Federalist Paper No. 51 Paragraph 6

In Federalist Paper No. 51, Publius focuses on one of the main points in the constitution- separation of power. Altogether, Publius recognizes the positive side of separating the power amongst the government and goes into depth about the ways in which the power is separated. As the people have seen before, under the king, government possesses a significant amount of power and through The Constitution, Publius believes this power can be efficiently and fairly divided and maintained.

Paragraph six of this federalist paper raises an important issue- that “in republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominate”. Therefore, Publius believes that this legislative power must be lessened and the power of the executive branch must be strengthened so that one branch of government does not abuse the amount of power it is allowed. Thus, the legislative branch must be divided into different sections, each owning powers that the other does not possess. In addition, the way in which the members are voted into each section must differ so that the dependency on the people or the other branches does not navigate the way the members decide to use their power. Furthermore, the connection of the two sections of the legislative branch is nonexistent, as long as society allows it to be. Publius adds this to ensure that the two now separated powers of the same branch govern as they are suppose to without coming together and abusing their power. Thus, through these three stipulations- voting methods, division into two separate houses as well as the division of power- regulation of the legislative branch is resolved and protected. Even further, Publius suggests that future regulations may be put into place to protect against any “encroachments”, which can happen if a branch decides to abuse their own power. In addition, the executive branch should be “armed” with the right to give the legislative branch an “absolute negative” or simply, to dismiss a use of the legislative power.

Paragraph six mimics the other ideas Publius covers in this essay. For instance, in paragraph two, Publius identifies that in an ideal government would allow for the “preservation of liberty” and therefore, the first step in separating the government powers would be to decide how the members will be elected. Publius agrees therefore, that the power to elect should not solely lie in the hands of neither the public nor the other branches to avoid the member’s dependency on either party. As stated before, the two houses of the legislative branch should be voted on differently. This idea bans the dependency of the members of government on the people and the other branches. This helps to keep political propaganda and abuse of power to a minimum.

Publius defines a checks and balance system by adding power to the executive branch and eliminating some from the legislative in paragraph six. He states that the executive power has the right to veto the legislative branch. This idea connects to many main arguments throughout the essay. Paragraph five states that powers should be separated among the branches to insure individual liberty and this separation should be parroted amongst the state government. Publius sees government powers in a whole, for instance federal and state government. However, he believes these massive groups should be divided to ensure no one person or group can hold enough power to diminish the freedom or the rights of the people. Altogether, the powers of one branch should be maintained by another branch, as well as by the people. For example, politicians will do as the public wishes if they hope to be elected in the future and they will not overstep any boundaries between their powers and the power of another branch if they hope for that branches assistance and approval.