Madison uses Federalist 51 to point out just how important it is that we studied human nature before getting into this topic. He expressly discusses how the construct of the federal government under the proposed constitution relies not on the kind of noble philosopher that Plato wished for and Aristotle acknowledged did not exist, but rather on “ambition… made to counter act ambition”.[1] This is a critical concept of our founding fathers. Rather than to deny the nature of humanity, they designed the Constitution to take what they knew to be true from their study of the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. Humans are flawed creations and no amount of utopian thinking will ever change that fact.
In the perfect world, each of the three branches would be completely independent of each other. But that is not practical. That said, the Constitution did provide for significant separation between each branch. While the chief executive is chosen by state legislatures and therefore independent of congress, he can be removed by the federal legislature by the process of impeachment, and that process was designed to require a significant consensus. The same is true for the judiciary. The qualifications of a jurist are unique and therefore require the deliberation of the legislative branch.
While the senate has an advice and consent role in the selecting of judges, the appointments are lifetime unless there is misconduct which again, requires impeachment. Ultimately, the compromises set up between the branches reflect the understanding that “what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” As we know, this is what Plato wished for. But Madison writing as a modern Aristotle points out that “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” But since men are not, the alternative is to give each branch the ability to defend itself from the other two.
The design of the Constitution was that the legislative branch, as the representatives of the people, would be the most powerful. Because of that “the weight of the legislative authority requires that it should be thus divided” between an upper house and the people’s house. Because of the rational fear of a strong chief executive, that branch was intentionally designed to ensure “weakness of the executive”. As we read that today it should give us pause. The president was never intended to be more than a chief administrator of the law. His only check on the legislature is his veto, and he has no check on the judiciary with the exception of the ability to nominate judges which still have to be approved by the senate.
The structure of the United States is absolutely unique in that power is divided. “In a single republic… usurpations are guarded against by a division of the government into distinct and separate departments.” But the United States has the further advantage of being a “compound republic” where the power surrendered by the people is really divided even further to include the ability of the states to thwart overreach by the federal government.
While it is a critical role of the state and federal governments to guard against the usurpation of the rights of their citizens by the other, there is one other role of these governments to which Madison gives equal weight. It is of equal importance for government “to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens.” If you will recall, Plato believed that democracy would necessarily lead to tyranny as people sought to have their interest promoted by government, and a tyrant would seek to provide security to individual groups in exchange for the ability to remain in power. Aristotle believed that the best defense against tyranny was an educated population that understood the ‘constitution’ that he defined as the laws, customs, and traditions of the city state.
Madison says precisely the same thing in that one of the best defenses against the tyranny of one group against another is “by creating a will in the community independent of the majority that is, of the society itself” and failing that, ensuring that society “itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority.” It is the purpose of government, according to Madison, to preserve the rights of the minority from “oppressive combinations of a majority”. For this to happen, government must have a “will independent of the society itself.” Like Aristotle, Madison believed that the constitution of society must prevail over the whims of the majority.
Justice is the role of government and of civil society itself.
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- All quotes are from https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-51-60 ↑
Excellent article.
The Founders set up the best structure of separating the legislative, federal judiciary, and executive into three equal branches.
But the problem is that frequently the same political party, such as today’s Dem party, controls the executive and legislature, and just as important, the administrative state consisting of the federal agencies, such as EPA, EEOC, etc.
This is not the fault of the Founders. At fault is the voters who elect the Bidens, Obamas, and the political party that is out of power that does not oppose the party in power. Sometimes it is even worse when you have hacks like Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House refusing to fund building the border wall.
Rereading the Federalist Papers should be a required activity for all elected officials. Recognizing what the Founding Fathers considered is paramount so that they may act accordingly (correctly). This is a great series.
And the voter!