{"id":8830,"date":"2026-05-01T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/?p=8830"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:16:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:16:58","slug":"a-little-advice-from-james-madison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/blog\/a-little-advice-from-james-madison\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little “Advice” from James Madison"},"content":{"rendered":"

by<\/em> Kimberly Lerch\u00a0 |\u00a0 Published: May 1, 2026<\/p>\n

David B. Mattern’s 1997 book, James Madison\u2019s \u201cAdvice to My Country\u201d<\/em> is a nice, little, readable book of quotes, advice as it were, from our fourth president, James Madison.<\/p>\n

According to Wikipedia, James Madison<\/a> (March 16, 1751(March 5, 1750) \u2013 June 28, 1836) was \u201can American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. [Madison] was popularly acclaimed as the “Father of the Constitution\u201d for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bills of Rights. and the Bill of Rights\u2026. Madison helped form the Democratic\u2013Republican Party<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am not going to go into Madison\u2019s life; I want to contrast his \u201cadvice\u201d to what is currently going on in the country. You can go online and Google him; also, Mattern provides a seven-page introduction to his work, covering Madison\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Agriculture<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cThe class of citizens who provide at once their own food\u2026 are the best basis of public liberty, and the strongest bulwark of public safety. It follows, that the greater the proportion of this class to the whole society, the more free, the more independent, and the more happy must be the society itself.\u201d (p.12)<\/p>\n

Current situation<\/strong>: How tariffs are affecting American farmers– \u201cThe Trump administration continues to tell America\u2019s farm community that this is a golden age and that the administration\u2019s tariffs are working. The data tell a different story<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

How the US-Israeli War against Iran is affecting American farmers–\u00a0\u201cSince the U.S. began bombing Iran, for example, restricted travel through the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted the flow of nitrogen fertilizer, sending the price spiraling upward. And that’s on top of what farmers will spend filling up their fuel tanks.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

America and the World<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cThe United States are now furnishing models and lessons to all the world, a great, soon to be the most hopeful portion of it, is receiving them with a happy docility\u2026the eyes of the world being thus on our country, it is put the more on its good behaviour, and under the greater obligation also, to do justice to the Tree of Liberty by an exhibition of the fine fruits we gather from it.\u201d (pp. 13-14)<\/p>\n

Current situation<\/strong>: The Pew Research Center produced a report in June 2025 entitled \u201cViews of the United States\u201d where people in 24 countries rated the US according by a various metrics and topics (e.g., age, ideology, gender). They state that, \u201cOverall, roughly half of adults across the countries surveyed view the U.S. favorably. The U.S. receives its most favorable rating from Israel, where 83% see it positively.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

American Politics<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cA Government like ours has so many safety-valves, giving vent to overheated passions, that it carries within itself a relief against the infirmities from which the best of human Institutions can not be exempt.\u201d (p.14)<\/p>\n

Current: Situations<\/strong>: \u201cPresidential power across multiple administrations has increased<\/a> due in large part to Congress\u2019s failure to fulfill its constitutional role\u2026presidential use of impoundment, or the refusal to spend funds appropriated by Congress\u2026represents a different magnitude and something we really haven\u2019t seen before\u2026 when norms of cooperation and consultation dissipate, it becomes difficult to figure out what controls will replace them…The power of the purse is really essential to how government operates and to preserving constraints on the executive\u2026traditional norms regarding the Department of Justice\u2019s independence seem to be eroding\u2026concerns about presidential influence on the selection of targets for prosecution or acts such as removing a sitting US attorney to install someone willing to indict a political adversary\u2026the president can refuse to enforce a statute passed by Congress by large majorities and held to be constitutional on challenge by the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appointment Power<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cThe appointment to offices is, of all the functions of Republican and perhaps every other form of Government, the most difficult to guard against abuse. Give it to a numerous body, and you at once destroy all responsibility, and create a perpetual source of faction and corruption. Given it to the Executive wholly, and it may be made an engine of improper influence and favoritism.\u201d (p.16)<\/p>\n

Current situation<\/strong>: “In the first year of his second term, President Donald Trump placed more non-Senate confirmed political appointees across agencies than any modern president and did so at a historically fast pace<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is widespread dissatisfaction with federal agency performance<\/a>. For some observers, the problem stems from the large number of appointed positions, many regularly vacant because of political dysfunction and others filled with unqualified political appointees who interfere with career professionals. For others, the insulated nature of the career bureaucracy creates performance problems. Since civil servants cannot be fired easily, they have few incentives to work hard and be responsive to elected officials. Reformers advocate cuts or expansions in the number of political appointees to improve performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Balance of Powers<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cYou must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself<\/em>.\u201d (p.18)<\/p>\n

Current situation<\/strong>: A current list of Executive Orders as of 4\/13\/26<\/a> and statistics on Trump’s executive orders during his second term<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Under your [Majority Leader Thune and House Speaker Johnson] leaderships, the wholesale surrender of constitutional powers of Congress to the White House has been appalling<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Federal versus states\u2019 rights with regards to ICE<\/a><\/p>\n

The executive branch dismantles some independent agencies<\/a>l<\/p>\n

Corporations<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cThere is an evil which ought to be guarded against in the indefinite accumulation of property from the capacity of holding it in perpetuity of ecclesiastical corporations. The power of all corporations ought to be limited in this respect. The growing wealth acquired by them never fails to be a source of abuses,\u201d and \u201cIncorporated Companies, with proper limitations and guards, may in particular cases, be useful, but they are at best a necessary evil only. Monopolies and perpetuities are objects of just abhorrence.\u201d (p.35)<\/p>\n

Current situation: <\/strong>Attitudes towards deregulation<\/a>,\u00a0sector favoritism<\/a>,\u00a0corporate pressure\/retaliation\/political posturing from government<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Executive<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cThe constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and the most prone to it.\u201d (p.43)<\/p>\n

Current situation<\/strong>: The eight\u00a0wars ended under Trump<\/a> , effects of attempted strong-arming of allies<\/a>, and a snapshot of the Iranian War<\/a>. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Poverty and Government<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cTo provide employment for the poor and support for the indigent is among the primary, and at the same time not least difficult cares of the public authority…Some degree of interposition \u2026 is at all times and every where called for.\u201d (p.79)<\/p>\n

Current situation<\/strong>: Attitudes towards work-focused welfare reform<\/a>,\u00a02017 Tax Law<\/a>,\u00a0safety-net cuts<\/a>,\u00a0and economic strategy<\/a><\/p>\n

For the final two topics, I combine them; they are:<\/p>\n

Power and Leadership<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison<\/strong>: \u201cThe 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; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous, whilst they continue to hold their public trust.\u201d (p.62) \u201cAll men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.\u201d (p.79)<\/p>\n

Current situation<\/strong>: I have no words.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kimberly Lerch\u00a0 |\u00a0 Published: May 1, 2026 David B. Mattern’s 1997 book, James Madison\u2019s \u201cAdvice to My Country\u201d is a nice, little, readable book of quotes, advice as it were, from our fourth president, James Madison. According to Wikipedia, James Madison (March 16, 1751(March 5, 1750) \u2013 June 28, 1836) was \u201can American statesman, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[213,214],"class_list":["post-8830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hpnl","tag-james-madison","tag-u-s-president"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8830"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8832,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8830\/revisions\/8832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}