Montesquieu's Argument For Ratification Of The United States Constitution

Lastly, it is impossible for any certain branch to gain too much power because of something called “checks and balances”. With checks and balances, each branch has the power to cancel another out and keep its power balanced. “In framing a government, which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” Here, James Madison is stating that first, the issue is to convince the people that they need laws for the country to run properly and smoothly, and second is to explain to the people that the educated elite will not receive too much power. This will be achieved by giving each branch the power to overrule one another. For example, the legislative branch can impeach the president and Supreme Court, the president vetoes laws and nominates the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court declares laws and acts unconstitutional. This way, not one single branch will be the main source of government.

Montesquieu believed that everything was made up of laws or rules that never changed. He wrote the book The Spirit of the Laws, which greatly covers the importance of separation of power in balancing the control of the

Federalist 51 addresses the importance of checks and balances in defense of the United States Constitution. By setting up the government in this fashion, Hamilton or Madison argues that no one branch will tyrant over another. His argument mentions that first, each of the distinct powers of the government needs to be divided so that each branch has a purpose of its own and does not overlap the jurisdiction of another branch. This, according to Hamilton or Madison, will lay down the foundation of the government of the United States. The three branches include “the supreme executive, legislative, and judiciary” and “[the branches] should be drawn from the same foundation of authority, the people.” The author calls for a democratic form of government

(James Madison, Federalist Paper #51, Document A). Madison is referring to a federalism, where powers are divided between the Central and state governments. In the finalized constitution that resulted, the Central government is able to regulate trade, conduct foreign relations, provide an army and navy, declare wars, print and coin money, and set up post offices. The states governments were permitted to set up local governments, hold elections, establish schools, and pass marriage and divorce laws, and regulate in-state businesses. Both are able to borrow money, set up courts, and make and enforce laws. The delicate balance of distribution of powers prevents either the state or central governments from taking too much control. While the national government deals with foreign and national domestic relations, the state governments deal with almost all local matters, and they both have a few shared powers, resulting in a comfortable balance. (Document A)

In order to have a stable government one must first be able to separate its powers equally among its members. James Madison explains how he wants the government to be broken down into three branches, the legislative, executive and judicial branch. This is the case in order to not give anyone more power than the other and to keep members from having little to no communication with members of other branches. Madison wrote Federalist 51 in 1788 in order to state his opinion on how he thinks the powers of government should be handled and distributed. He also talks about his concerns of what could happen if the government is not secure and the troubles that could occur. Madison while writing this essay is wanting to convey what he thinks a powerful government needs in order to survive and have as little problem as possible. He highlights on the powers of the legislative branch should and should not have. In this argument Madison is speaking of how the governments power should be given equally towards each branch because he believes that power can not be controlled by one branch alone.

It has been known that James Madison had worried about a tyranny forming in the United States while creating a new constitution. The Constitution produced from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of 1787, was constructed to improve and fix the weaknesses of the previous rulebook, the Articles of Confederation. Fifty-five delegates, a few from each state excluding Rhode Island, supported this concern and devotion to creating a more stable government. As stated in the background essay, James Madison and the delegates at the convention were challenged to write a Constitution that was “strong enough to hold the states and the people together without letting one person, or group, or branch, or level of government gain too

Document A is an excerpt from Federalist Paper #51, published in 1788 and written by James Madison. The essays of the Federalist Paper were written in a conjoined effort by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay with the intent to convince citizens to ratify the Constitution. According to Document A, “In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people.” Essentially, what Madison says in the evidence is that the government is run through federalism, meaning the it is split into a federal government and state government, and each in turn is divided into three branches.

According to document A, James Madison came up with a compound government which is federalism. Federalism is separating the power of the government into two parts which consists of the state government and the central government so one doesn't get all the power. Each government has its own power. The state government handles local laws and the central government handles laws that are more important to the country and applies to all states. An example is the Central government can declare war and regulates trades while the State government holds elections and sets up local governments. They may have different powers but sometimes they have shared powers and an example is Tax, Borrow money, and Make laws. Federalism guard against tyranny by splitting up the government to two types so one doesn't get all the

James Madison breaks with a rigorous interpretation of the separation of powers when it comes to judges and the judicial branch. Since judges are to be impartial and independent, the judicial branch poses a different set of complications. Madison believes they should be selected in a mode that secures their unique qualification. They not to be like representatives. They are to be impartial, have unique qualifications, and act independently. Therefore, Madison believes that their selections should not be in the hands of the general public, who he must figure would not be able to make wise decisions on their selection.

Madison shows throughout Federalist 47,48, and 51 that men are not perfect and as such maintaining a system of government is inherently challenging. Madison finds it important to quote Montesquieu in Federalist 48 as many interpret Montesquieu's enlightenment ideals as near perfect examples on how a government's power should be separated in order to display his view that an effective government is one that prevents arbitrary use of political power. I personally agree with Madison in finding that an effective government is one that focuses on avoiding arbitrary uses of political power over effective political leadership as a government is the definition of a necessary evil and the less its powers, effective or not, are used the better. I however

Madison feared the legislative branch the most. His apprehension was legitimate because he deemed it to be the strongest since it actually is the genuine voice of the people, therefore stressing the need for the checks and balances

The main theme of Chapter One, is to bring to our attention that basis for Madison’s Republic. Essentially, this is the matter of self-interest. Madison’s Federalist articles were an argument for the adoption of the Constitution. His theory revolves around the premise that three things are essential ingredients of the Republic. Self-interest, conflict and representation, and these lead to dispersed power. It is human nature for man to follow his passions and partialities over reason in an attempt to get what he wants. Political theory has the task of helping us understand why “who gets what”. Although a Republic based on this theory is not without flaws, because the process may slow the decision process, dispersion of power creates a system

In other words, Madison believes that in order for the “preservation of liberty” (Federalist 51, 318), no branch should have too much authority over the other branches of government, which is why the proposed

Madison said “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” (Madison, 1788). A system of checks and balances needed to be implemented. Madison argued that the only way the government could be effective was to allow it to “control the governed, and in the next place [be obliged] to control itself” (Madison, 1788). The Executive Branch is responsible for implementing the laws passed by the Legislative Branch, and those same laws are either upheld or rejected by the Judicial Branch. The three branches of government must work together to provide for the general welfare. The fragmentation of the power, along with a system of checks and balances, greatly diminishes the ability for one branch to gain too much power. This guarantees the rights of the people and ensures the government’s ability to govern.

Through Montesquieu’s works and ideas, people within society became interested. “Many of his ideas, including the idea of separation and balance of governing powers, were later embodied in the US Constitution” (Lincoln Library). Montesquieu had multiple outlooks on government ways. However, the Separation of Powers was one that became very popular. His idea on balancing power between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches later impacted and spread to new countries.