Separation of Powers

"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." James Madison, Federalist #47, January 30, 1788.

You said it, James! And this week we're talkin' Separation of Powers, or, as your 8th Grade teacher might have called it, "Checks and Balances." Either way, it's the first and most fundamental way that the Constitution protects our individual liberties. Ben Kleinerman from Michigan State University's James Madison College tells us all about it, and Cash Arehart, from Colonial Williamsburg, tells us about a new Electronic Field Trip that uses baseball to illustrate the concept (Cash is playing the role of Chief Justice John Marshall in the photograph).

We're also talking about how we might improve the Constitution, with our rabble-rousing buddy Chris Phillips and his new project at the National Constitution Center, "The Next 10 Amendments."