"If Men Were Angels, No Government Would Be Necessary"

FEDERALIST PAPERS #51

"But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."

Explanation: 
          The Federalist Papers, written by the great James Madison addresses the need and importance of accurate checks and balances on federal government, and the significance of separation of power in order to prevent tyranny.  The purpose behind federal 51 is to ensure the American public that no one faction will ever become strong enough to take over other factions.  Following the recent Constitution and supporting its ideas of defending the people's liberty, Madison makes it clear that this new government needs to be a massive and strong one.  The bigger the government the more factions, the more faction the less room for tyranny.  In a very interesting way Madison uses the understanding of mankind and its needs, he also uses that as the point of his essay by stating, " If men were angels, no government would be necessary".  

Opinion:    
          This particular passage was the most captivating for me because of Madison's reference to mankind's needs in order to explain the need for a well organized federal government in which the rights of mankind are protected.  But it is the same token with which we seem to have such a hard time getting laws passed and progress rolling.   With so many checks and balances of each group from others whom a lot of times do not have the same ideologies as the next one, coming a common conclusion seems next to impossible.  as explained in Professor Murdaco's blog: "In order for proposed legislation to become law it must pass through both houses of Congress and be approved by the president. The president can veto laws, but the Congress can override the veto if it gets a 2/3 majority in both houses. " http://theamericanpoliticalsystem.blogspot.com/2012/06/th-67-constitution-and-federalist.html. With the Obama Administration we have been able to observe this for this two terms, withthe majority being republicans and he being democrat, decisions seem to never come easy.