“A mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands.” -James Madison, The Federalist, No. 48
There are two points in Madison’s statement above: 1) The words alone of the Constitution have no efficacy in and of themselves — to be effective, they must be enforced; and 2) maintaining the constitutional limits of the different branches of government — the separation of powers — is crucial to avoiding tyranny.