Furst, John-Nicholas

9/15/08

Madison View’s
Madison believed that human nature was inherently self-interested and

that this would lead to factions that share common beliefs. Madison wanted

to make sure that the there would be no possibility that a tyrannous majority

faction could take rule. Madison feared that if a majority would have been

able to take controlthe new nation down a road that would go against all of

the hard work men like himself had put into forming a new government.

Hence, Madison proposed limiting majority control, separating the powers,

and creating checks and balances to make sure that no one’s natural rights

that they are entitled to by human nature would be infringed upon.

Madison showed his fear that measures were too often formed by the

“superior force of an interested and over-bearing majority”(pg 695) in

Federalist No. 10, thus he decided that it would be best if only half of

congress would be elected by majority votes. Madison chose the House of

Representatives to be selected by majority vote, leaving the senate seats to

be elected by state legislatures, insuring that the majority would never have

total rule. The state legislatures would also choose a “special electors” (pg

46) that would vote in choosing the president. This was so that no majority

would be able to alienate a minority in any of the branches. This system

worked because if a majority gains control of the House of Representatives,

they are limited by the Senate and the President so that they cannot enact

policies that only favor their respective majority.

Madison favored separating the powers into three branches of

government. The president would preside over the executive branch,

congress would rule the legislative branch, and the courts would run the

judicial branch. Each branch would run independent of each other with the

intention that no one could control the others. As Madison envisioned the

“power was not divided absolutely, however; rather, it was shared among

the three institutions.” (pg 47). Madison believed through this strategy, no

one branch could be compromised and still damage the entire system.

However the powers could never be completely independent,

therefore, there needed to be a way for each branch to check each other’s

powers. This system of checking each other’s powers was to fulfill Madison’s

ambitions to “set power against power”(pg 47) and let it hold itself together.

The checks and balance system Madison supported allowed each branch to

keep checks on the other two. The president could veto a bill passed by

congress as well was nominate judges or issue pardons. Congress could re-

pass a bill over the president and must approve of the presidential

appointments. The courts could determine a law unconstitutional as well as

determine acts of the president unconstitutional.

Madison wanted to make sure that peoples natural and human rights

would not be infringed upon by anyone, especially majorities. Madison was

able to limit the powers of the majority by limiting majority vote to only

electing House of Representatives. Madison was also able to secure his the

system by dividing the powers and with checks and balances he was able to

make the system autonomous and able to checkup on itself without ever

having to worry about being compromised. Madison’s belief in self-interested

human nature, and his successful system for compensating for its inherent

traits such as alienating majorities, showed that Madison clearly had a large

and constructive influence on the formation of the constitution, as his system

still is in place today.