Federalist No. 51
Federalist Paper by James Madison
Federalist No. 51, titled: "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments", is an essay written by James Madison or Alexander Hamilton, the fifty-first of The Federalist Papers. This document was first published by The New York Independent Journal on February 6, 1788, under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all The Federalist papers were published. Federalist No. 51 addresses the separation of powers, the federal structure of government and the maintenance of checks and balances by "opposite and rival interests" within the national government. One of Federalist No. 51's most important ideas, an explanation of checks and balances, is the often-quoted phrase, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."
Madison's idea was that the politicians and the individuals in public service in the U.S. would all have proclamations and ideas that they were passionate about and that they wanted to enact. The logical solution to ensure that laws and strong ideas were not enacted by a small group of partisan individuals was to use a federalist system where each level of government had different branches, each branch having the authority to impact legislation proposed by other branches. One of the main ways that Federalist 51 was able to encourage checks and balances was by emphasizing that justice was the end to which civil society aims. He continued that it be pursued "until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit".
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