James Madison and Federalist 51

James Madison realized that the real difficulty in government is not governing the people; rather it is governing the government. We read in D&C 121:39, “almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, … will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” This is the problem with government that it put some men in a position to rule over others and this can sometimes lead to wicked greedy rulers. James Madison wrote in Federalist 51 some ways that we can keep our leaders from becoming tyrants, such as the best way to appoint members, keeping departments as independent as possible, division and separation of powers, and keep any factions from gaining the majority of power.Madison first writes about how to appoint members, he believes that members in each department should have as little authority in selecting people for positions as possible. In Federalist 51 he says, “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”. He believed if some members had the power to appoint others to power, it could create a corrupt government. As humans we are often selfish, when a member is given the power to appoint, he is put in a situation that he can get gain from giving someone that position, or force a person to do as they wish them too because of the position that the person gave to them. Madison understood that people could get greedy, and tried to set up a government in which, as many members as possible are free from bribes and blackmail. He says that in an ideal situation the people would vote for every position, although he admits that it would be impossible to have the people vote on every single leader.

He goes on to say how every department should be as independent as possible; he says, “The members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on those of the others”. If they depend too much on each other it runs the risk that departments could collaborate, and get more power than the would otherwise have. The ruler of each department should protect the department from encroachment.

The government is protected from usurpation by the division and separation of government. Thus keeping any part of the government from gaining too much control and impeding on the justice of the people. This is apparent in the distinction between federal and state government, and also with the branches of government. The different parts of government control each other and thus keep each other in check. For example, the states get all the power that is not explicitly stated in the constitution. This keeps the National government from having too much control, and keeps the government closer to the people. Another example of this is the president’s vetoing power, and the congress overriding power. So even at the national level there are checks and balances. Also the legislative and law-making branch has two houses to check each other. His policy on factions is the more the merrier. The more factions that there are the less opportunity that any one group will take complete power and steal the power of others.