Understanding Federalist 51 NT Chp 1

Understanding Federalist 51 1 7/23/2024 Learning Objectives    2 Identify the significance of the Federalist Papers to an understanding of the American Constitution. Identify Madison’s purpose in writing Federalist 51. Explain the role of separation of powers in the preservation of liberty. 7/23/2024 Learning Objectives (Cont.)     3 Describe the role played by checks and balances in the preservation of liberty. Identify the provisions included in the Constitution to prevent legislative dominance. Explain the phrase: “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” Describe how the “compound republic” protects liberty. 7/23/2024 Learning Objectives (Cont.)  4 Describe the solution Madison offers to the problem of the tyranny of the majority. 7/23/2024 Key Terms  The Federalist Papers  Separation of Powers Legislative Power Executive Power Judicial Power Checks and Balances     5 7/23/2024 Key Terms (Cont.)    6 Compound Republic Federal System Tyranny of the Majority 7/23/2024 The Federalist Papers    7 Essays written in 1787 and 1788 by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton under the penname of Publius Designed to advocate the ratification of the new constitution by the states An authoritative but unofficial explanation of American government by those who created it 7/23/2024 Federalist 51    8 Madison wrote Federalist 51 in 1788. It was addressed to the people of the State of New York where a lively debate was underway over the ratification of the Constitution. It was subtitled as follows: “The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments.” 7/23/2024 Purpose Madison wrote Federalist 51 to explain how separation of powers with checks and balances protects liberty. 9 7/23/2024 Montesquieu Madison borrowed the concept of separation of powers from Montesquieu, a French political philosopher. 10 7/23/2024 Powers of Government Montequieu identified three types of political power: Legislative power = the power to make laws Executive power = the power to enforce laws Judicial power = the power to interpret laws 11 7/23/2024 Preserving Liberty Montesquieu declared that in order to preserve liberty it was essential that no one person or group of persons exercise all three powers. If one person or one group of people were able to exercise all three types of power, that person would be a threat to individual liberty. 12 7/23/2024 Separation of Powers Separation of powers is the division of political power into legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. 13 7/23/2024 The Branches of Government    14 The legislative branch is the Congress. The president heads the executive branch. The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the judicial branch of government. 7/23/2024 Independent Branches Madison writes that the government under the Constitution should be so constituted that the branches of government (he calls them “departments”) keep “each other in their proper place.” In order to achieve this goal, each branch should be independent of the other branches. 15 7/23/2024 Ensuring Independence The best way to guarantee the independence of the branches of government from one another is to ensure that the members of each branch have as little as possible to do with the selection of the members of the other branches. 16 7/23/2024 Selection Process Congress: Members of the House are chosen by the people. In the original Constitution, state legislatures selected senators. Today, they are elected by the people. President: Selected by an electoral college. Judiciary: Appointed by the president with Senate confirmation. 17 7/23/2024 Judges are Different    18 The best way to ensure independence of the branches is for the members of each branch to be chosen by the people in election. However, election is not feasible for members of the judicial branch because special qualifications are needed. Even though judges are appointed, lifetime appointments soon renders them independent. 7/23/2024 Salaries Madison declares that the independence of the branches is further enhanced by making the members of each branch as little dependent as possible on the other branches for their salaries. 19 7/23/2024 Ambition v. Ambition The best protection against any one branch growing too powerful is to empower the members of each branch to oppose the encroachments of the other branches. “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” 20 7/23/2024