Anglosaska doktryna rozdziału władzy XIX wieku

Abstract

According to a stereotypical opinion the theory of power division starts from Montesquieu, leads to Montesquieu and finishes with Montesquieu. Meanwhile you could not be more wrong — no element of the previous statement is true. The evidence constitutes even the very article concerning less-known adepts of this theory writing in Great Britain and the United States two centuries ago. One of them was John Taylor (1753—1824) from Virginia, a senator and one of the leaders of anti-federalists, belonging to the most influential American political writers of the 19th century. His main work is (An Inquiry into the Principles and Policy of the Government of the United States) from 1814. The author also discusses relevant opinions of the representatives of the British radical movement, the most well-known representatives of which were David Williams and John Cartwright. The former is the author of Letters on Political Liberty from 1872 and Lectures on Political Principles published 7 years later. The latter, on the other hand, wrote (An Appeal on the Subject of the English Constitution) from 1791 and a treatise The English Constitution produced and Illustrated from 1823. Other political writers, the opinions of whom within the theory of power division are discusses here, are among others Jeremy Bentham (1784—1832), the author of among others A General View of a Complete Code of Laws from 1802 and Constitutional Code from 1827— 1830. Also, the opinions of American progressivists such as Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Croly, Gamaliel Bradford and Frank Goodnow were noted down. The biggest response was evoked by a small work written by the first of them (1856—1924) entitled Congressional Government in the United States from 1885.