Why does a free state need a balanced constitution with separate branches?

1. WHAT HE SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believed that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches to prevent any one branch from gaining too much power, as illustrated by his argument that having the crown control two branches of the legislature could overturn the British constitution. He grounds this belief in the example of council boards in royal governments and their dependence on the executive. "Let an act of parliament pass at home, putting it in the power of the king to remove any peer from the house of lords at his pleasure, and what will become of the British constitution? It will be overturned from the foundation." [1]
• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believed that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches to ensure it is a government of laws, not of men. "In the government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the legislative, executive, and judicial power shall be placed in separate departments, to the end that it might be a government of laws, and not of men." [2]
• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believed that concentrating all authority in one center leads to instability and conflict, as shown by the example of the signori in Florence. He argues that even though the signori were chosen by the people, the exclusion of the nobility and the influence of powerful families like the Donati and Cerchi led to division and chaos. "Such is the effect of a government of all authority in one centre. Here all was concentrated in the signori, chosen by the people frequently enough; yet although the nobility were arbitrarily excluded from that council, those who were chosen were indebted for their elections, probably to those very nobles, and chiefly to the Donati and Cerchi." [3]
• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believed that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches because it prevents disorders by allowing the executive to defend its legal authority against encroaching tendencies in the legislature. He argues that the separation of powers, with checks like the executive's negative, is a constitutional instrument of self-defense. "If you fix your eye upon any period... the two houses will always have a remedy." [4]
• BELIEF (1788-12-02): John Adams believed that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches because he argues that without such a balance, laws are not respected and liberty, property, life, or character are not secure. He claims that a balance can only be achieved with three branches and no more. (key quote above) [5]
• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believed that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches because human nature has a tendency toward kingly power, which can never be eradicated but must be watched and controlled. He argues that the whole art of government consists in combining the powers of society in such a manner that this tendency does not prevail over the laws. The balance of three branches is alone adequate to this end because it gives way to human nature by determining who is the first man, which is a question that must be decided in every species of gregarious animals, as well as men. (key quote above) [6]
• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believed that establishing different orders of men in a republic could be a source of divisions and disputes. He argues that the equilibrium of powers, which may be necessary in England as a check to royalty, is not useful in republics founded on equality of citizens. "Instead of collecting all authority into one centre, that of the nation, they have established different bodies, a body of representatives, a council, and a governor, because there is in England a house of commons, a house of lords, and a king. They endeavor to balance these different powers, as if this equilibrium, which in England may be a necessary check to the enormous influence of royalty, could be of any use in republics founded upon the equality of all the citizens, and as if establishing different orders of men was not a source of divisions and disputes." [7]
• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believes that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches because it prevents any one branch from gaining too much power. He argues that the U.S. Constitution is 'complicated with the idea of a balance' and provides multiple examples of how different branches and entities are balanced against each other to maintain this equilibrium. (key quote above) [8]
• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believed that a balanced constitution with separate branches is necessary to prevent laws from being passed in a passion or inconsistently with the constitution. He argues that dividing the legislature into three branches and separating the judiciary and executive powers ensures stability and prevents the tumultuous commotions seen in Athenian democracy. "The legislature is so divided into three branches, that no law can be passed in a passion, nor any inconsistent with the constitution. The executive is excluded from the two legislative assemblies; and the judiciary power is independent, as well as separate from all." [9]
• BELIEF (undated): John Adams believed that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches because it produces a balance between the legislative and executive authority, a balance between the branches of the legislature, and a salutary check upon all these powers in the judicial. This belief is grounded in his analysis of the constitutions of Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts. "And it was endeavored to be shown, that those nations had been the happiest who had separated the legislative from the executive power, the judicial from both, and divided the legislative power itself into three branches, thereby producing a balance between the legislative and executive authority, a balance between the branches of the legislature, and a salutary check upon all these powers in the judicial, as had been done in the constitutions of Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts." [10]

What cuts against it

• The contrary-evidence entries are already in the record ledger above: [3], [7].

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. John Adams believed that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches to prevent any one branch from gaining too much power. This is supported by his argument that without such a balance, laws are not respected and liberty, property, life, or character are not secure.

2. He grounded this belief in the idea that human nature has a tendency toward kingly power, which must be controlled through a system of checks and balances.

3. He argued that the balance of three branches is alone adequate to this end because it gives way to human nature by determining who is the first man, which is a question that must be decided in every species of gregarious animals, as well as men.

4. He also believed that the U.S. Constitution is complicated with the idea of a balance, with multiple examples of how different branches and entities are balanced against each other to maintain this equilibrium.

5. This belief is further supported by his analysis of the constitutions of Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts, where the separation of powers ensures stability and prevents the tumultuous commotions seen in Athenian democracy.

3. HIS TAKE

Record coverage: DIRECT

Extrapolation: John Adams believed that a free state needs a balanced constitution with separate branches to prevent any one branch from gaining too much power, to control the natural tendency toward kingly power, and to ensure stability and security.

Competing readings: One competing reading is that establishing different orders of men in a republic could be a source of divisions and disputes, as Adams noted in his critique of the English model. Another is that concentrating all authority in one center leads to instability and conflict, as seen in the example of the signori in Florence.

Confidence: High, based on multiple direct statements from John Adams about the necessity of a balanced constitution with separate branches.