Constitution Guards Against Tyranny Research Paper

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Have you ever wondered why we aren’t ruled by single tyrant? A tyrant is one individual who holds all the power over a group of people. The question this essay will answer is how did the constitution protect against one person or group of people from having too much power. The constitution guards against tyranny through federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and big states vs. small states. The constitution guards against tyranny through federalism. Federalism is when the power of government is shared between a central government and state governments. “The different governments will each control each other at the same time each will be controlled by itself” (Madison, 1788). These two governments compete for power with each other instead of trying to take it from the people. Federalism is the first way the constitution guards against tyranny. The second way the constitution …show more content…

Checks and balances is when each branch of government has the ability to stop the other branches from doing things they do not agree with. “The consiant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other” (Madison, 1788). Checks and balances gives each branch a power to prevent the other 2 branches from having too much power. Checks and balances is another way the constitution guards against tyranny. The final way the constitution guards against tyranny is through big states vs. small states. Big states vs. small states compromise meant that in the House of Representatives, representation was determined by the population of each state whereas the senate representation was equal. In the house “representatives shall be appointed according to population,” and “the U.S. Senate shall be composed of two senators from each state” (Constitution of The United States, 1787). Big states vs. small states is the final way the constitution guards against