The framers of the Constitution devised a system of government that divided power among three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The intent was for the branches to check each other’s power to keep the government from superseding the sovereignty of the people. It is the application of Newton’s third law of dynamics to political science. Progressives were always dissatisfied with the arrangement because they wanted a more powerful government that could override the people’s sovereignty. Frank Goodnow and Woodrow Wilson envisioned a different separation of powers to unleash the government progressives pined for. They argued that government was not a machine, but a living thing. (This is the foundation of the theory of a living Constitution.) The division they proposed was a branch of politics and a branch of administration. Fundamentally, the political branch would placate the people while the administration ruled them. Whereas the framers feared the legislative branch would become too powerful, Goodnow and Wilson considered it an impediment. Scornful of constitutional restraint of power, they envisioned growing the power of the executive branch beyond the vision of Alexander Hamilton. The fundamental argument they used was that times had gotten too complicated for average people to govern themselves. Of course, their solution was to expand the executive branch with experts who would rule the country via regulations rather than laws. As Dr Philip Hamburger argued, administrative law is unlawful (e.g., unconstitutional). They were not going to let that stop them.

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