<P> Federalist No. 51 , titled : The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments , is an essay by James Madison , the fifty - first of The Federalist Papers . It was published on February 8 , 1788 , under the pseudonym Publius , the name under which all The Federalist papers were published . One of the most famous of The Federalist papers , No. 51 addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government . One of its most important ideas is the often quoted phrase , `` Ambition must be made to counteract ambition '' and its `` if men were angels '' argument is famous . </P>
<P> Federalist No. 51 , titled : The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments , is an essay by James Madison , the fifty - first of The Federalist Papers . It was published on February 8 , 1788 , under the pseudonym Publius , the name under which all The Federalist papers were published . One of the most famous of The Federalist papers , No. 51 addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government . One of its most important ideas is the often quoted phrase , `` Ambition must be made to counteract ambition '' and its `` if men were angels '' argument is famous . </P>
who wrote ambition must be made to counteract ambition
who wrote ambition must be made to counteract ambition
James Madison
James Madison