Separation Of Powers, Balances, And The Great Compromise

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What is tyranny? Well, if you were to ask James Madison he would tell you “The accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many (is) the very definition of tyranny” (Federalist Paper #47). His definition tells us that tyranny is when one or more individuals have absolute power over another power, or when an individual has absolute power over another individual(s). Though, another way of defining tyranny is as harsh, absolute power in the hands of an individual. The Constitution guards against tyranny in four ways; federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the Great Compromise.

Federalism is the first way the Constitution guards against tyranny. Federalism is when the power between between
The separation of powers is an act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of the government in separate bodies. To keep each other separated they each have a specific job that they have to do, but it still relates to the other powers jobs. In the further detail, the powers jobs are: legislative;write laws, judicial;debate on if the laws are constitutional or not, and executive;follows through or executes laws. The exact reason these laws are separate but conjoined at the same time is because “(L)iberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, 1778). So, the separation of powers guards against tyranny by not letting one power overpower and do whatever they want, but instead letting them each have control over on
The Great Compromise is where all chosen representatives, for each state, should be chosen according to the state's population. “The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand” (Constitution of the United States of America, 1787). Larger states with more population have larger amounts of representatives, but they can not overpower the smaller states. So, the Great Compromise guards the Constitution against tyranny by equaling out the amount of power, of representatives, between each larger and smaller

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