ad inevitably to the
destruction of all positive authority by vesting a veto in each class
and ultimately in each individual. In fact, John C. Calhoun, the ablest
and most consistent expounder of this doctrine, defines a perfect
popular government as "one which would embrace the consent of every
citizen or member of the community."[105] When this last stage is
reached we would have no government in any proper sense; for each
individual would be clothed with constitutional power to arrest its
action. Indeed the theory of checks and balances, if taken without any
qualification and followed out consistently, leads naturally to the
acceptance of anarchy as the only scientific system.

The absence of king and aristocracy did not deter the members of the
Convention from seeking to follow the English model. In doing this,
however, it was necessary to find substitutes for the materials which
were lacking. The constitutional devices adopted to accomplish this
purpose form the system of checks and are the most original and
interesting feature of our government.

The English model was followed, however, only so far as it served their
purpose. In the case of the judiciary, for instance, they declined to
follow it; but the reason for this as explained in the preceding chapter
was their desire to establish a more effective check on the people. They
showed no special preference for the English form where some other
method would better accomplish the desired purpose. Hence in many
instances they deliberately rejected English precedent, but always with
the view of providing something that would impose a more effective check
on the public will. An apparent exception to this may be found in the
limited term of President and United States senators. But these were the
very instances in which lack of king and nobility made departure from
the English model a matter of necessity. Moreover, any avowed attempt to
provide an effective substitute for the hereditary branches of the
English model would have been distasteful to the people generally and
for that reason would have ensured the rejection of the Constitution.
Theoretically, the nearest approach to the English system possible would
have been life tenure, and there were not wanting those who, like
Hamilton, contended for it; but the certainty of popular disapproval was
an unanswerable argument against it.

It was thought that substantially the same result could be obtained by
indirect el