How Did Thomas Jefferson Influence The Declaration Of Independence

1084 Words5 Pages

Public administration, the art of turning big policy ideas into solid results, ranks among the very oldest of intellectual disciplines. As long as people have been documenting history, they have been writing about administration and governance. This can be traced all the way back to the first five books of the Bible; covering the study of organization, rule making, and bureaucratization to ensure that the Israelites walked in God’s ways. Also, Caesar’s commentary on the Gallic wars covers the administrative and political challenges he faced in subduing the Gauls and conquering Britain. Public administration is not only concerned with getting the government to work well, but also in relation to both promoting and limiting the exercise of …show more content…

On government, his view was simple; it should have a weak executive with devolved control. The threat of abuse of power hung heavy over Jefferson. He grew up a farmer in Virginia, where he drew his strength for love of the land. He was determined that the new nation, and its people, would never again risk losing liberty; his writing of the Declaration of Independence is a ringing expression of his rejection of tyranny. Jefferson and Hamilton engaged in a long-running policy feud over the question of federal power. Jefferson was a staunch advocate of the limitations on federal power, and believed power came from the land and from the people. Jefferson strongly opposed Hamilton’s belief of having a strong national government with a powerful executive and a limited citizen role. Jefferson’s beliefs were in small local government, a strong legislature, and popular control. He argued for limited government and to keep as much power in the people’s hands as possible. He further argued that if government needed to exercise power, it should be state and local, not federal government. Jefferson supported federalism because it established the power of state government, and the separation of power because it provided checks on executive functions. His ideas and beliefs have made a lasting case for limited government power, and …show more content…

He believed in a balance of power system and laid the foundation we have used for centuries to keep the uneasy peace between the polar opposite viewpoints of the Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian ideals. He highly influenced the Constitution and was a major supporter of developing the separation of powers. He explained the relationship between government power and economic power; where an economic difference between states could breed conflict. His solution to this was that a strong, effective, well-balanced national government could bring stability and prosperity. He and Jefferson both differed with Hamilton over how strong the executive should be, but unlike Jefferson, Madison developed a more subtle approach that hinged on balancing the power. He developed the middle position between the beliefs of Hamilton and Jefferson; Madison was a political scientist to Hamilton’s public administrationist and Jefferson’s political

Open Document