The Powers That Be

A Leiden Response to Möllers

Both democratic legitimacy and the separation of powers as concepts have very much evolved alongside the state and over the last decades the state has been giving up ground to other power holders, particularly international (and even supranational) actors. This brings up the question of whether the combination of these concepts is still viable outside a traditional state context, and if so, in what form? This is the central question the current volume seeks to answer.

In 2013 Christoph Möllers published his impressive monograph, The Three Branches; A Comparative Model of Separation of Powers. This inspirational book led to the idea to pitch it against both the agenda of us as researchers of the Institute of Public Law at Leiden Law School (resulting from a 2012 conference) and our own insights, as well as that of fellow travellers in the field.

Hans-Martien ten Napel is an Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University. In 2014 he was awarded a Research Fellowship in Legal Studies at the Center of Theological Inquiry (CTI) in Princeton, which enabled him to be in full-time residence at CTI for the academic year 2014-2015.

Wim Voermans is a Full Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University. He is the acting President of the International Association for Legislation. Voermans’ current research focuses on Dutch and European constitutional law, with a particular interest in the Dutch and European legislature.