Most of the Founding Fathers were well educated and had at some point studied classical political philosophy. The thought process that lead to the structure of the American government did not spring unaided from the minds of the Founders but can be traced as developing through history, with the thought process going back to ancient Rome.
The first three articles of the Constitution are devoted to this structure: Article I, legislative, Article II, executive, Article III, judicial.
From Polybius to Montesquieu to Madison
The political theories that resulted in the American constitution were an evolutionary process in governance that can be traced back to a Greek historian, Polybius. Political thought regarding the organization of society evolved over the centuries, and a French philosopher, Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu of the 18th century is credited with distilling centuries of ideas into a theory for the constitution of government embracing separation of power. James Madison is credited with pressing for the incorporation of these ideas in the American Constitution.
Polybius, Greek historian, Roman Analyst
Polybius lived circa 200-118 B.C. In his work, the Histories, he chronicled the history of Rome from 220-146 B.C. His work also included an analysis of the three principle forms of government, monarchy (rule by one), aristocracy (rule by few) and democracy (rule by many). He observed that in each instance, with a single system predominant, there was an unavoidable devolution into these three simple constitutions each degenerate, over time, into their respective corrupt forms (tyranny, oligarchy, and mob-rule) by a cycle of gradual decline which he calls anacyclosis or “political revolution”.
Hereditary monarchs did not possess the qualities of their predecessors. Aristocrats over time became the idle rich and were not connected to the people. Pure democracy leads to a tyranny of the majority and ultimate disenfranchisement of a significant minority.
Polybius believed that Republican Rome avoided this endless cycle by establishing a mixed constitution, a single state with elements of all three forms of government at once: monarchy (in the form of its elected executives, the consuls), aristocracy (as represented by the Senate), and democracy (in the form of the popular assemblies, such as the Comitia Centuriata). Polybius credited the success of Rome to having mixed these forms of government, and separating power among the various groups of society, giving every group a stake and every individual incentive to contribute.
It is from his observations and writings that the concept of separation of powers began its evolution.
Montesquieu and the Spirit of the Laws
Polybius laid the ground work with his observations of the nature of power and how best to organize society to secure maximum liberty. His work was introduced to Europe in the 16th century, when translations in French, German, Italian and English, first appeared. The works were heavily relied upon by Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (Montesquieu) in his 1748 treatise Spirit of the Laws.
While Polybius had extolled the virtues of government where power was distributed among various interests, the distributions he described were based upon different groups, not explicitly divisions of governmental functions. Montesquieu is credited with describing the separate functions of government as legislative, executive and judicial. The concept was over 1,800 years in the making.
James Madison, Separation of Powers and Classical Political Thought
James Madison is referred to as the Father of the American Constitution. It is he who is credited with building a government best able to govern yet protective of freedom by dividing the three principle functions of government between differing departments. These departments would have differing selection processes and varying terms of service. The American experiment was the culmination of nearly two millennia of political development.
After the Constitution was submitted for ratification, Madison was among those working for ratification by explaining its concepts in the The Federalist Papers. In Federalist No. 47, Madison cites Montesquieu as the author of separating the powers of government:
“The oracle who is always consulted and cited on this subject is the celebrated Montesquieu. If he be not the author of this invaluable precept in the science of politics, he has the merit at least of displaying and recommending it most effectually to the attention of mankind.”
Madison further describes how separating powers among legislative, executive and judicial will protect liberty and the checks and balances built into the proposed constitution, described this way in Federalist No. 51:
“In order to lay a due foundation for that separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government, which to a certain extent is admitted on all hands to be essential to the preservation of liberty. It is evident that each department should have a will of its own…”
The American Constitution, Not Just the Summer of 1787
Americans were blessed in the summer of 1787 with men of education, classical training and the wisdom to realize that the best ideas of the ages were available to them in constituting a government for the young nation. The thought of separating power to protect liberty did not originate with those men, but as students of government and history they put it to the test in constructing the American experiment in self-government.
David J. Shestokas - Mr. Shestokas is a former prosecutor & writes on the Constitution & legal issues for the Save America Foundation & Suite 101.
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