“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”Publius (Hamilton, Madison, Jay) · Eseurile federaliste · 1788 · Federalist nr. 51
Government power must be sufficient to control the governed and limited to control itself.
The Federalist authors identify the central dilemma of any political system: power must be strong enough to impose order, but also limited to avoid tyranny. Their solution is a system of checks and balances that divides power among branches. For example, the president can veto a law, but Congress can override the veto with a qualified majority.
Why it matters This principle is essential for understanding modern democracies and for current debates about limits on executive power and judicial independence.