Essay On Separation Of Power

In 1787, delegates representing twelve out of the thirteen met to try to create a stronger central government for America. At this time the Constitution of the United States was written. On of the main priorities in writing the Constitution was to guard against tyranny. Tyranny in government is defined as harsh, absolute, power in one individual's hands. The constitution guarded against tyranny by creating a system of separation of powers, large states vs small states, checks and balances, and federalism.

The separation of powers is very important in maintaining a balanced government. Separation of powers prevents one person in government from having too much power. In Federalist Paper #47, James Madison said, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny…Liberty requires that the three

great departments of power should be separate and distinct.” He claimed that if one person has all the power of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches combined, that would be defined as tyranny which is what is trying to be prevented. The first three articles of the Constitution were written to separate the powers of government the the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches which we continue to use in government today. The separation of powers is very important to guarding against tyranny to prevent one person from having all the power.
Article 1, Sections 2 and 3 in the Constitution talk about the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The House of Representatives and Senate are in place to make sure each state gets an equal representation and the large states do not over power small states or vice versa. The House of Representatives is based on population and the Senate gives each state two votes. Article 1, Section 2 states, “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.” This gives equal representation to every individual and prevents one individual too much say. The Senate is composed of two senators from each state which allows each individual state to have equal representation. If this system was not in place, the larger states could have more say and have a bigger impact on the government which would be an example of tyranny. The House of Representatives and Senate keep the power balanced between the states and the individual

people.
The system of checks and balances allows different branches of government to “block” one another and work together. Checks and Balances prevents one branch of government from having too much power. If the President does not believe the bill is good for the country, he can veto it. But with enough votes, the legislative branch can override the executive branch's veto, and the bill becomes a law. This is an example of how the system of checks and balances works. Another example is that the executive branch nominates judges but did you decide branch can declare the presidential acts unconstitutional. With this system being in place, no branch has too much power, but in a way they all have power over one another. James Madison said, “...the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other…(The three branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” Madison expresses the importance over protecting one branch from having too much power. If one branch had total power, there would be no use to the other branches and the government would fail.
To guard against tyranny, federalism was designed to separate the powers given to the central government and the states. Federalism also gives the central government and the states shared powers such as the power to tax, borrow money, set up courts, make laws, and enforce laws. Federalism makes it so that both governments can control each other but at the same time can control themselves. The state government is designed to handle local affairs and in-state business while the central government deals with foreign countries, the army, and post offices. Having two different branches of government prevents the central government from taking over all the states. The state government can speak up for the individual state if there are problems that need to be fixed. Federalism separates the central government and the state government to guard against tyranny.
James Madison's, and the other delegates’, main goal in writing the Constitution was to make a strong enough constitution to hold the states and the people together without letting anyone person, group, branch, or level of government gain too much control. Madison succeeded in creating a constitution that worked and held the United States together because we still use it today. By creating a system of separation of powers, large states vs small states, checks and balances, and federalism, the constitution protects the United States against tyranny.