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Fed 70

  • What ingredients make a strong executive?

    A strong executive, according to Hamilton in Fed 70, requires energy, unity, duration, adequate support, and competent powers. Energy ensures promptness and decisiveness, unity provides clear accountability, duration guarantees stability and experience, support prevents corruption, and competent powers enable effective governance. These elements combined facilitate a robust and efficient execution of laws and protection of national interests.

  • What two ingredients create a safe Republic?

    Hamilton argues that a safe Republic is founded on a strong executive and a system of checks and balances. The executive must possess energy, unity, and adequate powers to act decisively, while checks and balances ensure that no single branch of government, including the executive, can become tyrannical. This dual structure promotes both effective governance and the protection of liberty.

  • Why is it dangerous to give two people equal power?

    Giving two people equal power in the executive is dangerous because it can lead to indecision, diminished accountability, and factionalism. Hamilton believes that co-executives would struggle to agree, making timely decisions difficult, and they could each avoid responsibility by blaming the other. This arrangement could also foster internal conflict, undermining the government's unity and effectiveness.

  • What is Hamilton's strongest argument against multiple executives or an executive council?

    Hamilton's strongest argument against multiple executives or an executive council is the lack of accountability and the potential for discord and indecision. With multiple people sharing power, it becomes easier to shift blame and avoid responsibility for failures, weakening public trust and governance. He emphasizes that a single executive ensures clearer accountability and more decisive, unified action, qualities essential for effective leadership and crisis management.