“The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society,” James Madison wrote in “Federalist No. 57,” “and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.”
Recognizing that men are not angels, Madison identified “numerous and various” structural mechanisms in the Constitution for preventing the “degeneracy” of representatives after their election, to discourage them from pandering to partisan factions rather than serving the common good. “The most effectual one is such a limitation in the terms of appointments as will maintain a proper responsibility to the people,” he wrote.
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