Federalist No. 51 (1788) asks how the separation of powers laid down in the Constitution can be kept in practice when safeguards outside the government's structure will not hold. Madison answers that the government's own structure must do the work: each department should be as independent as possible of the others and should be given both the legal tools and the personal motive to resist their encroachments, so that ambition checks ambition. Because the legislature is naturally the strongest branch, he proposes splitting it into two differently chosen houses and strengthening the weaker executive. He closes by arguing that the federal system adds a "double security", with state and national governments checking each other, and that a large republic's many interests protect minorities from an oppressive majority. Authorship of No. 51 was once disputed between Hamilton and Madison, but it is now generally credited to Madison.
Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.
Read more: Federalist No. 51 on Wikipedia · Full text: Federalist No. 51 at Project Gutenberg
James Madison (1751–1836) was an American statesman, political theorist, and the fourth President of the United States. A principal architect of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, he earned the title "Father of the Constitution." With Alexander Hamilton and John Jay he wrote The Federalist, a series of essays defending the proposed Constitution to the people of New York. His thinking on faction, representation, and the separation of powers remains foundational to American constitutional theory.
Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.
Read more: James Madison on Wikipedia
Federalist No. 51 (1788) asks how the separation of powers laid down in the Constitution can be kept in practice when safeguards outside the government's structure will not hold. Madison answers that the government's own structure must do the work: each department should be as independent as possible of the others and should be given both the legal tools and the personal motive to resist their encroachments, so that ambition checks ambition. Because the legislature is naturally the strongest branch, he proposes splitting it into two differently chosen houses and strengthening the weaker executive. He closes by arguing that the federal system adds a "double security", with state and national governments checking each other, and that a large republic's many interests protect minorities from an oppressive majority. Authorship of No. 51 was once disputed between Hamilton and Madison, but it is now generally credited to Madison.
Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.
Read more: Federalist No. 51 on Wikipedia · Full text: Federalist No. 51 at Project Gutenberg