John Adams And Montesquieu Analysis

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The Role of the People The government of the United States of America has not always been in agreement as to what role the people should take in the government. Following the American Revolutionary War, a new government was needed in order to start governing the people. This caused some rifts to begin to form among some of the most influential people in U.S. history. The most common rift that formed was over the idea of the role of the people in the government. Although many believed that the people should have direct impact on the governing body of the nation, others believed that this was not an important idea to consider. People such as Thomas Gordon, John Adams and Montesquieu supported the idea that the people should play…show more content…
They disagree based on three main issues, which included what people would be involved in the government, the extent of their involvement in the government and the fear of the struggle for power among those with authority in the government, all made the people’s role…show more content…
The first issue was that of what people would be involved in the government. This problem was centered on the idea of different classes of people that were in the nation. By limiting the types of people in the government however, it would limit the types of personalities that would play a role in the government. Some argued that the private men, the working class individuals who represented the majority, had no business being involved in politics and government. Thomas Gordon argued against this because he thought that if anyone would know how the government worked, it would be the private men. They would be the people who were directly impacted by the laws enacted and executed by the government. All people, therefore, should have the opportunity to have a say in what goes on in the government. The second concern for the Founders was to what extent the people should be involved in the government. Although the people had a right to be involved in the government, the author of Caesar No. 2 thought that it should be left up to people of greater intelligence to choose the government and its actions. The argument against this was that the people had the ability to choose the people that would have authority in the government. This idea helped place a foothold in the government for the people to always play a role. The last concern was that of the
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