{
  "vercy": "1.0-draft",
  "publication": {
    "status": "research-draft",
    "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed",
    "publishableCanonical": false,
    "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T05:23:21Z",
    "providers": [
      "Claude"
    ],
    "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify",
    "pass": 2,
    "wave": 3,
    "engine": "claude",
    "enrichment": {
      "pass": 3,
      "engine": "claude",
      "producedAt": "2026-10-06T10:00:00Z",
      "ingestedAt": "2026-10-06T07:07:00+00:00",
      "fields": [
        "agent_conduct",
        "ethics",
        "owners"
      ]
    },
    "revisions": [
      {
        "at": "2026-10-06T22:58:53+00:00",
        "engine": "codex",
        "fields": [
          "definition",
          "visual_identification"
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        "answering_review": "2dde11e14e467ecc45f736ff3dde7b094622f26177660908355afb18859b46f2"
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    "gate": {
      "passed": true,
      "version": "1.0",
      "at": "2026-10-07T10:10:32+00:00",
      "evidence": [
        "completeness 1.00",
        "sense: Wikidata description",
        "2 live sources",
        "review by codex: pass"
      ]
    }
  },
  "metaModel": {
    "id": "THING-Q79896",
    "registryId": "vr.tr.separation-of-powers",
    "name": "separation of powers",
    "version": "0.2.0-wave.3",
    "entryKind": "thing",
    "family": "Thing Registry",
    "domain": [
      "SOC.ORG"
    ],
    "status": "research-draft"
  },
  "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q79896/",
  "model": {
    "registry_id": "vr.tr.separation-of-powers",
    "name": "separation of powers",
    "purpose": "Let an agent explain the separation of powers and its variants, relay its theory and constitutional forms from political and legal sources with attribution, describe checks and balances and debates, and distinguish separation of powers from federalism, rule of law and judicial independence.",
    "definition": "A model of government in which state power is divided among distinct branches, classically the legislative, executive and judicial, with differentiated functions and varying degrees of personnel separation and with checks and balances so that no branch can dominate, formulated by Montesquieu and embodied in the United States Constitution and many others; parliamentary systems combine this division of functions with overlapping executive and legislative personnel, while dualism between a head of state and head of government concerns roles within the executive and is not itself separation among the three branches.",
    "what_it_is_for": "Preventing concentration of state power.",
    "affordances": [
      "explain the model",
      "relay theory and forms",
      "describe checks and balances",
      "distinguish related principles"
    ],
    "distinguishing_features": [
      "Distinct branches",
      "Checks and balances",
      "Constitutional embodiment",
      "Variants by system"
    ],
    "appearance": "Not a visible object; a constitutional structure.",
    "visual_identification": [
      "State power is divided among branches.",
      "Tripartite separation and checks and balances take different forms in parliamentary and presidential systems.",
      "Federalism divides power territorially; rule of law binds power to law; judicial independence is one element."
    ],
    "physical_properties": [
      {
        "quantity": "Montesquieu s Spirit of the Laws",
        "typical_range": "1748",
        "unit": "year",
        "note": ""
      },
      {
        "quantity": "US Constitution",
        "typical_range": "1787",
        "unit": "year",
        "note": ""
      },
      {
        "quantity": "classic branches",
        "typical_range": "3",
        "unit": "count",
        "note": ""
      }
    ],
    "families_and_kinds": [
      "strict separation in presidential systems",
      "fusion of powers in parliamentary systems",
      "semi-presidential dualism between president and prime minister",
      "political dualism as debated in Romania and elsewhere",
      "additional branches such as electoral or audit bodies in some constitutions"
    ],
    "related_models": [
      {
        "relation": "is a kind of",
        "target": "government structure",
        "why": "in registry terms"
      },
      {
        "relation": "is a kind of",
        "target": "political philosophy",
        "why": "in registry terms"
      },
      {
        "relation": "was formulated by",
        "target": "Montesquieu",
        "why": "in The Spirit of the Laws"
      },
      {
        "relation": "is embodied in",
        "target": "Constitution of the United States",
        "why": "among others"
      }
    ],
    "identifiers": [],
    "standards_and_regulation": [
      "National constitutions",
      "Venice Commission opinions on constitutional design",
      "No general regulation"
    ],
    "failure_modes_and_hazards": [
      "Confusing separation of powers with federalism",
      "Treating one model as universal",
      "Partisan framing of constitutional disputes"
    ],
    "in_scope": [],
    "out_of_scope": [],
    "characteristics": [],
    "agent_conduct": {
      "may": [
        "Explain the separation of powers and checks and balances, citing constitutional sources.",
        "Describe how a stated constitution divides power between branches."
      ],
      "must_not": [
        "Present one country's arrangement as the only valid form.",
        "Help any branch evade lawful checks, such as court orders or legislative oversight.",
        "Mislabel a dispute between branches as unconstitutional without legal authority."
      ],
      "requires_human": [
        "Characterizing a specific government action as a breach of the separation of powers in published work."
      ]
    },
    "ethics": {
      "considerations": [
        "The principle protects citizens from concentrated, unchecked power.",
        "Claims about it are often used in partisan disputes."
      ],
      "affected_parties": [
        "Citizens",
        "Courts and legislatures"
      ]
    },
    "owners": {
      "steward": "Nobody owns the principle; constitutions embody it and courts enforce it.",
      "master_systems": []
    }
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "wikidata",
      "title": "Wikidata item Q79896: separation of powers",
      "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79896",
      "url_status": "live",
      "what_it_supports": "identity and sense of the item",
      "checked_by": "wikidata-api"
    },
    {
      "id": "wikipedia-en",
      "title": "Wikipedia: Separation of powers",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers",
      "url_status": "live",
      "what_it_supports": "general description of the item",
      "checked_by": "wikidata-api sitelink"
    }
  ],
  "structure": {
    "bundles": [
      {
        "id": "understand",
        "name": "Understand",
        "description": "What separation of powers is.",
        "rationale": "Definition.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "definition",
            "name": "Definition",
            "description": "Definition.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "definition-finding",
                "name": "Definition",
                "description": "Definition.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What is the separation of powers, and how does it differ from federalism, rule of law and judicial independence?",
                    "kind": "definition"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Is the question about the principle, a specific constitution or a current dispute?",
                    "kind": "boundary"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "variants",
            "name": "Variants",
            "description": "Variants.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "variants-finding",
                "name": "Variants",
                "description": "Variants.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How do presidential, parliamentary and semi-presidential systems and political dualism apply the principle?",
                    "kind": "definition"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits the specific system?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "theory",
        "name": "Theory",
        "description": "Theory.",
        "rationale": "Attribution.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "origins",
            "name": "Origins",
            "description": "Origins.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "origins-finding",
                "name": "Origins",
                "description": "Origins.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How did Aristotle, Locke, Montesquieu and the American founders develop the idea, as historians describe?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which references are standard?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "debates",
            "name": "Debates",
            "description": "Debates.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "debates-finding",
                "name": "Debates",
                "description": "Debates.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What debates exist about the effectiveness and limits of separation of powers, with positions attributed?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Is the presentation neutral?",
                    "kind": "boundary"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "practice",
        "name": "Practice",
        "description": "In practice.",
        "rationale": "Sources.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "checks",
            "name": "Checks",
            "description": "Checks and balances.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "checks-finding",
                "name": "Checks",
                "description": "Checks.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How do vetoes, judicial review, impeachment and oversight function as checks?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which sources are cited?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "cases",
            "name": "Cases",
            "description": "Country cases.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "cases-finding",
                "name": "Cases",
                "description": "Cases.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How do the United States, France, Romania and others structure their branches?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits the specific country?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "context",
        "name": "Context",
        "description": "Context.",
        "rationale": "Context.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "erosion",
            "name": "Erosion",
            "description": "Erosion and defence.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "erosion-finding",
                "name": "Erosion",
                "description": "Erosion.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How do scholars assess threats to separation of powers, with positions attributed?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits democratic backsliding?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "comparison",
            "name": "Comparison",
            "description": "Comparison.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "comparison-finding",
                "name": "Comparison",
                "description": "Comparison.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How does the principle compare with other constitutional designs?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits comparative constitutional law?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "openQuestions": [
    "Should checks and balances and semi-presidential system be separate primary entries?",
    "How should political and legal sources be linked?",
    "The registry entry has merged aliases naming a country-specific debate; should it be split off?"
  ],
  "statistics": {
    "bundles": 4,
    "layers": 8,
    "findings": 8,
    "questions": 16
  }
}