Janise Marvin

AP Government

Federalist Paper No 51

Summer Work

Federalist Paper No. 51

I. There are three branches of government, laid out in the Constitution. The

government must have a system of checks and balances in order to keep

these separate branches in their proper places. I will be showing my

observations to help show these powers in a more clear way.

II. In order to keep the principle of Liberty alive, the powers in the

government must be kept separate. In each branch there should be as

little influence over the appointment of the members of other branches as

possible. For this to work, the appointment of all executive, judicial and

legislative persons would have to go through the people through separate

channels. There would be a lot to go into doing that, so there must be

some deviation from the principle. This would most definitely not work in

the judiciary branch as the judges have to be very qualified people, and

the people could easily choose someone without those qualifications.

III. The members of each department should be as independent as possible

because the executive and judicial branches depend on the legislative

branch for their pay.

IV. The key to avoid a gradual concentration of powers in one department is

 to give the department the appropriate constitutional means and personal

motives to stay separate from one another. There should be measures in

place to control the abuses of the government. It is because of the

fallibility of man that government is necessary. The government has to be

able to control the people and itself. Precautions are necessary.

V. The process of using rival interests to keep powers in check is found

everywhere, private and public. Power is divided among several smaller

groups so that they will keep each other in check. Private interests should

keep a watch over the public rights. This is very important.

VI. There is no way to give each department an equal power of self-defense.

For republics, the legislative branch has the most power, but to counter

this, it is divided into two houses that are elected in different ways and

have different constitutional powers. The legislative branch is strong, so it

must be divided; adversely, the executive branch is weak, so it needs

fortification. It should have the power to veto legislation. But they might not

use this power correctly.

VII. The Constitution of the Union does an okay job at separating the

powers of government, but state constitutions do a terrible job.

VIII. There are two areas of the Union’s federal system that make it

special.

IX. First, in a single republic, the people surrender all power to a single

government. That government then separates that power among it’s

 branches. In a compound republic, the power is divided among two

governments, state and federal, then separated further from there. This

makes a double security for the rights of the public. These separate parts

control each other, but also themselves.

X. Second, society is divided into different parts in which majority and

minorities must be protected. There are two ways to do this: create

something independent of the majority and minority, or create such

diversity that unjust majorities will be impossible. Religious and civil rights

are also protected because of this diversity. Because of the changing

states, there needs to be a independent power to protect against

majorities and minorities. Justice is the most important thing. There needs

to be no factions that can grow strong and overpower minorities. The

larger the society, the easier it is to be self-governed.