Honor as Auxiliary Precaution

This study explores, historically and conceptually, the idea of separating governmental powers to institute a system that superintends the legitimate acquisition and exercise of those powers. I begin by unpacking arguments delivered by Publius (particularly, as voiced by James Madison) in defense of the proposed Constitution, which Madison represents as advancing a novel interior strategy for ensuring that limits set down on paper are not overturned in practice. Next, I trace Madison’s separation-of-powers doctrine to the essays of David Hume, particularly, the strategy of using arrangements like indirect elections to promote the political-cultural ideals of republican self-government, and to increase the chances that the federal government will be dominated by a cadre of statesmen who personify those ideals. This strategy encapsulates what Madison labels “auxiliary precautions,” marking an advance in the proposed Constitution over the models already adopted in the states. As pioneering scholarship by Douglas Adair demonstrated over half a century ago, Madison’s conception of how a separation of powers might reliably operate can only be fully fleshed out by tracing its connection to Hume. Finally, I reflect on the conjunctions and disjunctions of past and present in assessing the implications of Madison’s constitutional theory for contemporary practice

Constitution · Doctrine · Honor · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Separation of powers · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Computer Science · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Philosophy

• The rise of negative partisanship and the nationalization of U.S. elections in the 21st century

  Open Access•Alan I Abramowitz, Steven Webster et al.•Electoral Studies•2015

  Add to list

• Inventing America

  John A Howe, John Howe et al.•The William and Mary Quarterly•1979

  Add to list

• Explaining America

  J R Pole, Garry Wills•The William and Mary Quarterly•1982

  Add to list

• John Locke Two Treatises of Government

  Open Access•John Locke, Peter Laslett•Locke•1988

  Add to list