The basic precept of separation of powers is that the power of the government is divided into three departments: legislative, executive, and judicial.1 No department may exercise the powers of another. The legislature also is prohibited from delegating to administrative agencies its functions or the functions of other departments.2 This division of power is designed to “minimize the threat of . . . tyranny” that arises when all the powers of the government are concentrated in the hands of only one body.3 From this basic structural concept, the courts have evolved a variety of doctrines that constrain the exercise of the state’s police powers. hope that helps