Federalist No. 51 - wikipedia Federalist No. 51 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( September 2013 ) James Madison, author of Federalist No. 51 Federalist No. 51, titled : The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments, is an essay by James Madison, the fifty - first of The Federalist Papers. It was published on February 8, 1788, under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all The Federalist papers were published. One of the most famous of The Federalist papers, No. 51 addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government. One of its most important ideas is the often quoted phrase, `` Ambition must be made to counteract ambition '' and its `` if men were angels '' argument is famous. The Federalist Papers, as a foundation text of constitutional interpretation, are frequently cited by American jurists. Of all the essays, No. 51 is the fourth most - cited. Contents 1 Purpose 1.1 Dependency and encroachment 1.2 Legislature 1.3 Usurpations and security 1.4 Factions 2 Notes 3 External links Purpose The purpose of No. 51 is, according to Madison, to inform the reader of the safeguards created by the convention to maintain the separate branches of government and to protect the rights of the people and of the country. Dependency and encroachment Madison 's key point is that the members of each department should have as little dependence as possible on the members of the other departments, and to stay independent, their own department must not encroach on the others. To secure these ends, Madison suggests that `` the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department '' is to enable each department ( or the leader of the department ) to fend off attempts to encroach upon the government of each other 's departments. Legislature In a republican form of government, Madison asserts, the legislative branch is the strongest, and therefore must be divided into different branches, be as little connected with each other as possible, and render them by different modes of election. He deems the legislative branch to be the strongest since it is essentially the true voice of the people. ( Before the Seventeenth Amendment, only the House of Representatives was chosen directly by the people. The Senate was chosen by state legislatures. ) He stresses the need for the checks and balances. Usurpations and security The government is guarded from usurpations because it is divided into distinct and separate departments. In 1797, power over people was divided both through federalism ( between the federal government and the state governments ) and through branches ( legislative, executive, and judicial ) within the national ( or federal ) government. Because of the division of power, a `` double security arises to the rights of the people. The governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself ''. Factions Madison discusses at great length at the end the issue of political factions. He recognizes that factions will always be present and that the only way to counteract the effects of factions is to have numerous factions. In other words, even if individuals mingle with other members of the same social groups, ideals, and goals, no particular group should be able to become so strong as to thwart the interest of all other groups. No faction can become large enough to overthrow all other factions in a well - run republic. Factions had been further discussed in Federalist No. 10. Notes ^ Ira C. Lupu, `` The Most - Cited Federalist Papers. '' 15 Constitutional Commentary 403 - 410 ( 1997 ) ^ James Madison, `` Federalist, No. 51. '' ( 1787 ) External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : Federalist No. 51 Text of The Federalist No. 51 : congress.gov The Federalist Papers Authors Alexander Hamilton ( papers ) James Madison ( papers ) John Jay ( papers ) Papers 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 Related United States Constitution The Independent Journal Publius Valerius Publicola Anti-Federalist Papers complete The Federalist Papers The Federalist Papers Portal : History The Federalist James Madison 4th President of the United States ( 1809 -- 1817 ) 5th U.S. Secretary of State ( 1801 -- 1809 ) United States House of Representatives ( 1789 -- 1797 ) Congress of the Confederation ( 1781 -- 1783 ) Virginia House of Delegates ( 1776 -- 1779, 1784 -- 1786 ) `` Father of the Constitution '' Co-wrote, 1776 Virginia Constitution 1786 Annapolis Convention 1787 Constitutional Convention Virginia Plan Constitution of the United States Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 The Federalist Papers written by Madison No. 10 No. 51 Virginia Ratifying Convention United States Bill of Rights 27th amendment Constitution drafting and ratification timeline Founding Fathers Presidency First inauguration Second inauguration Tecumseh 's War Battle of Tippecanoe War of 1812 origins Burning of Washington The Octagon House Treaty of Ghent Seven Buildings residence results Second Barbary War Era of Good Feelings Second Bank of the United States State of the Union Address ( 1810 1814 1815 1816 ) Cabinet Federal judiciary appointments Other noted accomplisments Co-founder, American Whig Society Supervised the Louisiana Purchase Anti-Administration party Residence Act Compromise of 1790 Democratic - Republican Party First Party System republicanism Library of Congress Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions Report of 1800 Other writings The Papers of James Madison Life Early life and career Belle Grove Plantation, birthplace Montpelier Elections U.S. House of Representatives election, 1789 1790 1792 1794 U.S. presidential election, 1808 1812 Legacy and popular culture James Madison Memorial Building James Madison University James Madison College Madison, Wisconsin Madison Square Madison River Madison Street U.S. postage stamps James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation James Madison Freedom of Information Award James Madison Award James Madison Institute A More Perfect Union ( 1989 film ) Liberty 's Kids ( 2002 miniseries ) Hamilton ( 2015 musical ) Related Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment Marbury v. Madison National Gazette Paul Jennings Madisonian Model American Philosophical Society The American Museum magazine Virginia dynasty Family Dolley Madison ( wife ) John Payne Todd ( stepson ) James Madison, Sr. ( father ) Nelly Conway Madison ( mother ) William Madison ( brother ) Ambrose Madison ( paternal grandfather ) James Madison ( cousin ) George Madison ( paternal second - cousin ) Thomas Madison ( paternal second - cousin ) John Madison ( great - grandfather ) Lucy Washington ( sister - in - law ) ← Thomas Jefferson James Monroe → Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Federalist_No._51&oldid=826624854 '' Categories : 1788 in law 1788 in the United States 1788 works Federalist Papers by James Madison Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from September 2013 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource Español Edit links This page was last edited on 20 February 2018, at 04 : 18. About Wikipedia

Question: who wrote ambition must be made to counteract ambition
Answer: James Madison