Spirit of Governments

Article V Blog ^

[Jacquerie]

On February 18th, 1792, James Madison posted an anonymous squib in his newspaper, the National Gazette. He asked:

May not governments be properly divided, according to their predominant spirit and principles, into three species of which the following are examples?

First. A government operating by a permanent military force, which at once maintains the government and is maintained by it; which is at once the cause of burdens on the people and of submission in the people to their burdens. Such have been the governments under which human nature has groaned through every age. Such are the governments which still oppress it in almost every country of Europe, the quarter of the globe which calls itself the pattern of civilization and the pride of humanity.

Secondly. A government operating by corrupt influence; substituting the motive of private interest in place of public duty; converting its pecuniary dispensations into bounties to favorites or bribes to opponents; accommodating its measures to the avidity of a part of the nation instead of the benefit of the whole: in a word, enlisting an army of interested partisans, whose tongues, whose pens, whose intrigues, and whose active combinations, by supplying the terror of the sword, may support a real domination of the few under an apparent liberty of the many. Such a government, wherever to be found, is an impostor. It is happy for the new world that it is not on the west side of the Atlantic. It will be both happy and honorable for the United States if they never descend to mimic the costly pageantry of its form, nor betray themselves into the venal spirit of its administration.

Thirdly. A government deriving its energy from the will of the society, and operating by the reason of its measures on the understanding and interest of the society. Such is the government for which philosophy has been searching, and humanity been sighing, from the most remote ages. Such are the republican governments which it is the glory of America to have invented, and her unrivalled happiness to possess. May her glory be completed by every improvement on the theory which experience may teach; and her happiness be perpetuated by a system of administration corresponding with the purity of the theory.

End.

James Madison had the corrupted British government in mind within his second category.

But, does it not well describe what our once republic has become? Our pols quietly enrich themselves over decades, pass laws to help supporters and punish opponents, pass laws that burden the people yet exempt themselves, illegally assign law making power to partisans unaccountable to the people. He feared the sword; we fear a corrupt judiciary, IRS and regulatory agencies. Against the sword we could defend our lives and honor. Instead we must kneel before bureaucrats and lawsuits from government lawyers who can take everything we own at no risk to themselves.

Madison said such government was an impostor. How true. The sole purpose of government is to secure our God given rights. We have descended into what he feared, a shell of a republic that "mimics the costly pageantry of its form," and betrayed itself.

The events of 1776 and 1787 didn't just happen. Then, as now, avarice and ambition, man’s tendency to abuse power for personal enrichment is active in all governments at all times. By comparison, lady liberty is somnolent. If never awakened, she will eventually die in her sleep. Through Article V, the sovereign American people can regularly nudge her awake, and together they can take stock of the health and condition of free government.

We are the many; our oppressors are the few. Be proactive. Be a Re-Founder. Join Convention of States. Sign the COS Petition.

[PGalt]

OUTSTANDING post. OUTSTANDING history. OUTSTANDING analysis of current events.

HOORAY Jacquerie

Thanks.

[Chewbarkah]

In one of his Publius essays, James Madison argues that factionalism will be controlled in the new republic by the sheer number of different combinations that will coalesce around particular issues and interests. Unfortunately, this is exactly the mechanism that powers the Second Model cited in the post. “Parties” evolved and grew by aggregating sets of interests, sometimes for matters of principle, often for venal exploitation of governmental power for personal advantage. Once the combinations are in place, they find that cooperation against the people is more fruitful than competition, tend to reduce in number to a singularity, dedicated to sustaining itself through every means. That is where we are now. What is the constitutional answer to this tendency?

[Jacquerie]

Very insightful.

Yes, Madison's call to "enlarge the sphere" such that diverse interests could not coalesce has proved inadequate to secure free government.

I believe the answer was provided by the framers; divide powers such that the consolidation of power is impossible. Their solution was to include the states in congress, yet not empower the states to the extent that senators are state ambassadors as they were under the Articles of Confederation (AC).

The states were not only not respected under the AC, many blamed their parochialism for the failures of the confederation. That is why under the Constitution, senators were not subject to state recall and their salaries were paid by the new government.

Today, most of what we call government has been isolated from the reach of congress. The administrative state and scotus are so much as absolutist and autonomous kingdoms within our democratic republic.

So, the answer is to refederalize, but only more so than the framers envisioned. Mark Levin's liberty amendments would do just that.

My suggestion is to consider an annual Article V state amendments convention that would convene just a week or so after scotus issues its June proclamations. Convening just a few days or so after Independence Day would be perfect. It would provide the means to immediately look over the shoulders of scotus and judge the judges.

[PGalt]

BUMP!