The Lure of Power in Government

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Benjamin Paley
September 19, 2025

Stan Lee, one of the creators of Spider Man, wrote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Those words have never been more relevant.

Recent events (perceived politicization of the Department of Justice by democrat and republican administrations, the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and mass firings across all executive agencies and departments) have caused many to doubt whether their elected leaders are taking seriously the responsibilities that power gives them or if they are only looking out for themselves.

As history and Shakespeare’s tragedies have taught us, even the most careful and cognizant of leaders can fall for the lure of power, the urge to maintain and gain more power.

The Framers of the United States Constitution knew that. Even later presidents have acknowledged that truth. (President Harry Truman said, “There is a lure in power. It can get into a man’s blood just as gambling and lust for money have been known to do.”)

So the Framers, in their wisdom, designed a government structure that was aimed at limiting the power of government leaders.

However, many doubt whether that system even works. They wonder if the checks and balances that many praise as the best part of the Framers’ system are just not doing their job.

I want to briefly discuss those concerns in this article.

The system is designed to prevent the lure of power. As a concept, power is defined as “the capacity to influence, lead, dominate or otherwise have an impact on the life and actions of others in society.”

The Framers were very much aware of the trap that the lure of power can be, having just broken off from a tyrannical king. So when they drafted the Constitution, they designed a system with three co-equal branches that would each have their own delineated powers and would each act as checks on the other branches.

The three branches are the executive, legislative and judiciary branches. Each branch has its own power as well as its own ways of serving as a check on the powers of the other two branches.

Here are examples for each branch:

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  The legislative branch’s power is to write and pass legislation. The legislative branch serves as a check on the executive branch by providing advice and consent on presidential nominations to executive agencies and departments and the power of impeachment and removal of executive branch officials they vote on, as well as the president and vice president.

  
  
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  The executive branch’s power is to execute the laws passed by the legislative branch. It serves as a check on the legislative branch by vetoing legislation. The executive branch serves as a check on the judiciary by nominating judges to the federal bench.

  
  
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  The judiciary branch’s power is to hear “cases and controversies.” It serves as a check on both the executive and legislative branches through the doctrine of judicial review.

  
  

By greatly limiting the power of each of the three branches, the Framers aimed to diminish the lure a position of power in the new federal government would have on those seeking it.

Although Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in her book Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution, intended this example to apply only to the judiciary, I believe it applies to the overall structure of the government system created by the Framers.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus, the hero, wants to hear the sirens’ call but knows that the sirens’ call will cause him to steer his ship toward the sirens and to their deaths. (The legend says that the sirens would lead sailors and their ships to their deaths.)

Odysseus orders his men to tie him to the mast of the ship so that he could hear the sirens’ call without endangering the ship. He then orders his men to stick beeswax in their ears so that they will not hear and be enchanted by the sirens’ call. Immediately upon hearing the sirens’ call, Odysseus begs to be let down, but his men, unable to hear the sirens’ call and thus able to control Odysseus, do not listen to him and instead they tie him even tighter.

The controls that the Framers put in place do the same thing as Odysseus’ men and the rope. The Constitution places constraints (rope) on government leaders, and no matter how much the other branches may cry out for something, the branches are separated from each other by different electoral and/or selection processes (the beeswax). (In the case of the judiciary, Justice Barrett noted that the fact that the Supreme Court is immune from elections means they are not swayed by and cannot hear political considerations for certain decisions.)

All this is to say our government structure is key to how it is supposed to prevent leaders from falling for the lure of power.

So does the system work? Many don’t think so. I agree with the critics who say that the system designed by the Framers is not working exactly as it should. This is due to the fact that all three branches are controlled by the same political party.

However, I believe that the Framers put a fix for this problem into the design of the system itself. Once one branch is either fully or partially controlled by a different political party, the system will start to work again. The other political party is sure to be critical of what the other two branches are doing and will be able to step in and serve as the check it needs to.

In the end, I think that despite some bumps in the road, the system designed by the Framers will continue to work. The Framers couldn’t have imagined that the situation in America would be as fraught today as it is. However, even given their lack of foresight, the Framers were aware that times change and that the political situation can change at any moment. Americans must have faith in the system developed by the Framers and the legacy they have left for future generations of Americans.

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Author: Benjamin Paley graduated in 2022 from the Shepard Broad College of Law with a J.D. and in 2018 from Florida Atlantic University with a Master of Public Administration degree. He can be reached at [email protected].

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