1788 February 8, Publius, Il Federalista [The Federalist Papers]:
Ma nell'organizzare un governo di uomini che dovranno reggere altri uomini, qui sorge la grande difficoltà: prima si dovrà mettere il governo in grado di controllare i propri governati, e quindi obbligarlo ad autocontrollarsi.
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.
(literally, “But in organizing a government of men who must sustain other men, here arises the great difficulty: first one must make the government able to control its governed, and then oblige it to control itself.”)