Studies On James Madison's Political Thought

James Madison is the famous political thinker of America in 18 Century. He made his greatest contributions to United States Constitution, so Madison is often called the Father of the Constitution. The political thought embodied in his essays make up of the theoretical basic of the Constitution System of America.This essay narrows our focus substantially by concentrating on his The Federalist that deals with two leading principles of our Constitution, republicanism and separation of power checks and balances. Our justification for this is two-fold: first, these principles stand at the very heart of our constitutional order; and second, they are arguably Madison's most significant theoretical contributions.Madison discusses the extended republic in a creative way through studying the classical republic. In the extended republic, he reason, because of the legionary individuals and the pluralistic interests, it is more easily to utilize conflicts of different factions to weaken their power. It provides the chance and space for vindicating the pluralistic interests of the extended republic.Madison's thought of checks and balances is also creationary. He believes the organization principles of government should be "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition." He provides the theories of separation of power and checks and balance. He aims to utilize this system to prevent any faction or group from infringing others' rights and interest in order to make sure that the society be checks and balances and steady. In conclusion, studies on Madison' political thought can make us to understand the American political culture and political system. They also provide enlightenments on developing and perfecting Chinese political culture and institutions combining the situation of China which under the realistic background of constructing socialistic harmonious society in China.