Madison''s Angels

This is the title of an article published by Fox News on 7/3/2002 and by The Washington Post on 7/5/2002. It was written by James M. Buchanan.

It starts off with a famous quote from James Madison. Let me quote the first paragraph: "'But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In forming a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.'--James Madison, The Federalist, No. 51."

Madison notes that angels are basically good, so they need no government to control them because they are completely peaceful, lawabiding and cooperative in a pure, anarchist state. Humans, born depraved, require government or external law and order to help them behave themselves. If all-good angels ruled us, there would be no need to control the controllers, but, since men rule men and are born depraved, and turn tyrannical, corrupt and vicious as they amass more and more power to themselves, seeking to feed their addiction to centralized power, never satisfied, never satiated, never having enough congregated power.

Buchanan offers that:"Government is necessary, but it must be restrained."