The first guard against tyranny is federalism which means government (govt) power is divided between the central and state govts. As evidenced by Document (Doc) A, “The power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments.” This is protected in COTUS by Amendment 10 which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States.” As a result, the “two distinct govts” are the delegated powers given to the US govt and the reserved powers reserved to the states. Federalism protects against …show more content…
As evidenced by Doc B “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands… may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” COTUS establishes the legislative branch, see Article I, Section 1, the executive branch, see Article II, Section 1, Clause 1, and the judicial branch, see Article III, Section 1, Clause 1. Each branch has distinct powers, separate from the other branches. The separation of power protects against tyranny because it takes the powers of govt and splits them among three