Madison was deeply concerned about mob rule and the tyranny of the majority, warning that a faction could “sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens.” The solution as he explained was to construct a government based on the principle that “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” The different branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial) are designed to check and balance one another, preventing any one branch from becoming too powerful. As a result, no single faction—whether a majority or a small group—can dominate the system.

Madison made it clear that neither people nor those in power are perfect. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” In short, our government was not designed for efficiency—it was designed for stability and the protection of individual rights.

The Founding Fathers built institutional safeguards to protect the governed. Madison goes on to explain that “A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.” Those auxiliary precautions in our government are the distribution “of power, where the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other.” Ultimately, Madison warns that concentrating all powers—legislative, executive, and judicial—in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.”