ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT STUDENTS OF POLITICS IN THE USA learn is that the central organizing principle of the Constitution and of the political system is the separation of powers. Yet most students begin with – and few are encouraged to go beyond – a very one-sided view of that principle. For the most part, they are taught about the protective, controlling purposes rather than about the constructive, empowering purposes of the practice of separating governmental powers. They are always taught to appreciate power separation as a means of avoiding certain evils, but they are rarely taught to appreciate it as a means of attaining certain goods.

THE RESULT OF THE DANISH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION OF 11 MARCH 1998 could hardly have been closer. It came down to 89 voters in the Faroes: had this number voted for the local centre-right party, rather than the centre-left one, both of the islands' two seats in the Danish Folketing (parliament) would have gone to supporters of the opposition, thus tipping the parliamentary balance. However, because the sister party of the Danish Social Democrats won one of those seats, the incumbent prime minister, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, managed to confound the predictions of the opinion polls and stay in power, continuing his Social Democrats' coalition with the Social Liberal Party. It remained a minority government; but this is the norm in Denmark's fragmented multi-party system. Moreover, with the presumed support of the parties to the left of the Social Democrats, and with other parties also professing their keenness to cooperate, the chances of a stable government enduring through the rest of the four-year parliamentary term looked bright.

ON 21 MAY 1998, INDONESIA'S AUTHORITARIAN PRESIDENT SUHARTO, in power since 1966, abruptly resigned from office and was succeeded by his vice-president, Bacharuddin Jusuf (B. J.) Habibie. Though retired for decades, Suharto was an army general and relied heavily on the support of the armed forces to rule this vast archipelago, the world's fourth largest country. Habibie is a civilian with long government service as minister of research and industry. President Suharto, Habibie often claimed, taught him everything he knew about politics.