The separation of powers is a representation for the governance of a state. Under this model, a state's government is divided into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities so that powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches; the typical division is into three branches: a legislature, an executive, a judiciary, the trias politica model. It can be contrasted with the fusion of powers in parliamentary and semi-presidential systems, where the executive and legislative branches overlap. Separation of powers, refers to the division of responsibilities into distinct branches of government by limiting any one branch from exercising the core functions of another; the intent of separation of powers is to prevent the concentration of power by providing for checks and balances. The separation of powers model is imprecisely and metonymically used interchangeably with the trias politica principle. While the trias politica model is a common type of separation, there are governments that have greater or fewer than three branches, as mentioned in the article.

Aristotle first mentioned the idea of a "mixed government" or hybrid government in his work Politics, where he drew upon many of the constitutional forms in the city-states of Ancient Greece. In the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate and the Assemblies showed an example of a mixed government according to Polybius. John Calvin favoured a system of government that divided political power between democracy and aristocracy. Calvin appreciated the advantages of democracy, stating: "It is an invaluable gift if God allows a people to elect its own government and magistrates." In order to reduce the danger of misuse of political power, Calvin suggested setting up several political institutions that should complement and control each other in a system of checks and balances. In this way and his followers resisted political absolutism and furthered the growth of democracy. Calvin aimed to protect the well-being of ordinary people. In 1620 a group of English separatist Congregationalists and Anglicans founded Plymouth Colony in North America.

Enjoying self-rule, they established a bipartite democratic system of government. The "freemen" elected the General Court, which functioned as legislature and judiciary and which in turn elected a governor, who together with his seven "assistants" served in the functional role of providing executive power. Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania had similar constitutions – they all separated political powers. Books like William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation were read in England. So the form of government in the colonies was well-known in the mother country, including to the philosopher John Locke, he deduced from a study of the English constitutional system the advantages of dividing political power into the legislative, on the one hand, the executive and federative power, responsible for the protection of the country and prerogative of the monarch, on the other hand. During the English Civil War, the parliamentarians viewed the English system of government as composed of three branches - the King, the House of Lords and the House of Commons - where the first should have executive powers only, the latter two legislative powers.

Few years one of the first documents proposing a tripartite system of separation of powers was the Instrument of Government, written by the English general John Lambert in 1653, soon adopted as the constitution of England for few years during the The Protectorate. The system comprised a legislative branch and two executive branches, the English Council of State and the Lord Protector, all being elected and having checks upon each other. A further development in English thought was the idea that the judicial powers should be separated from the executive branch; this followed the use of the juridical system by the Crown to prosecute opposition leaders following the Restoration, in the late years of Charles II and during the short reign of James II. The term "tripartite system" is ascribed to French Enlightenment political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu, although he did not use such a term but referred to "distribution" of powers. In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu described the various forms of distribution of political power among a legislature, an executive, a judiciary.

Montesquieu's approach was to present and defend a form of government whose powers were not excessively centralized in a single monarch or similar ruler. He based this model on the Constitution of the British constitutional system. Montesquieu took the view that the Roman Republic had powers separated so that no one could usurp complete power. In the British constitutional system, Montesquieu discerned a separation of powers among the monarch and the courts of law. In every government there are three sorts of power: the legislative. By virtue of the first, the prince or magistrate enacts temporary or

The Campeonato Argentino de Rugby 2006 was won by the selection of the U. R. B. A. that beat in the final the selection of Unión de Rugby de Tucumàn The 23 teams participating were divided two levels: "Campeonato", "Ascenso", The 8 teams divided in two pools of 4 teams. The first 2 to play off; the fourth of each pools to the "finale descenso". The loser was relegated. Pool A Pool B Mar del Plata relegated 15 teams divided in two geografic zones: "North" and "South"; the final for promotion between the winner of each zone. Three pools of 3 teams; the first of each pool and the better second to semifinals- POOL 1 POOL 2 POOL 3 Two pools of three teams. The winner of each Pool progressed to the zonal final. POOL 1 POOL 2 ZONAL FINAL Promoted: San Juan Memorias de la UAR 2006 Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti, Rugby 2007, GTE Gruppo Editorale

"The Death of a Government Clerk" is a short story by Anton Chekhov published the Oskolki magazine's 2 July, No. 27 issue, subtitled "The Incident" and signed A. Chekhonte. "Received the "Fragments of Moscow Life" and "The Death of the Government Clerk. Both are delicious", Nikolai Leykin, the Oskolki's editor, informed the author by a 29 June letter, it was included into Chekhov's 1886 collection Motley Stories published in Saint Petersburg and featured unchanged in its 2–14 editions. Ivan Chervyakov, a petty government official, while in the theatre, sneezes right upon the head of a man sitting in front of him, who happens to be General Brizzhalov, a high-ranking government official, he spends the evening and the next day fawning before his sneeze victim trying to extract forgiveness, but what he succeeds instead is only bringing out a fit of rage in him. Shocked, Chervyakov returns home to lie there and die, due to the sheer stress of having endured such horror. Смерть чиновника. Original Russian text The Death of a Government Clerk.

Translation by Constance Garnett