Analysis Of The Federalist Paper No. 51 By James Madison

In the Federalist paper No. 51, James Madison argues that, “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” Madison wanted a system of government where the powers would be divided. He just did not want a majority to choose policy. For this reason he divided Congress into the House of Representatives and the Senate to help separate the power. Madison as well as his fellow Framers felt that the non-wealthy majority would tyrannize the wealthy minority if given political power. He feared that the majority would get together and unite around one policy issue and they could oppress the minority. James Madison developed the principal architect to the American government which had sometimes been referred to as the Madisonian system. Madison proposed that as much control be placed beyond the control of the majority as possible. His plan placed only the House of Representatives within direct control of the votes of the majority. A small minority, not the people themselves, elected most government officials. With that being said, even if the majority seized control of the House of Representatives, they still could not proclaim policies without the agreement of the Senate and the president. Even with Madison proposal, the Electoral College has started to vote the way the popular majority in each state votes.
Madison’s second proposal consisted of separating the powers of different institutions.
Separation of powers is a feature of the Constitution that requires each of the three branches of government to be relatively independent of the others so that one cannot control the others. The constitution does not divide power absolutely but instead, it shares it among the government. James Madison, as well as the Founders, also came up with a federal system of government which divided the power between a national government and the individual states. They sought the federal system as an additional check on the national
government. Madison’s third and final idea consisted of constructing a system of checks and balances. Checks and balances are features of the Constitution that limit government’s power by requiring each branch to obtain the consent of the others for its actions, limiting the balancing power among the branches. Checks and balances reflected Madison’s goal of setting power against power to constrain government actions. With minority and majority trying to dominate one another it makes it difficult to pass legislation over which there is a disagreement. James Madison established a republic. A republic is a form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws. In conclusion, Madison came up with different ideas to divide power between the government. He did not want any one faction to be in complete control of the government. Some of the ideas that James Madison came up with still pertain to the government today. Without checks and balances, separation of powers, and limited government the majority could be controlling or vice versa. Without his personal beliefs and ideas, our government would not be the same as it is today.