When Federalists and Anti-Federalists were debating about the new U.S. Constitution, one of the most controversial issues was the balance of power between the national and state governments. In order give more power to the national government, Federalists had to take into account Anti-Federalists’ views and introduce three branches of power that would be empowered to control each other. James Madison, one of America’s founding fathers, wrote in The Federalist Papers that “power is of an encroaching natureit ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it.” (Cited in The Federalist Papers Project 19). It seems that the legislature is potentially the most dangerous branch, because the number of Congressmen is low, but they have a very large scope of issues to resolve. Thus, there is a risk that they will represent and serve interests of a few. As Leonidas from London wrote in the Anti-Federalist, No.48, “A government administered by a few, is, of all governments, the worst.” (Cited in Bailey 43).
The best solution that the politicians were able to come up with was separation of powers. It brought a much needed consensus between Federalists and Anti-Federalists that thought that many states would be left as a minority if more power was given to the national government. Each branch of power ensured that other branches would not be able to usurp power. In addition, such a system of checks and balances made it possible to empower the central government and prevent despotism (The Constitutional Convention 4). The President received the right to veto acts of Congress and appoint federal and Supreme Court judges. The Senate received the right to ratify treaties and approve the President’s cabinet appointments. Congress was given the power to impeach and remove the President and the Supreme Court justices. Finally, the judicial branch, received the power to interpret the laws passed in the Congress (The Constitutional Convention 4).
James Madison wrote in the Federalist, No 47, that the accumulation of all powers or having one separate power in one’s hands could lead to tyranny and proved his point of view by referring to Montesquieu that supported a similar idea of separation of powers in Great Britain. So for him and other Federalists it was important to make sure that the legislature could not execute the laws. In addition, the executive branch had to carry out the will of the people and there were debates about the role of the President in the new political system. Therefore, Congress had to define the domain of the executive branch, because it was a central issue for the states that agreed to give up some of their power in favor of the federal government. In order to persuade different states in his ideas of partial mixing of power, James Madison analyzed constitutions of some states in which division of powers was similar to the one that he proposed for the federal level. For example, he wrote that the Constitution of New Hampshire “seems to have been fully aware of the impossibility and inexpediency of avoiding any mixture whatever of these departments (three branches of power)” (Federalist No.47). In fact, such a mixture leads to “unity and amity” (Federalist No.47).
In conclusion, a system of checks and balances was not introduced in the USA immediately. There were a large number of debates and politicians used the European and state-level experience in order to develop an effective system of three branches powers that would serve interests of a newly created country. The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights became the key documents that directed political development of the USA toward. The main idea behind separation of powers was to make branches of power accountable so that there were not manipulations and inefficiencies. What is more, three branches of power helped to achieve fair distribution of power between states and the federal government.
Works Cited
Madison, James. These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No
Constitutional Control Over Each Other. Federalist No.48. 1 February 1788. Web. 17
Madison, James. The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of
Power Among Its Different Parts. Federalist No.47. 1 February 1788. Web. June 2016.
The Constitutional Convention. n.d. Web. 17 June 2016
Bailey, Bill. The Essential Anti-Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers Project. 1 March
2012. Web. 17 June 2016
The Essential Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers Project. 2014. Web. 17 June 2016
