Liberty Quotation of the Day: James Madison on the Great Difficulty of Self-Government

Quote Posted on April 30, 2014 Updated on April 30, 2014

“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.”

James Madison (writing as “Publius”), No. 51 of The Federalist Papers [Feb. 6, 1788]