Factional Control and Separation of Powers - Kenneth Martin

Kenneth Martin

AP US Government & Politics Period 3

Mrs. Gordon

October 2, 2015

Why is the theory of separate powers a cure to blocking factional control?

In 1787, delegates from the thirteen states met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they constructed an entirely new Constitution. This Constitution created a strong national government headed by three separate entities: the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court. The President was to have executive powers, Congress to have legislative powers, and the Supreme Court judicial. This structure was inspired by the theory of separation of powers proposed by French Enlightenment thinker Montesquieu. He argued that government power could be controlled by dividing it among separate institutions. The framers revised this theory so that each branch shared some powers. This would prevent factions from gaining control through one branch and would enable the branches to check and balance each other.

James Madison was a major proponent of this structure. In Federalist No. 10, he argues that the causes of faction cannot be removed, as that could only be done by taking people’s liberties, which is immoral, or making everyone think the same way, which is impossible. Therefore, the best way to prevent factional control is to control the effects of factional separation. This can be done with a republican government where no single group can gain complete power and minority factions are protected. The framers put these ideas into practice by instituting a system of separate powers with checks and balances that would prevent any single faction from gaining control and oppressing other factions.