Presidents, Democracy, Checks and Balances

Federalist Papers give us an authoritative statement of the original meaning of the US Constitution. What did the founders think? Of all the Federalist papers, Federalist 51 is particularly basic.

In Federalist 51, “Publius” (in this case Hamilton and/or Madison) argue that liberty can persist in a republican form of government if there is competition between governing institutions—checks and balances. In the design of the Constitution, they write, “. . . the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other. . . “ Each institution must be strong enough to do its work independently, but not so strong as to dominate the others.

One of the most memorable passages in all the Federalist Papers is this from #51:

But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department [i.e., branch of government], consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place.

In the politics of 2025, many observers worry that this “great security” has proven to be inadequate. Ambition does not counteract ambition, nor do the members of all constitutional branches have the constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachment of the others.

On the occasion of Presidents Day 2025, it is interesting to ask if the archives of the American Presidency Project can help illuminate the trends and tendencies in recent years with respect to presidential views of the constitutional checks on them by other branches.

The Phrases: "Separation of Powers," "Checks and Balances"

Out of almost 86,500 presidential documents at the APP, only 170 include the phrase “checks and balances”[1] and another 211 the phrase “separation of powers.”[2] Both phrases occur in the same document only eleven times. Thus, use of either phrase is rare—fewer than 0.4% of all our presidential documents.

By contrast, the word “democracy” is one of the one hundred most frequently used in presidential documents.[3] Looking only at presidential speech, the words “democracy” and “separation of powers” rarely occur together (115 times). And of those fewer than half involve anything that might be characterized as an extended discussion of the meaning and causes of democracy. Presidents extol democracy but rarely reflect on its necessary conditions.

Almost all the time presidents used either phrase are post-1950. There are only eight exceptions. It cannot be just a coincidence that concern for institutional balance and separation accompanies the emergence of the modern welfare state.

Below will be added a set of interesting quotations from Presidential speech that involve thoughtful reflection on democracy in the United States.

Presidential Reference to Democracy and “Checking” institutions

What do data show about the language presidents use in their speech? Speaking in public is a hallmark of the modern presidency. Spoken remarks are more likely to reflect the president himself rather than the staff who have prepared the precise text of statements, messages, and directives.

A simple exploration involves contrasting the relative frequency (i.e., as a proportion of all speech documents) in which presidents refer jointly to democracy and the Constitution[4] or to Congress and the courts.[5] The first may capture the president’s focus on constitutional government, and the second on his sensitivity to the “checking” institutions—Supreme Court and the judiciary.

The graph below shows, for each named president, the relative frequency of speaking about either set of references. How often in their recorded speech did presidents refer to either pair—democracy and the constitution; Congress and the courts?

Of eight presidents, Donald Trump was least likely to refer to democracy and the constitution. He was the most likely to refer to the Congress and the courts. These are not small differences. Compared to other Republican presidents, Trump was the lowest in references to democracy. Both Reagan and, especially George W. Bush strongly emphasized democracy. Bush had high hopes for democratic nation-building.

Again, in particularly striking contrast to the other Republican presidents, Trump was far more likely to talk about Congress and the courts. A large share of Trump’s speech in these cases involves his remarks at MAGA rallies. In those he stresses “his” justices on the Supreme Court and the effectiveness of Congress in confirming his nominees.

Biden struck a contrast with other Democrats. He extensively engaged in an effort to warn against undermining checks and balances. He was unusually stark in characterizing Trump as a threat to democracy.