compersion & limerence

… the complex checks and balances of the American Constitution as analysed in The Federalist (1788), which were designed to keep radicals like [Thomas] Paine trussed and tied.

Somebody please advise, my book used this offhand phrasing and now I don't know what to do with these somewhat-unwanted visuals that immediately presented themselves.

(Source: The Invention of Science, David Wootton, p 20)