Jefferson, Publius, and the Free Government

Thomas Jefferson saw that in a free government, people would all have a say in what happens. But, if everyone had a say, wouldn’t the system get cluttered as the population grew? This is why he advocated a representative government. But still, the question remained of how the representation should be implemented. Jefferson speaks of these mostly in Query XIII of his Notes on the State of Virginia, which many historians view as “lucky” . For example, the Separations of Powers should be a cornerstone in any free government. “All the powers of government, legislative, executive, and judiciary, result to the legislative body. The concentrating these in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government” (Jefferson 30). By keeping the three branches of government out of the hands of the same group of people, it keeps them at odds with each other, and keeps them from being despotic. Publius agrees with this in Federalist 51, “It is equally evident, that the members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on those of the others” (318). And since there is a separation of powers, there is inherently a system of checks and balances.

Furthermore, Jefferson saw another problem in American free government, and it was that one house was too homogenous, so to fix this he argued for a bicameral legislature.

The senate is, by its constitution, too homogeneous with the house of delegates. Being chosen by the same electors, at the same time, and out of the same subjects, the choice falls of course on men of the same description. The purpose of establishing different houses of legislation is to introduce the influence of different interests or different principles. (Jefferson 30)

A bicameral legislature would further the cause of the separation of powers, but not dilute the powers so much that the government would be rendered ineffective. Publius also believed in a bicameral legislature. The two-housed legislature is, of course, being one of the fundamental differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

When stacked up, side-by-side, Jefferson and Publius see many things the same way. Free government can be a double-edged sword. The everyman is included in the democratic process, but at the same time, groups and factions could have gotten into too much power, and controlled too much government. This is why Jefferson and Publius agree on a separation of powers, and checks and balances. And this goes down as one of the greatest achievements in American political history.

Works Cited
Hamilton, Alexander; Madison, James; Jay, John, The Federalist Papers ed. Rossiter, Clinton. Penguin/Putnam, New York: 2003
Jefferson, Thomas, Selected Writings. Ed. Mansfield Jr., Harvey C. Crofts, Wheeling: 1979.