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Consider these lines: "The desire of office holders in each branch of government to exercise the powers given to them, described as personal motives, would encourage them to limit any attempt by the other branches to overstep their authority. According to Madison, ambition must be made to counteract ambition." What safeguard do the quoted lines describe?
AOfficials would be screened for modest personal ambition before taking office
BEach branch would voluntarily surrender its powers to avoid conflict
CThe self-interest of each branch's officials would check the other branches
DFrequent elections would remove any official who grew too ambitious
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. The self-interest of each branch's officials would check the other branches
1. The quoted lines locate the safeguard inside office holders themselves: their desire to exercise their own powers.
2. That desire, the personal motive, pushes each branch to resist encroachment by the others.
3. Madison's slogan compresses the idea: one official's ambition is the tool that blocks another official's ambition.
4. So the safeguard is self-interest harnessed as a mutual check, which is option C.
5. Option A reverses the design; the argument relies on ambition being present, not screened out.
6. Option B describes surrender, while the quoted lines describe branches defending and exercising their powers.
7. Option D imports elections, a mechanism the quoted lines never mention.
_Source: OpenStax American Government 3e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "The Constitution and Its Origins", section 2.4 The Ratification of the Constitution_
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