Thomas Jefferson, 3rd POTUS

I’ve read a few quotes from our third President, Thomas Jefferson, that all essentially assert a similar sentiment on this topic. I find it endlessly interesting that while the Founder’s era was as partisan as it is today, they all agreed on the purpose of government and the division of powers among the spheres. When it came to understanding the law, Jefferson noted, in a letter written in 1808:

“[T]he true key for the construction of everything doubtful in a law is the intention of the law-makers. This is most safely gathered from the words, but may be sought also in extraneous circumstances provided they do not contradict the express words of the law.” (emphasis mine)

The political and governmental paradigm of the founding generation – one in which partisan disagreements were numerous, but agreement on principles were universal – is remarkable to contemplate and a goal worthy of working towards.

Thomas Jefferson

“I believe the States can best govern our home concerns, and the General Government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore, to see maintained that wholesome distribution of powers established by the constitution for the limitation of both; and never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly be bought and sold as at the market.”

It is difficult to both dispute the vision of Jefferson and argue that what we have today with respect to the administration of the people’s business is either proper or effective. Indeed, as Jefferson foresaw, the poorest administration of government is the one whereby the domestic matters which belong to the people are spirited away to a distant sphere of responsibility. This breeds distrust, apathy and contempt among the people for their own government.

As the Founders themselves told us time and again, it is this concept of the division of powers among the spheres – balanced government – which accounts for much of the genius of our system. Certainly, the separation of power among the branches of government is important, yet this mechanism wasn’t entirely new among governments in the 18th century. And of course the specific mechanisms created (especially balancing the representation scheme between the House and the Senate) also display the mark of genius, or at least thoughtful study and consideration.

Despite the often bitter partisanship between Jefferson and Hamilton and the then-Republicans and the Federalists in general, we can see from this example that there were concepts that were universally accepted and weren’t subject to partisan disagreement. The concept of Balanced Government is just such an idea.