archy, aristocracy, and democracy, seeing none as ideal, but a mix of the three useful by combining the best aspects of each. James Harrington, in his 1656 Oceana, brought these ideas up-to-date and proposed systems based on the separation of power.
Many of the framers of the U.S. Constitution, such as Madison, studied history and political philosophy. They greatly appreciated the idea of separation of power on the grounds of their complex views of governmental power. Their experience with the Articles of Confederation taught them that the national government must have the power needed to achieve the purposes for which it was to be established. At the same time, they were worried about the concentration of power in one person’s hands. As John Adams wrote in his A Defense of the Constitution of Government of the United States of America (1787), “It is undoubtedly honorable in any man, who has acquired a great influence, unbounded confidence, and unlimited power, to resign it voluntarily; and odious to take advantage of such an opportunity to destroy a free government: but it would be madness in a legislator to frame his policy upon a supposition that such magnanimity would often appear. It is his business to contrive his plan in such a manner that such unlimited influence, confidence, and power, shall never be obtained by any man.” (Isaak 2004:100) Such worries compelled the framers to find a good way to establish a new government, thus separation of powers and a balanced government became a good choice.
Two political theorists had great influence on the creation of the Constitution. John Locke, an important British political philosopher, had a large impact through his Second Treatise of Government (1690). Locke argued that sovereignty resides in individuals, not rulers. A political state, he theorized, emerged from a social contract among the people, who consent to government in order to preserve their lives, liberties, and property. In the words of the Declaration of Independence, which also drew heavily on Lock