Re:U.S. Supreme Court deems half of Oklahoma a Native Americ...
by brobdingnagians on Thursday July 09, 2020 @04:40PM
(#23784913)
The Federalist Papers #10 [1] deals with this. The original design was made very different and was intended to blunt the force of tyranny by majority by splitting power centers. One major issue is that over the centuries, the system was changed to be like what Fed #10 warned about.
It is an amazing read, but the things that stand out to me are these.
1. Have diffuse/decentralized power centers to make it harder for special interest groups to gain power and control things. The last two centuries have had a tendency to move power from states to federal government; and from Congress to the President. So the balance of power has centralized.
2. Avoid a direct democracy because they tend to get subjected to demagogues. The direct election of senators was a major turning point in helping centralize power; since states became more and more irrelevant.
I am always impressed by how much Madison understood the nuances of political power and tyranny.
It is an amazing read, but the things that stand out to me are these.
1. Have diffuse/decentralized power centers to make it harder for special interest groups to gain power and control things. The last two centuries have had a tendency to move power from states to federal government; and from Congress to the President. So the balance of power has centralized.
2. Avoid a direct democracy because they tend to get subjected to demagogues. The direct election of senators was a major turning point in helping centralize power; since states became more and more irrelevant.
I am always impressed by how much Madison understood the nuances of political power and tyranny.
[1] https://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/primary...