Home / Quotes / Quote by James Madison

Quote by James Madison

“I acknowledge, in the ordinary course of government, that the exposition of the laws and Constitution devolves upon the judicial. But I beg to know upon what principle it can be contended that any one department draws from the Constitution greater powers than another in marking out the limits of the powers of the several departments.”

Quote by James Madison

Book:Selected Writings of James Madison

Work

Selected Writings of James Madison

Comprising a range of Madison's works, the book delves into his thoughts on constitutional law, federalism, and the rights of citizens. It includes key documents such as the Federalist Papers, which he co-authored, and offers insights into his role in shaping the American political landscape. more

Author

James Madison, the 4th President of the United States, was born on March 16, 1751, and died on June 28, 1836. He was a key figure in drafting the U.S. Constitution and had a profound impact on the political system of the United States. more

You May Also Like

“Good constitutions are formed upon a comparison of the liberty of the individual with the strength of government: If the tone of either be too high, the other will be weakened too much. It is the happiest possible mode of conciliating these objects, to institute one branch peculiarly endowed with sensibility, another with knowledge and firmness. Through the opposition and mutual control of these bodies, the government will reach, in its regular operations, the perfect balance between liberty and power.”

Source: The Political Writings of Alexander Hamilton:

“[T]o preserve the republican form and principles of our Constitution and cleave to the salutary distribution of powers which that [the Constitution] has established . . . are the two sheet anchors of our Union. If driven from either, we shall be in danger of foundering.”

Ifs Two Form Principles Danger Republican Constitution Unions Driven Separation Preserves Sheets Distribution Anchors Separation Of Powers Distribution Of Power

Book:Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies from the papers of T. Jefferson

Source: Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies from the papers of T. Jefferson

“The principle of the Constitution is that of a separation of legislative, Executive and Judiciary functions, except in cases specified. If this principle be not expressed in direct terms, it is clearly the spirit of the Constitution, and it ought to be so commented and acted on by every friend of free government.”

Ifs Government Spirit Term Principles Cases Ought Direct Function Constitution Separation Executives Judiciary Free Government Separation Of Powers Executive Branch

Book:The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 29: 1 March 1796 to 31 December 1797

Source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 29: 1 March 1796 to 31 December 1797

“[I]n the next place, to show that unless these departments be so far connected and blended as to give to each a constitutional control over the others, the degree of separation which the maxim requires, as essential to a free government, can never in practice be duly maintained.”

Giving Shows Government Next Practice Essentials Degrees Connected Separation Department Maxims Free Government Separation Of Powers

Book:The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in 1788

Source: The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in 1788

“My construction of the constitution is very different from that you quote. It is that each department is truly independent of the others, and has an equal right to decide for itself what is the meaning of the constitution in the cases submitted to its action; and especially, where it is to act ultimately and without appeal.”

Different Action Cases Equal Constitution Independent Separation Appeals Department Construction Separation Of Powers What Is The Meaning

Book:Memoirs, 4: Correspondence and Private Papers

Source: Memoirs, 4: Correspondence and Private Papers

“[T]he 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 encroachment of the others.”

Giving Mean Security Separation Motive Department Concentration Federalist Federalist Papers Encroachment Separation Of Powers

Author:James Madison

“A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”

People Government Doubt Mankind Taught Separation Primaries No Doubt Dependence Freedom And Liberty Freedom Liberty Self-government Federalist Precaution Federalist Papers Separation Of Powers Controlling Government

Book:Selected Writings of James Madison

Source: Selected Writings of James Madison

“But as the plan of the convention aims only at a partial union or consolidation, the State governments would clearly retain all the rights of sovereignty which they before had, and which were not, by that act, EXCLUSIVELY delegated to the United States.”

States Government United United States Rights Plans Aim Unions Separation Conventions Sovereignty State Government Separation Of Powers Consolidation

Book:The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788

Source: The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788

“It is one thing to be subordinate to the laws, and another [for the Executive] to be dependent on the legislative body. The first comports with, the last violates, the fundamental principles of good government; and, whatever may be the forms of the Constitution, unites all power in the same hands.”

Firsts May Body Hands Government Lasts Form Law Principles One Thing Constitution Fundamentals Separation Dependent Executives Subordinates Fundamental Principles Separation Of Powers

Book:The Federalist on the New Constitution

Source: The Federalist on the New Constitution

“The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern, some of them in our country and under our own eyes.”

Source: The Writings of George Washington: Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private