Equal Branches of Government? Not According to the Founders

The equal branches of government myth is designed to empower tyrannical presidents and activist judges

“In a republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.”

-- Madison Federalist 51

When the founders were ratifying the Constitution they never set out to create three co-equal branches of government.

Indeed this sloppy mischaracterization, rehearsed a thousand times by school instructors who instruct everyone to do everything but think, has given license to activist judges and tyrant presidents to undermine the wishes of the people and states.

Consider, for example, the two instances where the founders do use the expression “coequal branch.”

In the Federalist 63 “The Senate Continued” Madison mentions the term in the context of the Senate where he says that tyranny cannot take hold unless it first begins in the Senate.  

Thus he says “without [the Senate] exerting the means of corruption with equal success on the House of Representatives, the opposition of that coequal branch of the government would inevitably defeat the attempt.”

Hence the founders’ use of “coequal branch” only refers to the Senate and the House being coequal to one another.

In the second instance Hamilton uses the term to describe how the British House of Commons was able to make itself “coequal” to the aristocracy and royalty. 

Thus Hamilton points to the House of Commons as an example of how a strong legislature would have the power to limit a strong executive.  This would then allow Hamilton to allay public fears about the potential for a tyrannical president, and would thus help move along the ratification of the Constitution which created the then new position.

Hamilton accordingly says “If a British House of Commons, from the most feeble beginnings, have, by rapid strides, reduced the prerogatives of the crown and the privileges of the nobility … what would be to be feared from … the confined authorities of a President[?]”

Outside of that the term “coequal branch” was never used by the founders let alone applied to the other branches. That people think otherwise reflects the statist propaganda used to undermine our sovereignty.

Zigmund Reichenbach holds a M.A. in Philosophy from West Chester University.  You can find him commenting on news stories of national and state interest at his Facebook page Zigmund Reichenbach -- Commentator or you can follow him on Twitter @zreichenbach1.  Additionally you can find episodes of the weekly Sunday podcast (4PM) that airs via Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter at this link here. 

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