Question

Please Help with this! :)

"All men having power ought to be mistrusted."—James Madison

Answer 1

Imagine you are a representative to a state legislature meeting, debating the proposed Constitution. You have just read this quote in a newspaper essay. Which of the following is the best description of how you would respond?


A. If you were a Federalist, you would use the quote to support your argument that a single, centralized government is the best form of government.

B. If you were an Anti-federalist, you would use the quote to support your argument that a confederation of sovereign states is the best form of government.

C.If you were a Federalist, you would use the quote to support your argument that the existing Constitution is not enough of a safeguard against abuse of power.

D.If you were an Anti-federalist, you would use the quote to support your argument that only a pure democracy of local governments is the best government.

Answer 2

A is probably wrong because James Madison is arguing that concentrated power is bad. C is supported by the quote but I'm not sure if a Federalist would say something like that. As for B and D, D is a more extreme version, on the spectrum of decentralization (in other words, it argues for the power to be split over even more people, thus giving each person in power a smaller share of it).
However, D may be a trick answer. It could be either B or D, depending on what the Anti-Federalists actually were arguing at the time.

Answer 3

Would it be B or D?