<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Federalist No. 51, titled: The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments, is an essay by James Madison, the fifty - first of The Federalist Papers . It was published on February 8, 1788, under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all The Federalist papers were published . One of the most famous of The Federalist papers, No. 51 addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government . One of its most important ideas is the often quoted phrase, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition" and its "if men were angels" argument is famous . </P> <P> The Federalist Papers, as a foundation text of constitutional interpretation, are frequently cited by American jurists . Of all the essays, No. 51 is the fourth most - cited . </P>

Who wrote ambition must be made to counteract ambition