Federalist 51

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” James Madison wrote these words in one of his many Federalist Papers, this one being the 51^st. However he knew that men were not angels and that a government was necessary for the liberty and freedom of the American people, but what kind of government would best meet the needs of the people.

The founding fathers had experienced hardships due to their last government, and they wanted to avoid these hardships by establishing a more perfect government. But how were imperfect men supposed to establish and administer a government?  When one man gets too much power he may begin to think more for himself instead of for his people. This was something they wanted to avoid and so they established a government that would not give one man all the power.

            That is why James Madison proposed a government with a separation of powers.   That is why they established a government with three branches.  So that they could have a separation of powers and no one man could have too much power.  Madison states that “each department should have a will of its own.” Each branch of government does have a will of its own but they also support each other.

            Madison continues with the reason for having these separate departments: “This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives, might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public. We see it particularly displayed in all the subordinate distributions of power, where the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other -- that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights. These inventions of prudence cannot be less requisite in the distribution of the supreme powers of the State.”

            The three separate branches allow each other to check the work of the other.  The Judicial branch can check on the Legislative branch.  The Legislative branch can check on the Executive branch.  This action promotes honesty and integrity in each of the branches.  This way the power is divided and is also in check by others so that one man cannot take all the power and make selfish decisions.