In Most Of His Rhetoric, Madison Forcefully Rejected The Possibility... Essay - 680 words

In most of his rhetoric, Madison forcefully rejected the possibility that the national government would encroach on the state governments by constructing a theory of self-regulating federalism. Madison and his colleagues often tried to deflect concerns that the national government would trespass on the rights of states and citizens by suggesting that the national government would have little opportunity or motivation to do so. Writing long before the welfare state was imagined, Madison and Hamilton both argued that the national government was needed primarily to promote the defense of the union, while normal police powers and day-to-day government functions would be performed by the states. The Federalist Papers also provide the first specific mention we have in political literature of the idea of checks and balances as a way of restricting governmental power and preventing its abuse. The words are used mainly in reference to the bicameral legislature, which both Hamilton and Madison regarded as the most powerful branch of government. As originally conceived, the presumably impetuous, popularly elected House of Representatives would be checked and balanced by a more conservative Senate chosen by state legislatures.


(The 17th Amendment, added in 1913, changed this provision to mandate the popular election of senators.) On one occasion, however, Madison argued more generally that "office should check office," and Hamilton observed "A democratic assembly is to be checked by a democratic senate and both these by a democratic chief magistrate." There can be noted differences between to the two authors in the Fed Papers, but overall they remain the greatest exertion of writing in politics in American history, if Hamilton did not like the proposed government, he admitted it, and in patriotic fashion went on to defend it brilliantly, and was the key speaker at the New York ratifying Convention in 1788. The dilemma between the two came when they started putting this Government into practice. Madison was Representative, and Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton's first proposal, paying off the debt ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: madison, national government, hamilton, presidency, debt

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