Editorial

Years after Montesquieu has coined his famous doctrine of the trias politica, we seem to be living in what one could call the confusa politica. It is not so much that the classic institutions have developed and adopted different roles, but that it is mostly unclear what the roles of the different institutions really are. This means that it becomes difficult to assess when the institutions have transgressed their powers and when checks and balances should be in place. This does not mean that there are no checks and balances or that one or more institutions have taken absolute power, but it does implicate a world in which every institution is taking as much power as it can, only to be stopped by another institution that seemingly does the same.