Cameron, Maxwell A. Strong Constitutions:
Social-Cognitive Origins of the Separation of Powers (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2013).
In this imaginative and readable book, Cameron (University of
British Columbia) provides a learned defense of the separation of powers. While
not disputing the importance of the separation of powers as a source of
restraint in democratic theory, the author contends that the concept allows for
collective action, which can promote and sustain democratic regimes. Other
conceptions of the separation of powers are integrated into his critique, as
well as the importance of divided power in promoting the survivability of any
government. The separation of powers, if rightly understood, actually
strengthens regimes. The refinement of democratic institutions is also based on
the “social-cognitive” aspects of politics, especially the use of language that
encourages “collective organization” (p. 19); and, the value of a written
constitution is yet another extension of this analysis. Other factors in
addition to language, including collective bargaining and “democratized”
technologies (p. 51), can aid the evolution of the “social-cognitive”
contribution to the separation of powers. For the non-specialist, the book also
contains many useful assessments of a wide range of political thinkers, from
Aristotle to F. A. Hayek. The tome is one of the most useful defenses of the
separation of powers to appear in many years.
