I am reading These Truths, Jill Lepore’s comprehensive history of the United States from 1492 to the present. The chapter I’m reading now focuses on early attempts to organize a national government and the shift from the Articles of Confederation to the U.S. Constitution. She notes that, in 1787, as this transformation was in process, James Madison drafted an essay called “Vices of the Political System of the United States,” in which he looked what a new Constitution must achieve.
One concern, Madison noted, was “the people themselves,” the inherent danger that the majority represented to the minority. “In republican Government,” he wrote, “the majority, however composed, ultimately give the law. Whenever therefore an apparent interest or common passion unites a majority what is to restrain them from unjust violations of the rights and interests of the minority, or of individuals?”
In other words, Lepore writes, “What force restrains good men from doing bad things? Honesty, character, religion—these, history demonstrated, were not to be relied upon. No, the only force that could restrain the tyranny of the people was the force of a well-constructed constitution. It would have to be as finely wrought as an iron gate” (p. 119).
It is a concern that is very relevant today. The two major political parties have each moved to extremes, leaving the political middle ground with few champions in the parties, thus encouraging extremism. On one hand, we cannot allow the majority to ride roughshod over minorities if we are to have a truly equal society. On the other, we cannot let an elitist minority make it impossible for the majority to find a productive and happy life. We need to honor a “well-constructed constitution” that protects all citizens from extremism. Especially in today’s environment, we need to focus on keeping our government wed to the Constitution and not let idealogues lead us from it.
It is amazing how Madison and the other framers of our Constitution continue to teach us.
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