James Madison's Use Of Separation Of Power In The Federalist 51

James Madison wrote The Federalist 51 in order to state how the future government would make liberty possible in society. Madison believed that each branch should be, for the most part, independent. Montesquieu previously thought of this idea of separation of power. He then goes on to explain that to ensure that each branch is independent, it would mean that the citizens would select the president, legislators, and the judges. However, framers found great difficulty in making the correct decision when it came to an election. The Judicial Branch would suffer because the average framer did not understand the qualifications of the Supreme Court Justices. Madison explains that in order to avoid a gradual concentration in power in any single branch, other branches in government must use constitutional protections in order to ensure that a build up of power does not ever occur in a single branch. There are certain situations that man will abuse power. Keeping men from abusing power is not inevitable because all men are not perfect. The

As previously talked about in The Federalist 10, the majority group most often threatens the rights of the minorities. Madison believes that there are only two ways to avoid the wrongs brought about by citizens. The first solution is to create a powerful government. This solution would be chancy because a government of this type may place power behind a certain group that is working against the common good. Ultimately if this occurred, the purpose for creating a powerful government would be overlooked. Another solution that Madison proposes is to have society divided into many groups of people that hold different beliefs and views. This would make it difficult for one group to gain more power than the other and ultimately threaten the minority