...anti-Federalist side to his thinking. "In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first...and in the next place oblige it to control itself," Madison wrote. In other words, government must be powerful, but not too powerful. Power must be divided...

...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...and in the next place oblige it to control itself. James Madison, federalist Paper No.511 Long before and ever since James Madison penned these immortal...

...government would be necessary. In forming a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first...and in the next place oblige it to control itself. James Madison, The Federalist No. 51, The Federalist Papers p. 160 In Chapter 3, we examined the question...

...argued in Federalist No. 51: "In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first...and in the next place oblige it to control itself." The former aim is as important as the latter one, because government has the essential function of...

...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...governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.7 The familiar aspect of this proposition involves deploying human nature, especially the vice...

...intended to diminish or prevent the problems that arise from the exercise of unified and unopposed power. This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests,...might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public. We see it particularly displayed in all the subordinate distributions...

...reflections on human nature?" While government is the greatest, it is anything but unique. Madison mused that "this policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests,...might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public" (Rossiter 1961, 322). If anything, the focus on the omnipresence...

...both empowering and constraining government. How so? As James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers, "A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary...experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."5 In other words, the first and most important check on abuses is regular elections. However,...

...human rights. Yet these are meaningless. As James Madison notes in 1787, "In framing a government . . . the great difficulty lies in this: you must first...control the governed; and in the next place oblige il to control itself." (1995, 68) Hayden's citation to Madison is telltale. How does a government control...

...necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty is this: You must first enable the government to control...and in the next place, oblige it to control itself." SEE ALSO Bicameral; Constitution; Separation of powers FURTHER READING Ritchie, Donald A. The US Constitution....