Constitution Sunday: “Publius,” The Federalist LI [James Madison]

Independent Journal (New York)

February 6, 1788

“But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections of human nature?” This rhetorical question, which James Madison posed, is one that governments throughout the world—throughout history—have answered by showing that even the best-intentioned government fails where it does not take human nature into account.

Madison continued: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” But, “[i]f angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controuls on government would be necessary.”

It is this acknowledgement of humanity’s propensities and fallibilities that serves as a backdrop to the Constitution and its checks and balances. As Madison wrote, the great difficulty of framing a government lies in enabling the government “to controul the governed” and then obliging that government “to controul itself.” Accounting for power—and the responsible use of power—is at the center of a healthy government. And one way to better account for power is to divide it: let it be split off and more easily administered—and analyzed.

The Constitution divides power. It created, as Madison wrote, a “compound republic.” In a “single republic,” all the power that the people give the government is administered by a single government. With a “compound republic,” however, the people give power—divided power—to “two distinct governments,” the federal and the state, with each government then having its “distinct and separate departments.” This, Madison wrote, created “a double security” for “the rights of the people.” In practice, it has meant that if a state government deprives the people of their rights, the people may resort to the federal government to correct that injustice.

And the pursuit of justice is central to the government’s purpose. Madison wrote: “Justice is the end [goal] of government. It is the end [goal] of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be pursued, untill it be obtained, or untill liberty be lost in the pursuit.”

However, Madison implicitly recognized that some level of injustice may always exist in this system, and that is owing to the fact that the majority asserts its control in the government. Madison stated: “In the extended republic of the United States, and among the great variety of interests, parties and sects which it embraces, a coalition of a majority of the whole society could seldom take place on any other principles than those of justice and the general good . . . .” In so stating, he saw that society—even if only seldomly—can adopt principles that are unjust and cut against the “general good” of the country.

And over the course of American history, generation after generation of coalitions have formed majorities and embraced justice and “the general good.” There are instances in that history—when the majority overlooked or misunderstood the general good—that have had profound effects. As much as those instances must be remembered, and studied, they number far fewer than the instances of the Constitutional system carrying out its function—with the people at the helm—seeing that justice is done and that the general good grows.