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I wish we had a constitutionally limited federal government such as the one that Madison is promoting/defending in Federalist No. 45.
the next question to be considered is, whether the whole mass of {the powers transferred to the federal government} will be dangerous to the portion of authority left in the several States.
Madison argues that there is little danger from the federal government to the authority of the states. Perhaps we can forgive him as his frame of reference was that:
history does not inform us that either {the Achaean league or the Lycian Confederacy} ever degenerated, or tended to degenerate, into one consolidated government. On the contrary, we know that the ruin of one of them proceeded from the incapacity of the federal authority to prevent the dissensions, and finally the disunion, of the subordinate authorities.
With the advantage of hindsight we can see where we diverged in practice from the foundations laid for oureffective but limited government.
The State governments may be regarded as constituent and essential parts of the federal government; whilst the latter is nowise essential to the operation or organization of the former. Without the intervention of the State legislatures, the President of the United States cannot be elected at all. They must in all cases have a great share in his appointment, and will, perhaps, in most cases, of themselves determine it. The Senate will be elected absolutely and exclusively by the State legislatures. Even the House of Representatives, though drawn immediately from the people, will be chosen very much under the influence of that class of men, whose influence over the people obtains for themselves an election into the State legislatures.
Today it would be much more accurate to say that state governments may be regarded as constituent, but in no way essential, parts of the federal government while the federal government is absolutely essential to the operation and organization of the state governments (financial dependence will do that to you every time). State governments now play a token role (if any role at all) in the election of the President, the senate is no longer elected in any way by the state legislature, and the fact that the members of the house of representatives is drawn from the ranks of those who would also be chosen into the state legislatures is no form of protection for our liberties.
The number of individuals employed under the Constitution of the United States will be much smaller than the number employed under the particular States. There will consequently be less of personal influence on the side of the former than of the latter. The members of the legislative, executive, and judiciary departments of thirteen and more States, the justices of peace, officers of militia, ministerial officers of justice, with all the county, corporation, and town officers, for three millions and more of people, intermixed, and having particular acquaintance with every class and circle of people, must exceed, beyond all proportion, both in number and influence, those of every description who will be employed in the administration of the federal system.
The number of people employed by the federal government and its many agencies is enormous and while it may not have been true in the 1880’s, today more people can name their representative and senators at the federal level than can do so for their state representatives (admittedly, many people can not name any of their representatives). This discrepancy illustrates that the influence of the federal officers exceeds the influence of the local officers even at the local level (despite the fact that the local officers have more direct impact on the lives of citizens).
The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.
While the powers granted to the state governments are still indefinite today, the definer of those powers in practice has been the Federal government. And while the powers delegated tot he federal government are defined, the federal government has felt no obligation to limit their exercise of authority to those defined powers. Also, as the federal government has exercised increased authority, they have generally done so over "internal objects" which concern the lives, liberties etc. of the citizens in their ordinary course of affairs – directly infringing upon those areas of authority which were to be within the purview of the state government.
It should be noted that most of these changes in our society and political structure are a direct result of ill-advised changes in the Constitution. Those which are not a result of changes in the Constitution are a result of the Constitution being trampled and ignored.
6 replies on “Federalist No. 45”
Gee, David. This line of posts is getting kind of depressing. Still, it’s important for the truth to be exposed.
It seems to me that few people today really want the states or the federal government to have the kind of powers defined for them in the Constitution. We didn’t get here in one swift step (the Civil War notwithstanding). I would say that I surmise that most people are roughly satisfied with the way matters stand at present, except that it seems that there is a relentless general push for even more centralization at just about every level of society. The few that stand against this movement seem completely powerless to stop it or even slow it down at all.
Reach,
This line of posts has generated some frustration for me, but your comment is really depressing to me 😉
I agree that many people are pushing for even more centralization, but I hope that exposing the truth might help more people see past their initial reactions and realize that more centralization is the wrong medicine. The idea that those who stand against this bad medicine are powerless to have any effect is truly saddening – I can’t allow myself to believe that (or else I will lose all hope).
Sorry for the pessimism. In real life I’m much more optimistic than I sometimes come across online. I do have hope in the indomitable human spirit. I also believe that the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of freedom (Alma 61:15), and that a portion of this burns in every human soul.
Sometimes there is a fine line between pessimism and realism. Honestly, I saw nothing wrong with your sentiment – I just wanted to express my own hope (which I think falls short of being called “optimism”).
David and Scott,
Call me the perpetual Pollyanna, but I am optimistic for our chances.
It has always taken a crisis to get people thinking again. The Russian Revolution started with a bread riot among the masses while the Czar and the aristocracy danced and partied, and it went from there (although it was hijacked by Lenin). The American revolution was bred of a “massacre” at Boston, a Tea Party, and massive nose-thumbing on the part of the British governors, parliament, and King.
That’s why I think we’re in a good position. Our crisis is just around the corner. With a Democrat president and Congress, it’s likely that the Federal Government will put its climate control money where its mouth is. This will lead to a further collapse of the U.S. and world economies, which will cause the requisite percentage of Americans (it took 3% of colonists to foment a successful rebellion) to wake up and smell that the coffee is burning.
Frank,
I like your optimism. I wonder if we will get to dump the coffee in a harbor somewhere once more people begin to smell that it’s burning? 😉