"If Men Were Angels, No Government Would Be Necessary"

FEDERALIST PAPERS #51

"But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on 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 enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."

Explanation: 
          The Federalist Papers, written by the great James Madison addresses the need and importance of accurate checks and balances on federal government, and the significance of separation of power in order to prevent tyranny.  The purpose behind federal 51 is to ensure the American public that no one faction will ever become strong enough to take over other factions.  Following the recent Constitution and supporting its ideas of defending the people's liberty, Madison makes it clear that this new government needs to be a massive and strong one.  The bigger the government the more factions, the more faction the less room for tyranny.  In a very interesting way Madison uses the understanding of mankind and its needs, he also uses that as the point of his essay by stating, " If men were angels, no government would be necessary".  

Opinion:    
          This particular passage was the most captivating for me because of Madison's reference to mankind's needs in order to explain the need for a well organized federal government in which the rights of mankind are protected.  But it is the same token with which we seem to have such a hard time getting laws passed and progress rolling.   With so many checks and balances of each group from others whom a lot of times do not have the same ideologies as the next one, coming a common conclusion seems next to impossible.  as explained in Professor Murdaco's blog: "In order for proposed legislation to become law it must pass through both houses of Congress and be approved by the president. The president can veto laws, but the Congress can override the veto if it gets a 2/3 majority in both houses. " http://theamericanpoliticalsystem.blogspot.com/2012/06/th-67-constitution-and-federalist.html. With the Obama Administration we have been able to observe this for this two terms, withthe majority being republicans and he being democrat, decisions seem to never come easy.  

Governed's Rights to Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness- Is That Still The Focus

Despite Negativity, Americans Mixed on Ideal Role of Gov't

by Frank Newport

" The too much regulation attitude held in the 30% range for most of the rest of the last decade, but jumped after President Obama took office in 2009"  

   Since the birth of our nation, the concept of the "ideal role of the government" has been an ever changing and challenging one.  In the beginning, the founding Fathers of the original 13 colonies which would soon become an independent country from the British Crown, challenged the Crown indicating that the government's role had violated the governed's right to liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness; " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed "http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html  . However, once free from the English, this idealistic focus shifted over the years to the mixed views every one now has of our government: "Americans have strongly negative views of the way the nation is being governed and of Congress" http://www.gallup.com/poll/149741/despite-negativity-americas-mixed-ideal-role-gov.aspx .  The idea that the government is there to protect us from issues like terrorism, international threats(overall alliances with other nations), and other external factors remains pretty constant.  We can agree with Frank Newport from the article mentioned above were he states, "Americans were least likely to say the government regulated business too much in February 2002, months after 9/11 and at a time when President Bush and Congress were involved in efforts to combat terrorism and had high approval ratings"  http://www.gallup.com/poll/149741/despite-negativity-americas-mixed-ideal-role-gov.aspx .  During times of crisis the government takes over and does what it is suppose to do- protect us.  But what about internally? what is going on at home- how do Americans feel about too much regulations, high taxes, liberals vs conservatives- this are all the big issues we are currently facing at home.
          Coming from a country( Dominican Republic) were corruption is basically part of our every day lives, and government control is solely affecting the under privileged and all profit for the ones in control; I find myself at times having a tough time believing in many of the politics and regulations the government tries to impose here.  Seems like with a never ending fight for power between the Liberals and the Conservatives, that ideal role for government changes to the constant struggle of dominating each other.  Liberals( or the Democrats) on one end of the spectrum want the government to be more involved- they want to create more services and regulations where mostly the lower classes will thrive.  the Conservatives(or the Republicans) on the other end, just want more of a laissez faire  leadership; where the government doesn't get involved as much and therefore taxes are kept at a minimum.  But even this seems to be forgotten when a president of the opposite party is in power from the majority in the House of Reps: "when George W. Bush was president, Democrats were more concerned than Republicans about government power."  http://www.gallup.com/poll/149741/despite-negativity-americas-mixed-ideal-role-gov.aspx .
          This truly derails the Government's true purpose to such extend were Americans now believe the number one problem is actually government.  Think about it,  when a group of people ( Congress and the President) cant seem to agree on something- the focus then is to have the " last word".  Issues like health care, homelessness, taxes, economy, unemployment, etc., though are the platform for debates, resolving them become secondary until finally one side has that "last word".  " Americans continue to name the government (18%) as the most important US problem, a distinction it has had for the past four months" http://gallup.com/poll/18946/americans-name-government-no-problem.aspx .
          So in a nutshell, what are we really to do? in a country were we pride ourselves in such liberties like speech, religion, etc.-  it really is our duty to make of our government a more functional one.  It is left for the leaders of tomorrow to take the real concerns of the American people and make real changes   not debate on who will have the "last word."