One of America’s founding principles was that liberty cannot survive unless power is divided into multiple hands. The doctrine of separation of powers has a long history. The ancients (Greek and Roman) divided power according to a plan called mixed government. That is, they mixed or divided power between a monarchy, an aristocracy, and a … Read more
In early history, people referred to England as Angle-land because of a tribe that settled there called the Angles. Then, in the fifth century, another tribe called the Saxons began to leave what is now the state of Saxony in Germany. They traveled by sea to what is now England. (Jefferson 1774) Later, the Angles … Read more
James Madison had more influence than any other person in creating the form of the U.S. Constitution. Madison wrote the Virginia Resolution a decade after the Constitution. But both came from his understanding of tyranny. That is, to prevent it, a government must divide power between separate groups of people. If the nation is to … Read more
Is the power of the American President too great? In America, a president is beyond the control of the public until the end of the four year term. So does the power of the American president threaten the liberties of the public? On the other hand, is the executive branch bureaucracy beyond the control of … Read more
What is “business as usual” in America’s representative democracy today? You can call me stubborn, but I refuse to believe in unsolvable problems. After all, we put men on the moon. I also don’t believe in permanent solutions, because people are selfish by nature. That means they will always find loopholes to get around the … Read more
