The accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.

The Federalist No. 47 at 324 (Cooke ed. 1961)-Madison

(VI)

STATEMENT OF THE CHAIRMAN

The period covered by this report, March 1, 1973, through February 28, 1974, the fiscal year of the Subcommittee, coincides with a period in the history of the Nation when the constitutional principle of separation of powers was to a degree never before knowndiscussed, analyzed, debated, invoked, questioned, challenged, and frequently violated. High officials in the Government cited it as justification for controversial actions. Legislators examined it. Scholars wrote about it. The news media reported it. Suddenly, from former obscurity, the phrase became fashionable, virtually household words. This metamorphosis, of course, came about because of the Watergate affair and the subsequent investigations. For example, in a letter from the President to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, which appeared in the public press, concerning the Executive's refusal to comply with the Committee's subpoena, he cited the doctrine of separation of powers seven separate times. The Subcommittee's studies concerning Executive privilege, formalized in its first hearings on that subject in 1971 and in a second series of hearings on the same subject in 1973, assumed their true importance in the light of events surrounding Watergate.

The ramifications of Watergate as they relate to the doctrine of separation of powers clearly concern the Subcommittee on Separation of Powers and must be taken into account in any discussion concerning the period of this report.

From its inception, the Subcommittee has dedicated itself to the task of studying constitutional issues. Oversight of the day-to-day operations of the departments and agencies of government comes within the jurisdiction of other committees; thus, when the Subcommittee has looked into the performance of a particular institution of government, it has done so because the principle of separation of powers was at the heart of a problem.

The Subcommittee attempted through studies and hearings to bring to public attention the importance of the present and future state of the division of governmental authority, to pave the way for remedial legislation when needed, to remind those entrusted with the management of governmental affairs and the execution of laws not to overstep the boundaries of their jurisdictions, and to awaken an increased awareness that violation of the basic constitutional principle of separation of powers endangers our democratic form of government. SAM J. ERVIN, Jr., Chairman, Subcommittee on Separation of Powers.

STATEMENT OF THE RANKING MINORITY MEMBER

In the course of our nearly 200-year history, the people of the United States have made innovative contributions to mankind in the arts, in the sciences, and in the humanities. But no achievement, whether scientific, economic, or cultural, has rivaled the contribution made by the American experiment in representative government and its application to a continental state. Central to that experiment was the application of 18th century theories on government which extolled the worth of the division of governmental power. The result was the separation of power and the development of our tripartite system of government. The practical result was a system of government with a set of checks and balances against the concentration of political power.

Such a system is not necessarily the most efficient. Nor is it without. internal tensions, as each branch of government attempts to assert its will. But efficiency and harmony were not the primary ends of the government bequeathed to us. And, through mutual accommodation and the avoidance, where possible, of confrontations, the tripartite system has operated well and has served the purpose of expanding individual freedom.

In 1966, the Senate Subcommittee on Separation of Powers was established to "make a full and complete study of the separation of powers between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of Government provided by the Constitution, the manner in which power has been exercised by each branch, and the extent if any to which any branch or branches of the Government may have encroached upon the powers, functions, and duties vested in any other branch by the Constitution of the United States." In the last 50 years, we have witnessed an upsurge of confrontation between the branches and a lessening of accommodation. Issues presented by war and the conduct of our relations with foreign nations, by new technology, by the problems of race relations, by aggressive expansion of the executive branch's power and assorted privileges, and by congressional impotence, have heightened the stress on our governmental system. In the time since the formation of this Subcommittee, Watergate has provided the high drama to raise public awareness of many of these questions. The work of the Subcommittee and the questions it has been asking have been moved from the pages of law reviews to the front pages of the newspapers.

The continuity of our democratic system depends not only on strict adherence to constitutional guidelines by the Government, but on the determination of an informed citizenry to accept nothing less. In 436 B.C., an Athenian orator said "The soul of a state is its constitution for it is that and nothing else which deliberates on everything

S.R. 1195- -2

which tries to preserve what is good and to avoid disasters. Laws, politicians, private citizens, all must necessarily . . . act in accordance with whatever kind of constitution they live under." Our Constitution begins with the premise that power, to be controlled, must be divided. The nature of these divisions is the study of this Subcommittee.

CHARLES MCC. MATHIAS, Jr.,

Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Separation of Powers.