The [collection] of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands . . . may justly be [called] the very d
efinition of tyranny. . . . . . . it will be proper to investigate the sense in which the [protection] of liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.” —James Madison, The Federalist Paper No. 47 (1788) James Madison was the fourth president of the United States and one of the nation’s Founding Fathers. Which Enlightenment thinker most likely influenced the ideas presented in this quotation by Madison? Explain what this thinker believed and how his ideas relate to the quotation.
Based on the claims by James Madison about the separation of powers principle, he was most likely influenced by the Englightenment thinker, <u>Jean Jacques Rousseau.</u>
<h3>What did Jean Jacques Rousseau believe?</h3>
Jean Jacques Rousseau believed that political power should be as a result of popular sovereignty where the electorate decides on everything.
This means that the powers of the legislative, executive, and judiciary be separate and distinct but still rely on the people's will.
