Posted March 15, 2007

By M. Roberts

So this is how liberty dies . . . with thunderous applause.

-Padmé Amidala, Star Wars Episode III

   CNN reported January 31, 2007 that Venezuelan lawmakers unanimously granted President Hugo Chavez "authority to enact sweeping measures by decree". Termed the  "mother law", the new legislation granted Hugo Chavez complete authority to legislate in "11 broad areas, from the 'economic and social sphere' to the 'transformation of state institutions.'"   Venezuelan congresswoman Iris Varela hailed the new law, and was quoted by CNN.com as saying that the new power granted to Chavez had been given by "[t]he people of Venezuela, not just the National Assembly". Citizens such as high school teacher Luis Gonzalez were less enthusiastic about the developments. With human history amply supporting his concerns, Gonzalez predicted that Venezuela is "headed toward a dictatorship".

   The Founders of our nation were very familiar with tyranny, having endured for years the abuses of the King of England. Their efforts to structure a new government protecting the people from the abuses of their leaders were rooted in a basic truth recorded thousands of years ago by the prophet Jeremiah: 

The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick;

Who can understand it?

- Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB)

Many people today insist, contrary to the teachings of Scripture, that humanity is basically good. If this were true, then the Venezuelan people would have nothing to fear by handing absolute power to Chavez. However, Founding Father James Madison said that "[i]f men were angels, no government would be necessary." 1 "Men" certainly are not "angels" and becoming a ruler does not make a person immune from temptation. Historical accounts of tyrannical rulers like Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, and Pol Pot demonstrate abundantly that unchecked power often leads to great evil. Our Founders understood this, therefore they designed the system of government they believed best able to rule effectively without being abusive. James Madison explains the challenge they faced:

If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. 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. 2

In other words, government must have the power to effectively govern but must also be restrained enough that it does not encroach upon the inalienable rights of the people. Joseph Story, an early Supreme Court Justice, points out that "every government must include within its scope, at least if it is to possess suitable stability and energy, the exercise of the three great powers . . . the executive, the legislative, and the judicial powers." 3 What makes governments more or less authoritarian and the people more or less free is how these powers are distributed among ruling authorities. When two or more of the three great powers are concentrated in one individual or a small number of individuals, the result is typically a dictatorship that restricts the freedom of the people. Our Founders believed it a "maxim of vital importance" to preserving the liberties of the people "that these powers should for ever be kept separate and distinct" 4. Therefore, the federal government was organized into the three separate and distinct branches with which we are familiar today: the Legislative Branch (Congress), the Executive Branch (President), and the Judicial Branch (Supreme Court and Federal Courts). The Legislative Branch was given the authority to make the laws, the Executive to execute to the laws, and the Judicial to interpret the laws. An intricate set of checks and balances were also put in place to ensure that potential abuses by one branch of government could be checked by another branch. In an effort to further delegate power, the Founders limited the powers of the federal government to only what is specifically granted by the Constitution:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. –10th Amendment, U.S. Constitution

Because state governments were considered closer and more responsive to the people, the Founders specified with the 10th Amendment that anything not addressed or anticipated by the Constitution was to be the domain of the states or the people themselves.

   It is clear that the Founders of our nation went to great lengths to insure that the ruling powers in our country were divided up and placed under stringent controls so that future generations would not find themselves living in tyranny. Their wisdom ought to be something for which we are continuously thankful because it has resulted in the 230 years of freedom our people have enjoyed. It is both frightening and fascinating to see before our eyes in Venezuela what happens when a single sinful individual acquires great power over the lives of his people. History provides plenty of reasons to be concerned for the people of Venezuela. Let us Americans never take for granted the freedoms we enjoy and may we never forget that only with our diligence as citizens will they be preserved for future generations.

1. The Federalist #51. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm