume 91.1January2024
- Volume 90.8December2023
- Volume 90.7November2023
- Volume 90.6October2023
- Volume 90.5September2023
- Volume 90.4June2023
- Volume 90.3May2023
- Volume 90.2March2023
- Volume 90.1January2023
- Volume 89.8December2022
- Volume 89.7November2022
- Volume 89.6October2022
- Volume 89.5September2022
- Volume 89.4June2022
- Volume 89.3May2022
- Volume 89.2March2022
- Volume 89.1January2022
- Volume 88.8December2021
- v88.6October2021
- v88.4June2021
- v88.3May2021
- 87.1January2020
- 84.4Fall2017
- 84.3Summer2017
- 84.2Spring2017
- 84.1Winter2017
- 84 SpecialNovember2017
- 81.3Summer2014
- 80.1Winter2013
- 78.1Winter2011