 James Madison, author of Federalist No. 51 Federalist No. 51 is an essay by James Madison, the fifty-first of the Federalist Papers. It was published on February 6, 1788 under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all the Federalist Papers were published. The title is "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments." One of the most famous of the Federalist Papers, No. 51 addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government. One of its most important ideas is the pithy and often quoted phrase, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition." Image File history File links Gilbert Stuart American, 1755 - 1828 James Madison, c. ...
Image File history File links Gilbert Stuart American, 1755 - 1828 James Madison, c. ...
James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836), an American politician and fourth President of the United States of America (1809–1817), was one of the most influential Founders of the United States. ...
An advertisement for The Federalist The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. ...
is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
A pseudonym (Greek: , pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons legal name. ...
Title page of an early Federalist compilation. ...
The doctrine and practice of dispersing political power and creating mutual accountability between political entities such as the courts, the president or prime minister, the legislature, and the citizens. ...
The Federalist Papers, as a foundation text of constitutional interpretation, are frequently cited by American jurists. Of all the essays, No. 51 is the fourth-most cited.[1]
Purpose
- To "form a more correct judgement of the principles and structure of the government planned by the convention (referring to the Constitutional Convention)".
- This is done by informing the reader of the safeguards created by the convention to maintain the separate branches of government, and to protect the right of the people.
Constitutional convention may refer to: Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an existing constitution Philadelphia Convention, of 1787, resulted in the United States Constitution Missouri Constitutional Convention (1861-63), Missouris provisional government during American Civil War Constitutional Convention (Australia), four...
Main points
Appointment of members "In order to lay a due foundation for that separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government, which to a certain extent, is admitted on all hands to be essential to the preservation of liberty, it is evident that each department should have a will of its own: and consequently should be so constituted that the members of each should have as little agency as possible in the appointment of the members of the others" Madison stresses that in order to maintain liberty, it is best that no governmental branch be involved with the appointment of the others. If the principle were rigorously applied to, all branches of government would then be directly elected by the people.
In the case of the judicial department, it is improper to follow this method. Members of the judicial branch need to be insulated from political pressure - this is essential to their job. It would be harmful to subject the judicial branch to elections, which would potentially lead to improper political motivations by judges who are supposed to be impartial and/or non-partisan.
Dependency Madison's only key point here is that the members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on the members of the other departments.
Encroachment The great security against a concentration of power in the same department consists in giving those who administer the departments the necessary constitutional means to prevent encroachment.
Legislature In a republican form of government, the legislative branch is the strongest and therefore must be divided into different branches, be as little connected with each other as possible, and render them by different modes of election. (Before the Seventeenth Amendment, the House of Representatives was chosen directly by the people, while the Senate was chosen by state legislatures.) Amendment XVII in the National Archives Amendment XVII (the Seventeenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution was passed by the Senate on June 12, 1911 and by the House on May 13, 1912. ...
The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ...
Usurpations and security The government is guarded from usurpations because it is divided into distinct and separate departments. For the official Wikipedia policy, see Wikipedia:Usurpation. ...
In America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments (state and federal), and then the portion allotted to each, subdivided among distinct and separate departments (judicial, executive, and legislative), and therefore a "double security arises to the rights of the people. The governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself". The judiciary, also referred to as the judicature, consists of justices, judges and magistrates among other types of adjudicators. ...
Chamber of the Estates-General, the Dutch legislature. ...
Notes - ^ Ira C. Lupu, "The Most-Cited Federalist Papers." 15 Constitutional Commentary 403-410 (1998)
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